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02:54Please welcome our moderator, Alencia Johnson, author of
02:59Flip the Tables.
03:13Hello, hello.
03:14Good morning.
03:15How y'all doing?
03:16All right.
03:17I am so excited to moderate this very important and timely conversation on financial literacy.
03:23We don't have a lot of time, so I'm just going to introduce our amazing panel and we're
03:27going to get right into it.
03:28So first we have Ms. Anecia Williams, Chief Impact and Venture Officer of DreamBlock.
03:35We also have Ms. Courtney Petway, Co-Founder of KidVestors.
03:49Dr. Brandy Waters, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships and Engagement at College Board.
04:00And Dr. D. Wayne Edwards, President of Pencil Lewis College of Business and Design.
04:10Thank you all for being here.
04:13Before we dive deep into the conversation, I actually wanted to ask something more personal.
04:20And if you can quickly answer.
04:22What was the moment that you had when you were like, you know what, I need to go into financial literacy,
04:28particularly for young black people?
04:30I'll start here.
04:31I think the moment for me was, you know, I come from, and again I'm just having this bill that is on my mind right now as we think about literacy.
04:45So I came from Section 8. I came from vouchers at school. I came from all of those things.
04:54And so for me, being able to transition and move to other things, I had to understand financial literacy and what that meant to me.
05:04And then how that also could impact my family as well at the same time.
05:09So it was something that was imperative and that I had to figure out because my mom didn't know.
05:16My grandma didn't know either.
05:18So I took it upon me to find out for my family.
05:22That's great.
05:23Yes, for me, I made a bunch of financial mistakes.
05:29I would take the whole session if I had to list every mistake that I made.
05:33But the light bulb moment for me is when I had kids of my own.
05:37And I thought about all the mistakes I made and what if I could put them in a much better position than I was.
05:43And that was really the turning point for me is when I was pregnant with my first child.
05:50For me, it was really something that I started to think about with my friends after we graduated college and saw that many of us were encountering heavy loads of student debt, still trying to become homeowners.
06:02And so we really at that point really wanted to pivot and build our own organizations and businesses.
06:06And the first thing we kept saying to each other was, I wish I had known this earlier.
06:10I wish someone had taught me this in high school.
06:12So I wanted to make sure that whatever career path that I took in education really opened up that opportunity for young students as well.
06:20Yep.
06:21Very similar story.
06:22Mine was a lot younger where it was out of actually necessity.
06:26I wanted certain things that I couldn't buy, so to speak.
06:32And learning from my older brothers and sister the power of actually saving money and spending money.
06:38I would always have them buy me stuff and then I would just pocket my money, right?
06:43But no, I learned very early the power of wealth building out of necessity at a very young age.
06:50I ask that question because for all of you, and I think this is kind of true for most black people, the jobs and the roles that we end up in, there's a personal connection, right?
07:01And it's the solution that we're looking to find for our communities.
07:05Courtney, I'd love to expand upon you and your husband building KidVestors.
07:12Can you tell us about that and what is one of the goals that you have through your organization?
07:19Yes.
07:20So we started really in our living room.
07:22Again, we became parents and we wanted to put them in a much better situation than what we were in.
07:28And so what we wanted to do is make sure they were prepared.
07:31And so knowing everything from the fundamentals to budgeting and taxes and credit, but going beyond that to learning how to invest.
07:39Because we are all feeling the impacts of inflation.
07:42I don't know how many moms out there, every time you go to the grocery store, it seems like your money is, you know, not covering the same amount of food that you, you know, purchased last year.
07:51It's because when we're not investing, we're actually losing money to inflation.
07:56And so we want to, I didn't learn how to invest until I was an adult.
08:00But imagine your six year old or eight year old or 18 year old, you know, starting to invest.
08:05They have time on their side.
08:07Yeah.
08:08And so what we want to do is be proactive.
08:10We don't want to be reactive like I was as an adult, trying to learn on the back end after I've made the mistakes.
08:16What if these students were prepared before they graduated high school?
08:20And so that's what we want to become is KidVestors is the leading financial education platform for K through 12 students.
08:27So they're prepared for real life before they graduate high school.
08:30And one of the perks is when kids go through our program, they don't just learn, but they earn and reward them with real stock in the process.
08:38They don't just learn, they earn.
08:40And as a teenager, I would have loved to earn too.
08:43Yes.
08:44Right.
08:45And I think it also reduces the shame that can come when you're an adult and you feel like you're behind.
08:52But as we know, in our community, we don't have the tools.
08:55Right.
08:56Which is why it's so powerful what you all are doing.
08:58So you said we're doing more than learning.
09:00We're also earning.
09:01And also really quick, AV, I don't have a timer up here.
09:04It's not moving.
09:05I will go over for an hour.
09:06So you might want to keep the clock going.
09:09Anissia, you also are in the funding part of this as well.
09:13Can you talk a little bit about that?
09:14Yeah.
09:15So at DreamBlock, one of the things that I wanted to make sure is that founders were in the right ecosystem.
09:22You hear a lot of times when folks are building businesses, they're like, oh, you know, I need to raise money or I need to go find this investor.
09:29And it's not about just finding random people.
09:32It's about finding your people inside of your ecosystem.
09:36And so at DreamBlock, we have Dream Wealth Camp to where we bring growth stage founders together for two days of programming with investors.
09:44And then we have office hours as well so that it is intentional.
09:48We can make sure that it is an environment to where they can actually meet, grow, pitch, do all of those things at the same time.
09:56But I try to make sure that I have resources there for everyone and in every sector as well when they come to camp.
10:03And that's removing the barrier of entry, right?
10:05Oh, absolutely.
10:06And that's what we're trying to do with confidence, right?
10:07If you just provide this opportunity for folks to have this courage to step into these rooms that don't look like us.
10:12Correct.
10:13Right?
10:14We know we can show and prove.
10:15Yeah.
10:16But we just got to have the courage to get ourselves into that room and feel confident with what we have.
10:19Thank you for that.
10:21Dr. Edwards, I want to ask you about your platform, EHBCU.
10:26Yes.
10:27And how it's equipping black women and black communities at large to stay ahead of a changing economy, especially as AI has been introduced.
10:34Right.
10:35Can you talk a bit more about that?
10:37Yes.
10:38So first, I mean, I think we all have to understand that knowledge is currency.
10:43And the more knowledge that we are able to acquire, the greater net wealth we have an opportunity to actually achieve.
10:51And so EHBCU is an innovative partnership with four other HBCUs.
10:56Pencil Lewis, which is in Detroit, Delaware State, Southern University, as well as Alabama State.
11:03Our goal is to create kind of the solution, a bit of a solution of the knowledge and wealth gap, especially virtually for young black men and women.
11:11During COVID, like HBCUs were the institutions that suffered the most due to most weren't prepared for online learning.
11:19EHBCU allows the learners to be anywhere in the world.
11:23So you could be in Mississippi and taking programming in Detroit or you can be in Delaware and taking programming at multiple HBCUs.
11:31So being able to create a platform that you can actually program your own educational journey.
11:37That is a groundbreaking opportunity that we recognize that's important for our communities.
11:43That's great. Thank you for that.
11:45And you mentioned COVID, the pandemic and HBCUs having to catch up, right, to make sure that our students still have the support that they need.
11:55We've also been talking a lot about, like, what's happening right now, this crazy, evil, sinister bill that happened yesterday.
12:03Even before that, and I want to come to you, Dr. Waters, about the attacks that we saw on African American history and a lot of the work that you've been doing.
12:13I would love for you to share with the audience some of that work that you're doing at the College Board.
12:17So that's been really the joy of my life, not only as a scholar of African American studies, but to really have the opportunity to build the first internationally available course for high school students to earn college credit in this field.
12:31It emerged at a time where we saw that students...
12:33Wait, hold on, pause. Say that again, because y'all were a little too quiet in responding to that.
12:37Well, you know, it is. AP African American studies is the first internationally available course where students can earn college credit in African American studies.
12:49Wow. It is a beautiful thing. And it's something that we've built because of student interest.
12:55So we saw coming out of the pandemic in our surveys that African American studies continue to be one of the most requested new courses for us to build.
13:03So this is a course that has grown from not only 60 schools in the first pilot, but it is actually one of the fastest growing AP courses.
13:11And if you remember your experience with SAT or AP, that is not something that I would have predicted when I was a student in high school.
13:18So this course just emerged in its first year out of the pilot.
13:22It's grown from those 60 schools to 23,000 students in four different countries and launches broadly internationally in many more countries this fall.
13:31But getting back to your point about this, I see our other course, AP Business with Personal Finance, a new course that we're building hand in hand with African American studies.
13:41And why is that? As students start to learn more about their history, their culture, they are learning about the literal commodification of people.
13:50They're learning about entrenched wealth gaps that have happened over generations.
13:54They're learning about systemic undermining of black businesses, but also the ways that we've overcome and thrive in spite of that.
14:02So what we've done with our next course that's coming up is really merge learning about business with personal finance skills.
14:09And Courtney, you mentioned something. Imagine that you're 18 and you already know how to build a budget.
14:14You already know how to invest and you've already had practice in building a case study, which is the largest instructional model that we see in MBA programs.
14:22So this is something that is pulling together not only what's relevant to them from a personal and community aspect,
14:28but also having them walk away with the tools that they need to make good decisions after high school.
14:34So we're very excited about it.
14:36I love that you merge those together because I tell people all the time and I do a lot of political commentary.
14:40I've worked on presidential campaigns and advocacy groups and folks constantly ask me, how do we get through this moment?
14:46Like what's the strategy? What's the tool? But you just made the point that I always make to other people.
14:51Our ancestors actually have laid the groundwork, which is why it's so important for us to preserve our history.
14:57And it's also why they keep attacking our history, right? Like they don't want us to know where we came from.
15:02And this legacy, how we've been able to build black economies and black cities, right?
15:08They don't want us to know that. So I get real political because this time is so urgent right now.
15:15But thinking about that, there is an urgency for our communities to figure out how to build wealth.
15:20The racial wealth gap continues to widen, right? Even with, you know, people talking about, oh, I get in the bag and all this.
15:26I'm like, yeah, but the racial wealth is continuing to widen.
15:29So how do you all approach this work, especially with the next generation, giving them the confidence to keep going versus to feel defeated already?
15:39Yeah. I mean, it's a lot of different things.
15:44So one, like, what is actually getting the bag?
15:52Like, what does that even mean?
15:56And I think in this culture of social media, there is a projection out there that getting to the bag means, you know, the Chanel and, you know, all of these things or whatever have you.
16:07These material things that can be gone just like that, right?
16:12But there isn't preface on getting the bag also means buying some stock.
16:17It also means, you know, investing, taking the money that's in your savings account that is not earning any interest at all and putting them into something else.
16:26You know, it's also, you know, if you are, you know, working this extra job or you have a gig on the side, like, what does a traditional Roth look like?
16:36Like, where can you start to build money and wealth in those ways as well?
16:43And then also even, you know, for parents, like, how do you set your children up for success?
16:48You know, instead of the birthday parties, and I'm not saying don't have a birthday party, but what I am saying is that a two-year-old is only going to play with those toys for however long, right?
16:57So, exactly, and we'll not remember that, but they will remember if, hey, like, here's an Apple stock.
17:03Like, you guys can contribute to this instead of buying the toys and things like that.
17:07So, I think it's us also just reprogramming our mind of how we think about wealth, how we actually think about money, and the relationship that we also have with money as well that's going to put the next generation where it is that they need to be.
17:22Courtney, you wanted to jump in.
17:25Oh, yes.
17:26So, double-click on everything you said, but that was one of the approaches we took even at KidVestors.
17:31I know growing up, you know, there were only, there were a few voices that were speaking to financial literacy, and honestly, they were just boring, in my opinion.
17:39So, I wasn't really paying attention.
17:41And so, one of the reasons I love KidVestors, and I'm probably biased, is that we took a culturally relevant approach.
17:47You didn't see people that looked like me.
17:49And so, that's why we have African kids, Hispanic kids, black kids, white kids, Asian kids, because they resonate when they at least see people and characters that look like them.
17:59We gamify it to make it fun.
18:01And again, they're earning, so they're earning real stock, you know, putting them on that path to wealth creation.
18:08You know, even as a VC back founder, we talk about narrowing the wealth gap.
18:12You can't do that without assets.
18:13And how do you get the assets if you don't know how?
18:16And so, like, I was, we were having a conversation backstage.
18:19I couldn't have told you what private equity and M&As and VC and all of that stuff was five, six, seven years ago.
18:25But now, kids going through our program, they're going to know about that stuff.
18:28They're going to be ten steps ahead than what I was, making it engaging in the process, fun in the process, so they want to learn, so they want to build wealth.
18:38You know, don't just play Roblox, own Roblox.
18:41You know what I'm saying?
18:42Exactly.
18:43And so, that's the approach that we take.
18:44Don't just play.
18:45Own it.
18:46I know that's right.
18:47Go ahead.
18:48I was going to piggyback off of what you were saying.
18:50I mean, I think it was a few years ago.
18:52I think it was MSN stated that we spend $1.3 trillion on products and services, but our net worth dropped.
19:01Right?
19:02And so, we're in that.
19:03You said 1.3 trillion.
19:05Trillion.
19:06With a T.
19:07Yeah.
19:08But our net worth dropped to your earlier point.
19:10Yeah.
19:11And so, when you look at those businesses that we spend money on, products and services, we are less
19:16than 5% of employment in these organizations.
19:20And so, what we're doing on the EHBCU side is to provide the relevant education you need to actually be employable in those institutions, but also to make sure you understand, you know, you don't have to stop being a consumer of those products.
19:34But to your point, can you be a creator?
19:37Can you be an owner?
19:38Yeah.
19:39Right?
19:40There is a platform called StockX, which is a sneakers reselling platform.
19:45It's worth $3 billion.
19:47Yep.
19:48Where it's a bunch of kids.
19:51Some of them look like us.
19:53Some that don't look like us.
19:55They'll buy three pair of sneakers.
19:57They'll keep one on ice.
19:58Yep.
19:59They'll trade the other one and sell it to pay for all three.
20:02Yep.
20:03They're learning math.
20:04They're learning economics.
20:05Yeah.
20:06Through a cultural topic of, you know, things that we purchase and, in some cases, unfortunately, idolize.
20:13And so what we want to do on the EHBCU platform is provide relevant education to help them understand that you can be more than just a consumer.
20:22You can be a business owner.
20:24But then also leverage that education through relevant topics, in some ways, to trick people into learning.
20:31Because that's, in some ways, we have to do that as well.
20:34But that's, it's all about how do we increase the wealth gap.
20:38I'm sorry.
20:39Reduce the wealth gap.
20:40Sorry.
20:41I just wanted to also just say this as well.
20:44Like, let's just cut the check.
20:46Like, let's just cut the check.
20:50Yep.
20:51Let's not have them to imagine how can we do this.
20:54Give them the money to do.
20:56Show me through practical application how this grows.
21:00How this actually works.
21:02How these fractional shares actually works for you to be able to get in.
21:06Because the barrier of entry, believe it or not, it's, it is shrinking, literally.
21:11Like, you can go on the Coinbase.
21:13Like, you have Bitcoin.
21:15Like, you have all of these other platforms that you can actually get into now.
21:19But give them the money to do it.
21:21So let's not just theorize and talk to them to death.
21:24Show them how to do it and give them the money to be able to do that.
21:27And also, of course, for founders, I'm always going to advocate to please cut the checks for the founders.
21:32Yes, please.
21:33As a founder.
21:34Yes.
21:35Yes.
21:36And for education institutions as well.
21:37Don't forget about it.
21:38Absolutely.
21:39Yes.
21:40Because you guys are doing that work and you need to be funded to do that work.
21:42100%.
21:43Absolutely.
21:44You should be donating to your alma mater.
21:47He didn't make the plug, but I'm going to make it for him.
21:49I don't know, Dr. Waters, if you had anything on this topic before I give us a closing question.
21:54I think what's so important is what you mentioned.
21:56The urgency.
21:57And really tapping into what that means for us and what micro step you can take to move that forward.
22:03What we're doing with AP Business with Personal Finance is not leaving it up to chance.
22:08Not making it hard for students to find.
22:10Not making it confusing for parents to understand what students are learning.
22:14But we're really putting this class into American high schools.
22:18So this is a class that will show up in your student's classroom, in your student's high school, your niece's high school, your nephews.
22:24Our step is about making sure that our students are present in that space.
22:29So once resources like these that we've talked about become available, what is the micro step that you can take, knowing the urgency of the moment, to make sure that our students are not left behind?
22:39You know, something that you mentioned, and actually all of you kind of mentioned this, you're helping the next generation, but you're not forgetting about the parents.
22:48And there's a partnership there, too.
22:50And that speaks to us as a community, right?
22:52We are community people.
22:53Thinking about the essence audience, and that, you know, majority of people here are not students.
22:59Middle-aged, older women, and our friends are here.
23:03I would love for you all to leave us with an action step for the black woman who is here and feels as though she may be behind on her own finances, right?
23:14She's thinking about, yes, got the ideas and the resources to help her children.
23:19But in her mind, she's like, I'm living paycheck to paycheck, and I'm behind, and I know my white counterparts have been doing this since they're 20, and I'm 41, right?
23:27So I would love for you all to just give some final words on, like, what's an action step that someone could take listening?
23:34Action step for me, and I don't know, again, the audience, if you guys are faith-based or not, but for me, when I started tithing…
23:44Me, too.
23:46Girl, me, too.
23:47I mean, when I started tithing, you know, God shows up, one.
23:52And then, number two, like, look at your circle.
23:56Who is it that is doing all the things?
23:59Who is it that has the opportunities and things like that?
24:02And my thing is, like, if I'm doing good and my sister is not, then I'm not doing good.
24:07So what do we need to do as a community together in your small circle to make sure that you know the latest information, you know what the latest is going on, things of that nature?
24:18And then breaking it down from don't leave behind your grandma, your grandpa, and things of that nature.
24:25Because they may not understand all of that sophistication, and it is up to us to be able to make sure that if this Medicaid gets cut,
24:33they can be able to maximize the savings or maximize their 401K or to maximize the Social Security that they have to be able to do that as well.
24:42So get a good friend circle, ones that can actually each one teach one.
24:48Closed mouths do not get fed.
24:50But get that circle and then give that information back to your family so that, again, the cycle, we got to break it and we got to share this information.
25:01Practical advice I would probably give is just to, I'm a direct person, you know, sometimes you have to face the music.
25:12And so this means where am I financially?
25:16Do I know where I am?
25:18That means, you know, going home after we have fun, you know, looking through those bank statements.
25:24How am I doing?
25:25You know, is it an income problem?
25:27Do I need to look at alternative skill sets, ask for a promotion?
25:32Is it a spending problem?
25:34Like, what is my current situation?
25:37How can I improve?
25:38Because if we don't acknowledge it first and be aware of it first, we can't change.
25:45And so get that friend circle, you know, if you don't want to do this on your own, find that accountability partner.
25:53And say, hey, this is the year we're going to improve financially.
25:58Absolutely.
25:59And that starts with knowing where you are financially.
26:02But if we just avoid it and just try to sweep it under the rug like it's not reality, we won't change.
26:09And so that would be my practical advice is to find out where you are financially first, get that accountability and friend group to encourage you along the way, and then go from there.
26:22Well, the first step for any change is to look in the mirror, and that's what I talk about in my book.
26:26In order to disrupt your community, you've got to disrupt yourself first.
26:31Showing my bias as a historian, educator.
26:34Become the teacher.
26:35Teach yourself.
26:36Teach your friends.
26:37Don't do it alone.
26:38Make it a research project.
26:40What is the one piece of my finances that I need to understand better?
26:44Whether it's budgeting or understanding investment.
26:47But become the teacher and teach someone else.
26:51As I said earlier, knowledge is currency.
26:54For most of you who work at a corporation, major, big, or small, there's educational funds set aside for you in your institution for you to actually receive free education.
27:05Ask your organization, can you learn on their dime, right?
27:10If you work at a small company, and maybe that's not there, create your own sole proprietorship or create your own LLC, a few hundred bucks depending on what state you're in, so you can write off your educational journey.
27:23But if you're able to actually learn through the current organization that you're working with, be able to learn on their dime to develop your skills necessary to make yourself more valuable to either it's your next job opportunity or your next entrepreneurial venture, do that.
27:42That's one of the things that we're looking to do with EHBC is to provide that additional education, not just for high school students, which we need to work together, but also college students.
27:52Because what even grown men and women who are currently already working, we're not only for first generation, we're for second and third and fourth as well.
28:03But knowledge is currency, and you're never too old to learn.
28:07That is actually a great point.
28:09I'm an entrepreneur now, but looking back, there were so many resources, the companies that I've worked for, I didn't take advantage of, worth thousands of dollars.
28:20They don't need to know you think about leaving in two years.
28:22Correct, exactly.
28:23That's why you won't take that course.
28:25But dry up every single resource in your employer match, in your 401K.
28:30All of those things are such critical points.
28:33And this whole accountability piece, amazing.
28:36This piece about each one, teach one.
28:38The tools and the resources are out there.
28:40This tithing piece.
28:42When you said that, and when you said culturally relevant teachers, I thought about Dave Ramsey.
28:46I don't like Dave Ramsey.
28:47But I am a tither, right?
28:48A person of faith, right?
28:50And so all of these steps are extremely practical.
28:52And I think, I hope the audience feels encouraged with the resources that are available and with leaders who look like us doing this work and standing in the gap and also understanding how urgent it is right now.
29:06So I just want to thank all of you so much for your time, being here.
29:10I thank all of you.
29:11And please, give up for our panelists.
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