Mission Statement

We are an eight-member team from East Los Angeles Renaissance Academy. Our call to action is to be active in the rising needs of the community.  We are innovators that do something to  engage learners of all ages the importance of financial savings.  Lastly, we empower the community of making wise personal financial devision for the future then take it up a notch to be the EXTRA DEGREE that makes a difference!

Project Needs

Financial literacy is a critical tool for anyone who wants to succeed in today’s society and make sound financial decisions (Lusardi & Mitchell, 2014). There are two parts to financial literacy- (1) the understanding  of its function to society and self and (2) the application of the knowledge. Our Girls Build members are experiencing first hand the management of managing money and wanting to invest in their futures. Upon being selected to be in the GirlsBuild cohort, they were experiencing the rising cost to attend a university. Other members want to save the money earned from internship but had little guidance of opening a banking account. With that, we conducted a survey to our student population of their understanding of financial literacy.  (Survey Link)

Timeline

Process

Working as an unit was the foundation of our project. Weekly meetings were an important step in our process to accomplish our goals. Each member of the team was responsible for a specific aspect of the project that align to their interests. On Mondays, our team met for a brief check in on our progress and to discuss new goals. Longer meetings were scheduled throughout the week where members came together to ensure the finalization of steps in our process. The budget and materials were based on the needs of the workshops ​​and presentations. We sought activities that were engaging and sustainable, such as DIY crafts. This allow the team to have meaningful dialogue with the participants. When they take their handmade projects home, it then becomes a conversation piece to share families and friends.  Our outreach goal is to around the community, such as local schools and festivals. We inform others through fliers and posts on Schoology.. We continued with classroom workshops on campus  throughout the year. This lead up to a culminating STEAM fair in the local District.