Financial literacy in action: Citizens and Junior Achievement work to empower the next generation with vital money management skills

By E. Napoletano | Citizens Contributor

At Citizens, helping people understand their finances and recognize the opportunities available to them is one of our highest priorities.

“Financial literacy,” explains Michelle Hecht, Head of Corporate Affairs, “is essential to making informed financial decisions and setting yourself up for success.” Through funding and colleague volunteerism, Citizens delivers financial education and resources that give people the confidence and tools to pursue their financial goals with confidence.

One way Citizens promotes financial capability skills in the communities it serves is through an ongoing partnership with Junior Achievement, the nation's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices.

Junior Achievement’s programs — in the core content areas of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy — ignite the spark in young people to experience and realize the opportunities and realities of work and life in the 21st century.

In its work with Junior Achievement, Citizens provides young people with the foundations to overcome wealth and opportunity gaps and grow into the next generation of community leaders.

Junior Achievement fosters financial literacy, career readiness and entrepreneurial opportunities for more than 4.4 million students each year in inner-city, suburban and rural classrooms.

Building on its long-time partnership, in 2024, Citizens committed $415,000 to help propel Junior Achievement’s efforts in the classroom.

This funding helps Junior Achievement deliver its proven lessons to students from elementary to high school. Classes are designed to empower students with practical, applicable financial knowledge that can serve them for a lifetime such as:

• The differences between needs and wants
• The pros and cons of using credit cards and borrowing money
• The costs of buying and maintaining a car
• The purpose of taxes and how they affect everyone
• The benefits and challenges of investing in the stock market

Citizens also takes a hands-on approach to engaging students in learning about financial topics by bringing colleagues into classrooms. Nearly half of the bank’s financial literacy volunteer hours happen at Junior Achievement events. Hecht says that in the most recent academic year, over 380 Citizens employees worked with over 5,400 students in kindergarten through high school, with plans to keep expanding.

"I love going back to Van Corlaer Elementary School year after year to see familiar little faces as they grow each year," says Lisa Giordano, Vice President, Regional Community Development Market Manager with Citizens.

"If you're lucky, you get a hug or a hand-drawn thank you card, and it is rewarding to know that you're making an impression," she adds.

Stephanie Scarpelli, a paralegal at Citizens, also finds joy in working on Junior Achievement projects. "The best part of the day was seeing the kids feel proud when answering questions," she says. "They understand the concept of community and how the community runs with money."

In its partnership, Citizens supports Junior Achievement’s research and thought leadership efforts to understand the needs and behaviors of today’s youth. Each year, the two organizations survey teens about their attitudes toward money and current money management trends. Learning how young people feel about finances can inspire an educational approach that addresses their most pressing concerns.

In 2024, most young people reported being stressed about money and see their family’s finances as a burden to achieving their goals, according to Citizens and Junior Achievement’s 2024 Teen Financial Wellness Survey. The survey found that teens are craving financial literacy, though they aren’t getting what they need. While 73% of the surveyed teens said they were interested in money management classes, only 42% said personal finance had been taught at their school.

An early start on financial education holds compounding advantages for young people. Through its partnership with Junior Achievement, Citizens strives to expand financial literacy education in the classroom so that all students have access to these foundational skills. By adopting healthy money habits early, students can feel more confident in their financial choices and, ultimately, experience less money-related stress.

"We partner with Junior Achievement to help educate and give young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their futures and make smart academic and economic choices," Hecht says.

The Citizens and Junior Achievement partnership is reaching students where they're at and helping them take leaps ahead in gaining financial literacy skills. Some of the students in the program describe what resonated with them:

• "I learned that you have to budget your money to have a good credit score," says LaDonna from Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan.
• "I liked the experience and learned that I should plan well for my money and have a manageable budget," says Maykel from Junior Achievement of Greater Washington.
• "They showed us what was positive and negative about credit and how expensive buying food can be," says Leland from Junior Achievement of Georgia.

The program helps young people internalize financial concepts they've learned about and translate them into practical applications.

As educator Kathy Shea, part of Junior Achievement of Central Carolinas, says, "This is a very vital life skill, and students need to understand expenses, budgeting, savings, etc. in order to be responsible citizens. The experiential learning truly reinforces the lessons from the workbooks."

This kind of education can provide a foundation to continue building increasingly complex money management and investment skills — and that's what Citizens is all about.

Through its deep partnership with Junior Achievement, Citizens strives to advance its goals to have a positive impact on communities it serves. By committing to widening access to financial education among underserved populations, Citizens is helping people build their money management skills and giving them the tools needed to thrive. This contributes to Citizens vision of a future where everyone in the community is equipped with the financial knowledge they need to achieve their goals.

Citizens is proud of the impact made possible by partnering with Junior Achievement, whose team says, "Through Citizens' support … students are able to receive valuable Junior Achievement programming focused on financial literacy and work and career readiness that equips them with the knowledge to bridge the economic gap and empowers them to own their economic future."

In 2024, Citizens committed $2.4M to support 140 nonprofits provide financial education and resources in the communities it serves. Learn more about how Citizens promotes financial empowerment.