Citigroup Financial Education Program
Highlights July 2006
EMEA
UK: Citigroup Hosts "Financially Speaking" End of School-Year Final Competition
- Over 500 students from Lewisham, Tower Hamlets and Southwark participated in the "Financially Speaking" program 2006 which uniquely combines Citigroup's Financial Education Curriculum with public speaking skills.
- The program was delivered by more than 20 trained Citigroup volunteers throughout 2006.
- The final event on July 6th brought together over 150 students, teachers, parents and volunteers. The 12 finalists, selected from school competitions and two semi-finals, each presented a three minute speech on a topic of their choice, based on financial knowledge learned through Citigroup volunteers. Topics included "Needs vs. Wants" and "Responsible ways of making money."
UK: Business teams in London take in 25 UK Career Academy Foundation interns
- Citigroup London hosted 25 students as part of a 6-week paid internship. This work placement is part of a 2-year course in finance that also includes a mentoring program and specialized workshops. Placements allow 25 managers and their teams within Citigroup to engage and enhance a young person's career and learning opportunities.
- Involvement in UKCAF programs extends beyond the summer months; over 100 Citigroup London volunteers are participating in mentoring, workshop delivery and inter- supervision.
Russia: Citigroup Foundation conducts second "Securities Market Quiz For Senior Graders."
- On July 27 the committee of the Quiz announced the results of the first round in which 421 students from more than 13 cities of Russia participated. Fifty-four students advanced to the second round, chosen through their papers on stock market reviews.
- In 2005, the Citigroup Foundation supported a two-year grant in the amount of US $100,000 to The Institute of Stock Market and Management (ISMM) to support the Securities Market Quiz For Senior Graders. The project's goal is to develop educational programs in finance among youth, to assist in personnel reserve training for the Russian stock market and attract the attention of the public to financial and economic education in general.
- Quiz finalists will receive certificates for free training in ISMM, as well as the possibility to visit a stock exchange or currency market and to train at Citigroup Russia, where they can study in detail bank activities related to the security market.
Citigroup Recognized for Second year for European Partnership with JA-YE
- Citigroup won a 2006 "Big Tick" Award from Business in the Community UK for its partnership with JA-YE. Our relationship extends across 20 European countries and includes hundreds of volunteers participating in local schools delivering enterprise education.
- Importantly, 13 Citigroup Country Officers sit on local and regional JA-YE boards, ensuring the sustainability of projects over the long term, providing thought leadership and encouraging participation from all levels of corporate activity.
- JA-YE has leveraged Citigroup's global reach to expand their operations and enterprise scheme. This is particularly the case in markets such as Portugal and France, where Citigroup is a leader in establishing JA-YE operations.
Latin America
Paraguay: Citibank N.A. Supports Elementary Education
- July 6, 2006: Citibank N.A. Paraguay Branch, in coordination with Junior Achievement, is executing the financial education plan at the Fulgencio R. Moreno National School and the Bautista de Herrera School in Paraguay.
- Students will learn basic business and economic concepts in dynamic, creative classes, which are being taught by Citibank employees.
- The program will be developed throughout the year and will include the participation of approximately 2100 students from the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades.
Ecuador: Citigroup Receives Recognition from JA for Supporting Financial Education
- July 24, 2006: Citigroup Ecuador received an important recognition from Junior Achievement for the support the company has given to thousands of low-income Ecuadorian children and youths since 2001.
- The support came in the forms of development and implementation of business and financial education programs that promote the development of skills and abilities of the children and youths. The programs also teach leadership and team building; contributing to better standards of living for the participants.
- Citigroup has donated US$100,000 over the last 5 years, with more than 6000 students from Ecuador's largest cities, Quito & Guayaquil, benefiting from these programs. In addition to the economic contribution, Citigroup Ecuador employees have participated as volunteers dedicating more than 3000 volunteer hours in each project, sharing their professional and personal experiences.
Asia Pacific
Japan: Citigroup hosts high school visit to head office in Tokyo
- On July 27th, eight high-school students from Hiroshima Onomichi High School visited Tokyo for a day and were given a tour of the Corporate Bank headquarters. The students were given a background on Citigroup and discussed topics such as innovation, corporate social responsibility and the ideal characteristics of a Citigroup employee.
- Manabu Yokoyama and Nobuhiko Fukunaga from the Treasury and Foreign Exchange departments presented students with an introduction to the Foreign Exchange and Interest Rate markets explained the fast-paced environment and took the students on a tour of the trading floor.
- The visit is part of a program at the school where students travel to Tokyo to visit and learn about an industry that they are interested in. Citigroup has hosted students interested in Finance for the past six years. Citigroup employees also visit junior-high and high schools, as well as universities, to speak with students on a wide range of topics that aim to provide a solid foundation in financial concepts and motivation for young individuals.
Hong Kong: Huge Response to Citigroup Stock Challenge 2006
- This year's Citigroup Stock Challenge in Hong Kong consisted of two sessions held from June 29-30 and July 3-4. The program gives Form 4 students the opportunity to take part in a two-day project-based activity that simulates a real stock market. A total of 372 students from 23 schools participated, demonstrating a significant increase of 36% from last year, and reflecting a growing interest in financial markets among students in Hong Kong. Student teams from Yan Oi Tong Tin Ka Ping Secondary School and Diocesan Boys' School took home the 2006 championship trophies.
- Dignitaries at the award presentation and closing ceremony included Mr. Lawrence Fok, Executive Vice President, Head of Business Development Division, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited; Mr. Yeung King Fai, Senior School Development Officer of Education and Manpower Bureau, HKSAR; and Mr. T.C. Chan, Citigroup Country Officer, Hong Kong and Head of Greater China, Corporate and Investment Banking.
- Citigroup Stock Challenge is jointly organized by Citigroup and the Learning Society, and sponsored by the Citigroup Foundation. More than 50 Citigroup employee volunteers participated in the program this year.
Korea: Citigroup Volunteers Trained As "Think Money" Instructors
- 26 Citigroup Korea employee volunteers completed the 2nd one-day instructor-training course on July 10 to support the Citigroup YWCA Korea Financial Education for Youth Program called "Think Money". The first group of trained volunteers have already reached 10,000 students in 15 middle schools during July. During the 2nd instructors training session, volunteers shared their experiences and teaching skills with their colleagues. The latest group of volunteers will reach 1,000 students that are participating in the YWCA Saturday School program from August to September.
- In early July, 80,000 copies of the Think Money textbook was printed and distributed to the schools that volunteers visited. In addition, promotional posters, leaflets, and student textbooks have been distributed to over 250 Citibank branches to promote the financial education program. Several branch managers have requested extra textbooks to share with the public, and the Financial Education PR Department under the Ministry of Finance & Economy asked for copies.
- The multimedia program based on the textbook is under production and will be completed in early August. When all the educational materials have been completed, a full package including the student textbook, teacher's manual, and multimedia materials will be distributed to schools that are participating in the "back to school" campaign from September to November.
Malaysia : Agent Penny Reaches East Malaysia
- The Agent Penny financial education program was launched on July 29 in Sekolah Kebangsaan Long Sukang, Lawas, Sarawak, which is in the hilly interior of the East Malaysia state. Students from four small rural primary schools participated in the launch, which was officiated by the Director of the Sarawak State Education Department.
- The 300 school children were joined by their teachers and parents, as well as the Lun Bawang community in Long Sukang. The volunteers were welcomed with a dance by the women folk in full native costume. The village bamboo band also performed on stage and the school choir sang two songs.
- Some of the children performed an entertaining skit about Agent Penny. In addition, entries by the four schools for the savings box design competition were judged and the winners were announced. The volunteers were from Citibank Kuching office, MINDS and the State Education Department as well as all 31school headmasters in the Lawas district.
Singapore : Citibank Launches Brand New Agent Penny Comic
- Building on the successful pilot of "The Adventures of Agent Penny & Will Power" financial education program last year, Citibank Singapore launched the brand new Agent Penny comic book, "Operation Finance", and interactive drama series on July 24. The launch event included a skit preview and was graced by Minister Of State For Education, Rear-Admiral Lui Tuck Yew.
- This is part of a Citibank two-year program supported by a grant from the Citigroup Foundation that will reach a wider group of primary school children and teachers. By the end of 2007, Citibank aims to intensify its efforts to reach 90 schools and 60,000 schoolchildren, with the drama series traveling to an average of six schools per month. This will be a three-fold increase from the achievements of the pilot last year, which reached 37 schools and more than 26,000 schoolchildren.
- Citibank and The Learning Society have also continued their partnership with local professional theatre group, The Necessary Stage, to produce skits depicting stories from the comic book. Students will be invited to watch and interact in the skit, which will be performed in primary schools and various community libraries. New resource kits for teachers containing curriculum ideas, teaching objectives, creative materials like games and quizzes, and teaching plans will be produced. Teachers and volunteers can use these kits in extra-curricular enrichment activities. For the first time, Citibank will also hold a training workshop for teachers, to help train them in key money management tools so that they are better equipped with the right knowledge to engage the children in classroom activities.
Taiwan : Volunteer Workshops Increase the Impact of "Dollars & $ense"
- Citigroup Taiwan conducted volunteer training for 40 employee volunteers on July 7 and 14 partly inspired by Simon Chung, head of Citibank Taiwan. Last December at Chong Li Vocational School, Simon spoke to an audience of 1,400 Taiwanese students at a Dollars & $ense campus session. Simon, whose native languages are English and Cantonese, tried his best to communicate with the students in Mandarin. Through anecdotes based on personal experience, Simon quickly bonded with the young audience and delivered valuable financial concepts to them.
- The enthusiastic feedback from the students combined with the experience of teaching financial management to today's youth, left such a positive impression that Simon has inspired many of his colleagues to participate in Citigroup Taiwan's community programs, such as Dollars & $ense.
- As part of the training session, videos showcasing the volunteer experiences of Simon and others prompted employees to discuss the importance of "giving back to the community." To top off the seminars, Chriss Chang who is an active volunteer, described her experience with the Dollars & $ense program in a presentation that ended with a Q&A session. Numerous employees expressed their willingness to follow the example of Simon and Chriss in advocating financial literacy amongst youth in the near future.
U.S. Financial Education Training
To date, more than 4,500 employees and non-profit partner staff have undergone training to teach financial education using the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum.
Almost 2,900 people have participated in the online training since the April 2005 launch of the site.
United States
CitiFinancial - second annual Financial Education Coordinator ("FEC") Offsite
- On July 18th & 19th, CitiFinancial held it's second annual Financial Education Coordinator ("FEC") offsite in Baltimore, Maryland. This two-day session included training by Shonna Jones Jacobs, Office of Financial Education, on the new Financial Education Program as well as updates on new web tools to both train the trainer and teach financial education.
- Each of the 12 Divisions of CitiFinancial are represented by an FEC whose role is to train employee-volunteers as well as train and coordinate events with local community groups and schools within their divisions. This group succeeded in training more than 1000 employees in 2005 and spearheaded hundreds of successful trainings and presentations reaching more than 10,000 children and adults.
Financial Education for the Young at Heart!
- During the week of July 24th, CitiFinancial Southeast Division Community Relations Manager Trena Delgado launched a "What is Money" Financial Education Program for local students in Indian Trail, North Carolina. The Financial Education programs were held in conjunction with "Life Skills Pavilions" included in their Summer Camp programs. By the end of the weeklong session, Citigroup's curriculum was introduced to over 200 students ranging in age from 4 years to 12 years.
COACH ME Conference at Kingsborough Community College
- On Tuesday, July 25th, the Office of Financial Education participated in the COACH ME Conference. COACH ME is a not for profit program that brings coaching, skill building and wisdom from executive coaches to women beginning their careers in a corporation, women taking on supervisory and middle management roles and women of all ethnic backgrounds.
- The Office of Financial Education delivered two workshops on Creating a Successful Financial Roadmap. In each session, women learned and acquired the basic skills and tools needed to budget, save and plan for both short and long term goals.
Citigroup Financial Education Summer Institute
- The Delaware Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship and the Delaware Financial Literacy Institute, thanks to a Citigroup Foundation grant, conducted a one-week training session from July 11 - 15, 2006 for 22 teachers of grades K through 12. For Delaware Public School Teachers, taking the course and developing and implementing a financial education program in their classroom, the course carried 3 graduate credits from the University of Delaware.
- During the five days, the teachers learned financial concepts from content experts including the DE State Bank Commissioner Robert Glen, Andrew Hill from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve, and Nancy Starke from CCCS of Maryland/Delaware. Terri Hasson from Citigroup taught the credit module. The teachers were then provided with age-appropriate materials and curricula (including the Citigroup curriculum) for use in their classrooms. Citigroup hosted the training at their Pike Creek operations site.
- Of the 22 attendees, there were teachers from grades 2 through 12 including Groves Adult Education/GED program, and two attendees from a local non-profit that provides financial education. Eight of the state's 19 public school districts were represented, along with one charter and one parochial school. All three Delaware counties were represented. The 22 teachers have a potential impact on 2,000 students in the first year.
National Association of Commissions for Women
- Citicorp Trust Bank, fsb (CTB) is working with the National Association of Commissions for Women to encourage their member organizations to use the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum to educate women in their community on financial topics. Dara Duguay presented the keynote speech at the conference; Shonna Jacobs demonstrated the curriculum at a plenary session; and Terri Hasson presented ways on how a large or small Commission can deliver components of the curriculum.
- There are 220 Commissions for Women in states, counties and cities all over the nation that address women issues. Representatives from thirty Commissions attended the conference with over 125 participants. CTB will follow-up with the commissions to assist with delivery and tracking of the program.
Governor's Institute for Personal Finance and Entrepreneurship Education at Lehigh University
- On Monday, July 31st, the Office of Financial Education delivered Financial Education Curriculum training to Elementary and High Teachers who come from all over the state of Pennsylvania. Approximately one hundred teachers representing kindergarten through twelfth grade along with ten additional educators serving on staff as teacher mentors were in attendance.
- The Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum will be used in the schools as part of their current curricula. Teachers who attended and participated received two graduate credits in exchange for their efforts. The program was offered at no cost to the teachers and was funded through a partnership of the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Banking and the Pennsylvania Office of Financial Education.
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