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Showing posts with label TED GONDER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TED GONDER. Show all posts
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Tuesday, January 06, 2015
Eradicating Financial Distress One Teen at a Time
Eradicating Financial Distress One Teen at a Time
Moneythink teaches financial literacy to teens to cure financial distress.
Scientists spend countless hours in laboratories searching for solutions to eliminate medical diseases. Today, a group is entering classrooms in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods across the country to eradicate a different kind of disease: financial distress.
“Financial distress is one of the most terrible diseases afflicting our country, but unlike polio or the measles, there’s no vaccination for it,” says Ted Gonder, co-founder of Moneythink, a nonprofit that empowers high school students with financial literacy.
Sure, there are treatments for financial distress, like credit card counseling and debt consolidation. But these solutions draw people who are already facing hardship. Moneythink aims to help young people avoid getting to that point.
Gonder and four of his friends were inspired to launch Moneythink while studying at the University of Chicago in 2009. “Just outside of where we were studying business and economics, the streets were filled with foreclosed homes, broken-down cars and boarded-up shops,” he says. “Helping the community closest to us seemed like the best place to start.”
It was a 19-year-old tutor who finally got through to a young Gonder, changing his perspective. “My tutor was old enough to be respectable, but young enough to be relatable. I’d listen to him before I’d listen to my parents,” Gonder says. “He taught me to treat my life like an entrepreneurial adventure, and he became my role model.”
That’s why Moneythink’s mission is as much about teaching teenagers how to save money as it is about giving them the chance to establish a meaningful relationship with someone they can both laugh with and admire.
“Some had financial literacy programs, but they weren’t engaging students. Some said they’d never had financial education in the classroom. But everyone said their students wanted to learn about money,” Gonder says.
They took their pilot program to a few Chicago area high schools and started tutoring students in less-than-exciting subjects like derivatives trading and price versus earnings ratios. “Nothing is more humbling than watching a classroom of high school students fall asleep while you’re trying to teach them something,” he says.
They went right to the source, asking students what they wanted to learn. It turns out they wanted to know about credit card debt and saving money, but it had to be delivered in the right context.
“Everyone knows Kim Kardashian, so we started teaching about spending habits using stories the students had seen about her. Antoine Walker, a well-known professional basketball player, had a very public fall from financial grace, so we used his story to teach what not to do,” Gonder says. “If students relate to the information, it sticks.”
“Becoming a mentor at Moneythink is very competitive. Not only do they learn financial literacy as they teach it, but they get to change someone’s life in the process,” Gonder says. “While we don’t necessarily screen candidates based on their SAT scores, we do look for people who are reliable, motivated and passionate about our mission.”
So far, Moneythink has worked with more than 1,000 volunteer mentors from college campuses across the country, many of whom have maintained their mentorship longer than a year. After graduating from college, some of Moneythink’s former mentors have gone on to work for financial institutions such as the World Bank and Northern Trust. Others have moved on to the White House and Teach For America.
These mentors’ impact on high school students and their families is tremendous. For example, one student shared what he was learning about budgeting with his mother. They looked at their family budget one day and realized they wouldn’t be able to afford to keep the heat on that winter. Thanks to his tutoring lessons, they reallocated some spending and figured out a way to keep the heat on.
One student used his savings plan methodology to buy eyeglasses for his little sister, who was being teased at school for not being able to read the chalkboard.
Another student in a Chicago program is separated from his mother and awaiting foster care, and rarely shows up for school. However, he does show up to meet with his Moneythink mentor.
The most important lesson Gonder and volunteer mentors aim to teach is goal setting.
“Whether it’s Nike Air Jordans, tickets to a movie or a song you want to download, when you have a goal – no matter how small – and you achieve it, you build momentum and motivation,” he says. “That’s a really powerful force.”
Today, Moneythink touches 26 communities across 10 states and has brought financial mentoring to more than 9,000 students. By 2030, Gonder envisions a country in which every graduating high school student is equipped with the skills, support and tools needed to navigate the financial decisions of early adulthood.
- See more at: https://wealth.northerntrust.com/investing/eradicating-financial-distress-one-teen-at-a-time#sthash.peVgXZwF.dpuf
“Financial distress is one of the most terrible diseases afflicting our country, but unlike polio or the measles, there’s no vaccination for it,” says Ted Gonder, co-founder of Moneythink, a nonprofit that empowers high school students with financial literacy.
Sure, there are treatments for financial distress, like credit card counseling and debt consolidation. But these solutions draw people who are already facing hardship. Moneythink aims to help young people avoid getting to that point.
Gonder and four of his friends were inspired to launch Moneythink while studying at the University of Chicago in 2009. “Just outside of where we were studying business and economics, the streets were filled with foreclosed homes, broken-down cars and boarded-up shops,” he says. “Helping the community closest to us seemed like the best place to start.”
Personal Motivation
For Gonder, the decision to create Moneythink was a personal one. “Both of my parents grew up with modest means, and they wanted to give me all the opportunities they never had. I went to music lessons and camps, I was a Boy Scout and played sports, but I never understood the value of all I had and I took it for granted,” says Gonder, who admits his apathy caused him to act up in school and earn poor grades.It was a 19-year-old tutor who finally got through to a young Gonder, changing his perspective. “My tutor was old enough to be respectable, but young enough to be relatable. I’d listen to him before I’d listen to my parents,” Gonder says. “He taught me to treat my life like an entrepreneurial adventure, and he became my role model.”
That’s why Moneythink’s mission is as much about teaching teenagers how to save money as it is about giving them the chance to establish a meaningful relationship with someone they can both laugh with and admire.
Learning from Students
As they worked to launch Moneythink, Gonder and his co-founders skipped class to cold-call local high schools and gauge their interest in a financial literacy tutoring program for 11th and 12th graders.“Some had financial literacy programs, but they weren’t engaging students. Some said they’d never had financial education in the classroom. But everyone said their students wanted to learn about money,” Gonder says.
They took their pilot program to a few Chicago area high schools and started tutoring students in less-than-exciting subjects like derivatives trading and price versus earnings ratios. “Nothing is more humbling than watching a classroom of high school students fall asleep while you’re trying to teach them something,” he says.
They went right to the source, asking students what they wanted to learn. It turns out they wanted to know about credit card debt and saving money, but it had to be delivered in the right context.
“Everyone knows Kim Kardashian, so we started teaching about spending habits using stories the students had seen about her. Antoine Walker, a well-known professional basketball player, had a very public fall from financial grace, so we used his story to teach what not to do,” Gonder says. “If students relate to the information, it sticks.”
A Nationwide Mentoring Network
About a year after the program launched, college students from across the country began contacting the Moneythink team to start local chapters in their communities. Considering the impact Gonder’s first tutor – as well as other mentors along the way – had on his life, Moneythink’s volunteer mentors have to be the very best.Financial distress is one of the most terrible diseases afflicting our country, but unlike polio or the measles, there's no vaccination for it.“Becoming a mentor at Moneythink is very competitive. Not only do they learn financial literacy as they teach it, but they get to change someone’s life in the process,” Gonder says. “While we don’t necessarily screen candidates based on their SAT scores, we do look for people who are reliable, motivated and passionate about our mission.”
So far, Moneythink has worked with more than 1,000 volunteer mentors from college campuses across the country, many of whom have maintained their mentorship longer than a year. After graduating from college, some of Moneythink’s former mentors have gone on to work for financial institutions such as the World Bank and Northern Trust. Others have moved on to the White House and Teach For America.
These mentors’ impact on high school students and their families is tremendous. For example, one student shared what he was learning about budgeting with his mother. They looked at their family budget one day and realized they wouldn’t be able to afford to keep the heat on that winter. Thanks to his tutoring lessons, they reallocated some spending and figured out a way to keep the heat on.
One student used his savings plan methodology to buy eyeglasses for his little sister, who was being teased at school for not being able to read the chalkboard.
Another student in a Chicago program is separated from his mother and awaiting foster care, and rarely shows up for school. However, he does show up to meet with his Moneythink mentor.
The most important lesson Gonder and volunteer mentors aim to teach is goal setting.
“Whether it’s Nike Air Jordans, tickets to a movie or a song you want to download, when you have a goal – no matter how small – and you achieve it, you build momentum and motivation,” he says. “That’s a really powerful force.”
Today, Moneythink touches 26 communities across 10 states and has brought financial mentoring to more than 9,000 students. By 2030, Gonder envisions a country in which every graduating high school student is equipped with the skills, support and tools needed to navigate the financial decisions of early adulthood.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Moneythink's Ted Gonder
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Introducing the 2014 BHSI Fellows: Moneythink's Ted Gonder
Moneythink started as a financial education club at the University of Chicago. But the group of U of C underclassman—including 2014 BHSI Fellow Ted Gonder—saw greater potential in the club, especially in the wake of the 2007 recession, and they worked to build the organization into a hub of educational resources that provides mentorship and financial education to high school students across 10 states and expanded to include platforms like the recently-launched social media-based financial app. We talked to Gonder about how he turned the financial lessons he learned as a high school student into lessons for others.
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| 2014 BHSI Fellow Ted Gonder. |
When we first started, we had two thoughts. One was that we really wanted to bring this program to as many kids as possible in Chicago. Pretty early on, we also realized that because of our model that uses college volunteers, this program had the potential to spread to a lot of other communities across the country. Our thought was always let’s try to do a really great job here in Chicago and prove impact, and along the way test how well it can scale.
It’s especially impressive that you were able to be this forward-thinking about Moneythink given that at the time you were still only a first-year student at the University of Chicago. What aspects of your education played into that?
I had a tutor in high school that really helped me get my life on the right track. He kind of taught me to think about my life like an entrepreneurial venture, and my decisions as if they were investment in the future.
So, is it that type of entrepreneurial thinking you teach students in Moneythink?
We used a lot of that ideology to create our curriculum and recruit mentors that fit the archetype for who we thought could be inspiring to our students.
The other thing that really set me on this path is I had an economics teacher in high school, who spent half the year showing us how even though he was a teacher with a small salary through saving on everyday things, he and his wife were able to travel to Fiji and all these cool places…. He got me really interested in personal finance.
Your teaching and approach to financial education involves two different views. First, approach life like an entrepreneur and be willing to take risks. Second, practice frugal saving habits. How do you reconcile those in your teachings?
We think of it like offense and defense. Spending is like offense, and saving is like defense. Money is ultimately a tool to express your values. So you think first about what do I value? And what are my goals?
Are you directly teaching some of these ideas yourself? Do you still get into the classroom?
Being in the classroom has been a core part of how I stay in touch with the mission. When I was helping to start the organization in college, I mentored in the classroom as a Moneythink mentor as a part of the core program in the University of Chicago chapter. Now…I speak at a lot of schools. After speeches, I tend to stick around and chat with students for quite a while and get to know what’s on their mind, what their struggles are.
I love it. That’s one of my favorite parts of it.
Talk a little bit about the Moneythink app and the ways that it enables students to share positive financial decisions via pictures and other social media means. How do students react to the platform?
We have students who are actively making decisions, consciously, about their money and then reporting them through technology in a way that feels very natural to them. It doesn’t feel like homework.
What do you see as the future of Moneythink?
By 2030, we see every single young adult in the United States entering the real world with the tools, mentorship and support to navigate the most important financial decisions of their lives. That means, by 2020, we’ll be in over 500 high schools across the country, and serving over a million users through our technology.
What do you hope to gain from your experience as a BHSI Fellow?
Mentors have always been such a core part of my life, and Chicago is a city I’m really committed to. I’m really excited to connect with some of the mentors and really “friendtors”, as well, in the BHSI community—past winner, this year’s winner, people in the Chicago Ideas Week network. I’m just really eager to get to know awesome people and build great, thriving relationships.
Mentors have always been such a core part of my life, and Chicago is a city I’m really committed to. I’m really excited to connect with some of the mentors and really “friendtors”, as well, in the BHSI community—past winner, this year’s winner, people in the Chicago Ideas Week network. I’m just really eager to get to know awesome people and build great, thriving relationships.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
ILLINOIS INNOVATION COUNCIL MEETS AT NORTHWESTERN
ANDY ROSS
JAY WALSH
ERIC ISAACS
WARREN RIBLEY
ADAM POLLET
GUILLERMO AMEER
MARTY CASTRO PETER WILKINS
WATCH THE NEW FUTURO PRESENTATION VIDEO
TED GONDER
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