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Financial Education
Knowledge is your greatest asset. SM
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Highlights
Citigroup Financial Education Program
 
Highlights for February 2005
 
UNITED STATES
 
Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy
  • February 4th in Washington, Dara Duguay presented Laura Levine, Executive Director of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, with a $25,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation. The grant will support Jump$tart’s planning work for Citigroup’s Global Financial Survey. The goal of the survey will be to assess financial education levels in 13 countries.
  • Ernest Skinner, Community Relations Director, CBNA, and Lori Neale, Citibank Branch Manager, also attended.
Smith Barney’s 7th Annual National Take Your Parents to School Day® Program
  • February 8 –10, Smith Barney launched their annual “Take Your Parents to School Day”® program, a 3-day curriculum utilizing proprietary curriculum that teaches financial concepts and fiscal responsibility to middle school students, in up to 50 schools across the country.
  • Take Your Parents to School Day® introduces students in grades 6-9 to financial concepts such as investing basics and understanding economic issues. It concludes with the National Stock Portfolio contest that runs for 12 weeks beginning the third day of the program. Participating classes create a mock portfolio from a list of well-known stocks selected by Smith Barney to compete with the other classes in the program nationwide. Each class is able to log on to Smith Barney’s Young Investors Network website (www.younginvestorsnetwork.com) to track its "cyber" investments, and to keep an eye on the competition.
  • Students in the winning class (based on the largest percentage increase in the overall portfolio value) received one share of Citigroup stock.
Operation Hope
  • February 17th in New York City, Ajay Banga, Citigroup’s Global Consumer Group Executive Vice President and President of Citibank Retail Banking North America; and John Bryant, Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO; announced plans to dramatically expand the “Banking on Our Future,” program, the only national urban delivery platform for financial education in the country today. The program expansion will be supported by a $500,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation. The goals is to reach 10,000 students in seven cities, including New York City (Harlem), Washington, DC; Baltimore, Chicago, Los Angeles, Oakland, CA; and Atlanta. Citigroup will also be a Signature Sponsor of Operation HOPE’s 2005 “Banking on Our Future” Financial Literacy Marathon, a twelve-city tour that will commence in April 2005.
  • Also on February 17th, Natalie Abatemarco, Director of Citigroup Global Community Programs, hosted a webinar so employees could learn more about this financial education volunteer opportunity. John Bryant, Ajay Banga, and Chip Raymond, President of the Citigroup Foundation, also participated. This year, Citigroup’s goal is to reach 10,500 students through 360 volunteers.
  • In April 2004, Citigroup and Operation HOPE announced a national partnership to support “Banking on Our Future,” in three cities. With the support of a $250,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation, the program reached almost 2,000 students in 30 schools in Washington, DC, Oakland, CA, and Harlem, NY. More than 100 Citigroup employees volunteered as HOPE Corps banker-teachers to educate students about the basics of earning income, budgeting, saving and investing.
SUNY Educational Opportunity Centers
  • February 20th in Albany, Eric Eve, Executive Director of Community Relations, Citigroup, and Robert L. King, State University of New York Chancellor announced the launch of “Financing Your Independence,” a financial education program designed for SUNY’s Educational Opportunity Centers, which serve academically under-prepared students who are enrolled in academic programs leading to college or vocational programs leading to employment. SUNY Educational Opportunity Centers (EOCs) in Buffalo, Long Island, Rochester, and Syracuse, will participate in the program.
  • At a reception honoring Distinguished Alumni of SUNY’s Educational Opportunity Centers, Eric Eve presented Chancellor King with a grant check in the amount of $620,000, payable over two years, from the Citigroup Foundation to support the implementation of the program.
  • Each SUNY EOC will use Citigroup’s Financial Education Curriculum to train enrolled students on saving, investing, credit management, banking and financial services. EOC students will receive 18 hours of classroom instruction. In addition, instructors will develop and lead financial literacy workshops available to community residents. A State University of New York (SUNY) certificate of completion will be awarded to those who successfully complete the program. Local Citigroup employees will also volunteer in the program.
Boys & Girls Clubs of California
  • February 14th in San Francisco, Mike Weitzman, President of Citibank West, and Jerry Eberhardt, Senior Executive Vice President of Citibank West, co-chairs of the Citigroup Leadership Council in California, announced a $100,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation, to support a financial education program for five Boys & Girls Clubs in California. Boys and Girls Clubs or affiliates in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Silicon Valley and Sacramento will each receive $20,000. The announcement of the program was made in conjunction with a Black History Month Essay Contest. Awards ceremonies and grant announcements will be held throughout March.
  • Using the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum, Train-the-Trainer sessions will begin in March for Boys and Girls Club staff. Financial Education seminars will launch in April (Spring), July (Summer), and September (Winter). The goal of the program is to educate 1,500 low-income students (ages 6-18).
  • In addition to the five Boys and Girls clubs mentioned above, Community Relations is working with the Jackie Robinson YMCA in San Diego and the Boys and Girls Club in Henderson, Nevada to host an essay contest, “Celebrating Black Culture and Contributions: Recognizing Influential Leaders.” The essay contest will award prizes, including from $100 to $500 in cash and sports event excursions, to the club members who write the top essays.
  • Each year, the California Leadership Council provides a $100,000 grant to a program that will have a positive impact throughout the California marketplace.
The Citigroup Financial Empowerment Program
  • February 28th in Dallas, Citigroup and the YWCA of Metropolitan Dallas launched the 2005 Citigroup Financial Empowerment program, a six-week financial education course for low-income women in North Texas that teaches the financial skills and knowledge essential to managing personal finances. The program is supported by a $95,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation and is managed internally by Elizabeth Mitchell, Senior Vice President, Global Consumer Lending at CitiFinancial who is also on the YWCA’s Board of Directors.
  • Citigroup employees teach participants about setting financial goals, creating a budget, opening savings and checking accounts, reducing debt and rebuilding credit.
  • Since July 2003, more than 40 Citigroup employees have participated and more than 150 YWCA participants have benefited from the program. One participant from the first Financial Empowerment workshop recently purchased her first home.
Citigroup 401(k) Plan Financial Education And Investment Education Program
  • February 1st, Citigroup Human Resources announced the launch of the Citigroup 401(k) Plan Financial Education and Investment Education Program for U.S. employees. Ernst & Young LLP, a provider of financial education, will manage the program.
     
    The program features two main tools:
  • The Ernst & Young Financial Planner Line (EYFPL), a toll-free telephone number staffed by financial counselors from Ernst & Young. Employees can call the Financial Planner Line for confidential and objective 401(k) investment information.
  • eAdvisor, a secure, Web-based tool where employees can obtain the names of 401(k) plan funds in which to consider investing based on when they plan to retire, their comfort with risk, and other information. Employees will also be able to access personal financial data about their Citigroup compensation, pension, and 401(k) plans and, in the future, equity plans.
FINANCIAL EDUCATION TRAINING
 
To date, 345 employees and 620 non-profit partner staff have undergone training to teach financial education using the Citigroup Financial Education curriculum.
 
Urban League of Greater Hartford
  • February 11th in Hartford, Stacey Sechrest Carder, Deputy Director of the Office of Financial Education, organized a Train-the-Trainer financial education seminar for representatives from the Urban League of Greater Hartford.
  • Lisa Joyner from Global Community Programs used the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum to instruct 16 individuals on how to teach basic banking, credit management, saving and investing lessons to their constituents.
Results: Region 4 School District Financial Education Pilot Program in Queens, NY
  • In 2004, Eileen Auld, Director of Government and Community Relations in Queens, joined with John-Paul Bianchi from New York City’s Department of Education’s Region 4 Learning Support Center to incorporate Citigroup’s Financial Education Curriculum into the Social Studies curriculum in Region 4 Queens schools this fall. A total of 69 teachers received staff development to implement these lessons with approximately 3,200 students receiving instruction.
  • In Fall 2004, Stacey Sechrest, Deputy of the Office of Financial Education, trained principals and administrators from the Region 4 school district in Queens on Citigroup’s Financial Education Curriculum for grades K-8.
  • One teacher remarked: “I found these lessons to be a truly rewarding experience for both the students and myself.” The Office of Financial Education is reviewing the results and feedback from the students and teachers to find ways to improve the lessons.
EUROPE/MIDDLE EAST/AFRICA
BAHRAIN
 
Bahrain Training Institute’s “Women in Banking” Program
  • February 8th in Manama, Mohammed Al Shroogi, Citigroup Managing Director, and the Bahrain Training Institute (BTI), part of the Ministry of Labor, announced the launch of the “Women in Banking Program,” a financial education and job training program for Bahraini women from underserved communities. The program is supported by a US$20,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation and will be delivered by BTI over a full year period starting in March 2005.
  • Twenty-five female trainees will receive a blend of basic financial education and job training skills to increase their chances of gaining permanent employment in the banking industry. After nine months of academic training, students will experience hands-on training at Citigroup. Participants will learn about the role, function and activities of the banking sector within both a global and regional context and will gain experience in the functional areas of a banking organization. Team as well as personal skills will be taught in order for candidates to function effectively in the workplace and to enhance career growth within a banking environment.
  • Since 2002, Citigroup has supported several academic and vocational -level training programs and extended financial aid funds to disadvantaged students in the Gulf and Levant countries.
ASIA PACIFIC
SINGAPORE
 
Citibank Singapore Launches "The Adventures of Agent Penny"
 
February 2nd in Singapore, Citibank Singapore and the Learning Society, a community organization that promotes education programs for children and adults, launched the first-ever comic book designed to inculcate money values and promote financial literacy to upper primary school students. "The Adventures of Agent Penny" is part of a holistic financial education campaign, aimed at providing a fun-filled experience for 10- to 12-yearolds in Singapore to learn about the basics of money.
 
Twenty thousand copies of the comic book have been printed and will be distributed to the upper primary students over the year, to support their learning through this enrichment opportunity. To further disseminate the ideas in the book, Citibank has commissioned The Necessary Stage, a local professional theatre group, to produce a skit, which will depict scenarios that illustrate the importance of saving and budgeting. The skit, which will be performed in schools, and various community libraries.
 
Citibank and the Learning Society will also jointly develop a resource kit, which will contain creative materials like games and quizzes. Teachers and volunteers may use this kit to aid in extra-curricular enrichment activities, all to further instill financial know-how to the students.