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Financial Education
Knowledge is your greatest asset. SM
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Highlights
Citi's Financial Education Program
 
Highlights February 2007
 
United States
 
Citigroup Foundation Awards $745,000 to the National Urban League
  • On February 13th, Ajay Banga, Chairman and CEO, Citi Global Consumer Group International, and Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League, announced the expansion of a national financial education program to six new markets: Philadelphia, Stamford, Long Island, Baltimore, New Orleans, and St. Louis.
  • The financial education program, expanding to six new cities, is designed to help people attain homeownership, broaden employment opportunities and teach the skills needed to make informed financial decisions. Each Urban League affiliate will use Citi's financial education curriculum to train its constituents on banking, money management, saving, investing, and credit. Local Citi businesses will support the programs with volunteer teachers and events.
  • In 2004, the Citigroup Foundation provided a three-year $900,000 grant for six NUL affiliates-New York City, Rochester, Chicago, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego – to enhance financial literacy among adults through the use of the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum. In 2005, Hartford was added and given a two-year grant of $70,000. The program will remain in the seven cities and will expand into the six new markets.
  • To date, there have been over 3,000 clients trained and 100 Citi volunteers, many from Citi's African Heritage Employee Network in New York.
Financial Education Legislation Introduced in the Iowa House of Representatives
  • Representative Dan Clute co-sponsored a bill in the Iowa House of Representatives that will require a ½ credit course on personal financial literacy for Iowa High School Students as a condition of graduation. The bill allows individual school districts the flexibility to determine how it will meet this requirement.
  • At a press conference announcing this bill, Rep. Clute said, “Like the theory behind compound interest, good financial decisions made early in life have a way of compounding themselves over a lifetime.” The bill was referred to the Education Committee where it will be considered for further action.
Citi Sponsors Financial Education Conference at Iowa State University
  • Citi was the sponsor of the 2nd Annual “From Debt to Dollars – Financial Empowerment for Young Women” conference at Iowa State University on Saturday, February 17th.
  • Shonna Jacobs from Citi’s Office of Financial Education served as the keynote speaker at lunch. The daylong event was attended by 75 young women and was hosted by Iowa State University’s Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at its campus in Ames, Iowa.
“Get Real” in Columbus Ohio
  • On February 19th, employees from CitiFinancial and CitiCards teamed up at the Ft. Hayes Metropolitan Education Center in Columbus Ohio to help high school students experience some of the rewards and challenges of adult life. Approximately 1,000 students took part in "Get Real.”
  • Student’s chose a career and a salary was assigned based upon their profession. Students then opened mock checking accounts, from which they had to pay for housing, taxes, childcare, education, transportation, utilities, groceries and establish a savings program. If the student ran out of money they had to attend credit counseling.
  • "Get Real" is a great experience for students to examine career goals, learn to manage money and understand how decisions they make now will affect their lives.
3rd Annual National Black Caucus of States Institute's Symposium on Financial Literacy
  • Dara Duguay, Director, Citi’s Office of Financial Education, spoke on a panel along with Representative Virgil Fludd (GA) during the 3rd annual National Black Caucus of States Institute's symposium on financial literacy. This event took place at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on February 23rd. The symposium brought together a diverse leadership to advance financial literacy education and asset building as a national priority. At this symposium, NBCSI gathered a record number of Black State legislators to the table to lead the discussions.
  • Duguay spoke during the opening session titled: The State of Financial Literacy: Policy & Legislation. Duguay's remarks centered on the legislative and policy efforts around the country as well as internationally. Additionally she spoke about Citi’s global commitment to financial education.
California Assembly Banking Committee Hearing on Financial Literacy
  • February 20th- Citi participated in a hearing on Financial Education of the California Assembly Banking Committee. Mary Hogarty represented Citi on the financial services panel and summarized Citi’s Financial Education commitment on a nationwide and global scale with particular emphasis on successful California projects.
  • The hearing was well attended by Banking Committee members with as many as ten legislators in the hearing room at any given time. Citi was also recognized for its $200 million global commitment towards financial literacy.
  • It is likely the state of California will reintroduce financial literacy legislation this year. Citi provided the Assembly with legislation from South Carolina as an example.
West Virginia Financial Education Foundation
  • On February 7th, CitiFinancial presented a $21,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation to the West Virginia Financial Education Foundation - a nonprofit established by the West Virginia State Treasurer's Office to promote financial literacy initiatives throughout West Virginia.
  • The grant will be used to launch train-the-trainer sessions for a corps group of teachers to learn personal financial literacy to be implemented in 2007/2008 as part of the new Civics lessons for High School students that will include financial literary as a core component.
  • The Treasurer's Office anticipates that teaching financial education will be helpful to building a stronger financial foundation for students as well as their parents.
Citigroup Foundation Awards $500,000 to Operation HOPE
  • Dallas, TX –– Building on the success of "Banking on Our Future," a financial education initiative designed to teach children the basics of managing their financial futures, executive vice president of Retail Banking for Citibank Texas, Bill Brown, and Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman and CEO, John Hope Bryant, announced plans on February 27th, to expand the award-winning, Banking on Our Future program, into South Africa later this year.
  • City of Dallas Mayor Pro Tem, Donald Hill, also participated in the event. The program expansion will be supported by a $500,000 grant from the Citigroup Foundation.
  • The announcement was part of Citi's activities to celebrate black history month and to promote Texas Saves Week, a financial literacy awareness assembly created to motivate and empower students.
U.S. Financial Education Training
  • To date, over 5,500 employees and non-profit partner staff have undergone training to teach financial education using the Citigroup Financial Education Curriculum.
  • Over 3,200 people have participated in the online training since the April 2005 launch of the site.
Asia Pacific
 
Thailand: Financial Realities and Responsibilities Highlighted at Citi's Financial Education Camp for Youth
  • Bangkok – The importance of being financially responsible was one of the focus topics of the 2007 Citigroup and Citibank Thailand Wealth of the Future financial education camp for teens. Held from February 2 – 4, over 40 students from Mathayom province were taught a range of financial management best practices and tips to help them in the future.
  • As in 2006, the camp was an interactive learning event where students were encouraged to ask questions and lead some sessions. Students participated in financial management challenges and put their newly gained knowledge into action. The activities included a budgeting task at a local market and a business plan development competition.
  • To see how a real-life business is managed, students visited a dried fish factory and had the chance to talk with the factory's senior managers. "The camp, and Citigroup Thailand's other related programs reinforce Citi’s commitment to promoting financial education at all levels of society," said Amit Sah, Country Business Manager, Citibank.
Citi Australia Launches "Girl$avvy" Financial Education Program for Teenage Girls
  • Sydney – As part of Citi’s global commitment to financial education, Citi Australia announced its partnership with YWCA NSW and the NSW Premier's Department Office for Women, to deliver a financial education program for teenage girls.
  • "Girl$avvy" is a series of one-day personal finance workshops that will run over the next two years in New South Wales for up to 5,000 young women aged 15-17 years. Initiated by the NSW Premier's Department Office for Women in 2002, "Girl$avvy" introduces students to women from a range of professional and business backgrounds and challenges their beliefs about work and financial independence. The Office for Women will continue its involvement and support for the program.
  • Funded by the Citigroup Foundation, a grant of A$560,000 will support "Girl$avvy" – a unique education program that challenges the way teenage girls think about their financial security. This grant brings the Citigroup Foundation's support for Australian financial education over the past four years to $1.7 million.
EMEA
 
Citigroup Foundation and ISMM Announce Winners of 2nd All-Russian Stock Market Quiz
  • Moscow – On February 1st, The Institute of Stock Market and Management (ISMM) and the Citigroup Foundation announced the results of the 2nd All-Russian Stock Market Quiz for secondary-school students.
  • Over 420 ninth to eleventh grade students from various cities sent in their answers to tests that were designed to show their knowledge of the stock market. Authors of the seventy most interesting papers received an opportunity to participate in the second stage of the Quiz in which students wrote economic essays covering one of the suggested topics.
  • The awards ceremony featured leading financial market experts who came to congratulate the winners. These included Vladislav Streltsov, Deputy Head of the Federal Financial Markets Service of the Russian Federation; Igor Kostikov, Chairman of the Guardian Council, The Institute for Stock Market and Management Fund; Oleg Safonov, President of RTS Stock Exchange; Dmitry Ivakin, Deputy Director, Department for Stock Market, Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange; Olga Kudinova, Deputy Chairman, National Stock Market Association; Maria Yarnykh, Director, Chief Operating Officer of Equities, ZAO Citibank, and many others.
  • The 2nd All-Russian Stock Market Quiz for secondary-school students was held from March 2006 to February 2007. The objective of this project is to promote financial education among the younger generation, assist in the training of a pool of Russian stock market professionals, and to raise social awareness of financial education in general.
Citigroup Foundation Grants US$50,000 to Tameer Foundation in Pakistan
  • February 27th, the Citigroup Foundation, provided a $ 50,000 grant to the Tameer Foundation’s Community Education & Outreach program.
  • Established in 2006, under the same banner as the Tameer Microfinance Bank, the Tameer Foundation’s primary goal is to spread financial literacy amongst potential microfinance clients. The Foundation aims to raise awareness of the existence and availability of financial services among the “unbanked” classes through nation-wide training initiatives.
  • Citi is arranging a “financial education for the poor” program in collaboration with Microfinance Opportunities and Freedom from Hunger in early April this year.
Citigroup Foundation and Bocconi University Enhance Financial Education Training for Italy's Future Business Leaders
  • The Citigroup Foundation approved a grant for the Private Banking course of Bocconi's specialist academic degree in Finance. The grant will finance the 2006-2007 teaching on the "Private Banking and Institutional Money Management" course, as well as a scholarship (taxes and expenses) for the top achieving second-year student.
  • The "Private Banking and Institutional Money Management" course, drills down areas such as private banking services, the management of portfolios and the management of client relationship. The course also includes a series of seminars and testimonials held either by private banking or asset management professionals to offer students a balanced mix between theory and practice.
  • The team of students that win the business plan game that is part of the project founded by the Citigroup Foundation will be awarded a trip to the Citigroup Private Banking unit in London.