Calcala Acheret Program

• Senior business managers, students and employees participated in the ceremony marking the first year of the Financial Education Program “Calcala Acheret” launched by Citi Israel and Tel Aviv University with a grant from the Citi Foundation. Certificates were awarded to the students participating in this special program and to Citi Israel volunteers. The ceremony included a presentation about the Israeli economy by one of the leading professors in the University.

Entrepreneur of the Year Competition

• 200 Unistream students competed on August 23rd for the title "Business Entrepreneur." Unistream, which promotes business and social leadership among teenagers in the periphery, marked the end of the year with an "Entrepreneur of the Year" competition in collaboration with Citi Israel. The judges’panel included Itzik Coriat, Citi Israel GTS Head, and Michal Engelberg, Community Relations coordinator. Unistream’s Youth Entrepreneurship Program is funded by a grant from the Citi Foundation.

European Coalition for Responsible Credit Conference

• Partially sponsored by Citi, on September 14-15th the European Coalition for Responsible Credit (ECRC) hosted their annual international conference in Brussels which brought together over 175 people from 32 countries. Participants included representatives from consumer organizations, welfare and debt organizations, financial services companies, the EU Commission, the EU Council, and the EU Parliament. The focus of this year’s conference was “Regulation, Education & Cooperation in Responsible Financial Services.”
• Three Citi subject matter experts participated on panels: Dara Duguay, Citi Office of Financial Education; Torsten Knapp, Citi Germany; and Guy Schellinck, Citi Belgium. In addition, Citi colleagues from Belgian public affairs, International Government Relations, and EMEA community relations attended the conference.

The Economics of Staying in School

• Junior Achievement courses started in September in Madrid and Sevilla with trained Citi volunteers eager to go into the schools. The program is supported by the Citi Foundation and promotes financial education in addition to providing opportunities for students in some of the most economically disadvantaged areas of Madrid and Seville. The program will soon be expanded to Barcelona and Valencia.
• The project “Financial Education for youth at risk of social exclusion" includes a Financial Education handbook for those young people who have a very low academic level and who, from the start, show little interest in theoretical training.
• A summary of the material:
  • Learning the different types of money
  • Learning how to use the basic tools in financial education such as identifying and using the mathematics that exists in day-to-day transactions (bills, incomes, payroll, sales, etc.)
    • Learning the basic banking services
    • Learning about saving and investing
    • Learning about credit

Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC)

• A grant from the Citi Foundation was given in support of a three-year Building Regional Bank Capacities Program. As a result of the program, regional banks in Russia will receive top-notch technical assistance to better manage risks, improve governance and transparency, and, thus, further their ability to service customers.
• FSVC has used prior funding from the Citi Foundation over the past seven years to implement the Bank Management Internship Training (BMIT) program. Over the past several years, however, regional banks have found it increasingly difficult to send senior management away on extended training. Therefore, this program foresees bringing the expertise to Russia’s regions. Approximately 200 bankers will be trained, with a much larger population in turn being served through increased financial inclusion.

Citi and Junior Achievement launch joint volunteer project

• This project was launched on September 25th and was designed to teach pupils from selected Moscow schools on the principles of the banking industry and finance in general. 25 Citi professionals agreed to volunteer their time during 40 minute lessons twice a month in selected schools in Moscow.

Young Enterprise

• Per Etholm, Citi Swiss Chief Country Officer and Chairman of Young Enterprise Switzerland, addressed 400 members of the Swiss Association of MBAs at their first annual forum last Saturday, September 29th. He was invited to talk about the organization and he introduced a Mini Enterprise management team which presented its award-winning product as an example of what JA-YE does to promote entrepreneurship.
• Young Enterprise Switzerland was the only non-profit organization invited to present and have a stand during the day. Proceeds of a silent auction were donated to the organization.

Foundation for Teaching Economics’ Leaders Program

• Citi Bulgaria and Citi Foundation continue to support financial education in Bulgaria by sponsoring the Economics for Leaders Program conducted by the Foundation for Teaching Economics. Fifty Bulgarian high school teachers from schools all over the country attended the week long program held at the American University in Blagoevgrad from July 29th to August 3rd 2007.
• The program provides teachers with professional development training. It aims to make them better educators, while teaching them new strategies, interactive techniques, simulations and games, all aimed at making economics more exciting to students.
• Stefan Ivanov, Citi’s Chief Country Officer attended the event and handed out certificates to the course participants at the official closing ceremony.

Junior Achievement’s Banking Program

• With funding from the Citi Foundation, more than 200 teachers throughout the country took part in the traditional 'banking programs' training that Junior Achievement Bulgaria (JAB) organizes for its participants. This year JAB dedicated a special training seminar on "Banks in Action" on September 12th.
• Representatives from Vocational High Schools in Economics in 23 cities took part in the seminar, conducted by JAB and professionals from Citibank’s Sofia branch. The expected number of students that will participate in the program for the 2007-2008 academic year is around 1100.

Economics for Leaders Program Took Place

• The one-week program, “Economics for Leaders 2006,” took place in August in the Czech Republic for the 16th time. The program was organized by the “Liberal Institute" and supported by the Foundation for Teaching Economics with funding from the Citi Foundation. Citibank was represented by Ondrej Moravec who gave a lecture on Credit Cards.
• Economics for Leaders brings together teachers and students in one learning environment and couples economics and leadership education. Young people learn about incentives, motivation, and cost/benefit analysis and they learn to make a distinction between value-laden judgments and empirically verifiable ones. Then, applying these economic principles to leadership situations, the students explore the correlation between economics and leadership through rigorous and challenging activities. The teachers learn both economic content as well as experiential teaching techniques that they take back to their classrooms extending the impact of the program to many more students. Citi Foundation sponsors Economics for Leaders in Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Bulgaria.

Money for Living Program

• The Money for Living project was successfully started in January 2002. Citi in the Czech Republic and the Citi Foundation are key supporters of this project. The goal of the project is to support children who grow up without their families in children houses, especially around the development of their financial and economic literacy. Nine Citi volunteers attended this year’s second round of the program on September 8th either as leaders of the children’s teams or as tutors.
• Topics were:
  • Why and where to work
  • Dealing with authorities
  • Financial management
  • The Bank - basic info

"Adventures of Agent Penny" comic book & play launch

• Fifth and sixth grade school children can now learn about money management with help from "The Adventures of Agent Penny," an interactive comic book and drama-based financial education program supported by the Citi Foundation. Teater Koma, a well-known local theater group, worked with Citi Peka (Citi Indonesia's community arm) to develop a fun and interactive play to communicate the importance of financial education to children. Headmasters from 160 Jakarta primary schools were invited to watch the Agent Penny play at the launch.
• In stage one of the program roll out, Citi Peka will invite 60 schools to participate in the initiative. Citi Peka representatives will also spend an hour at every school to distribute comic books, explain concepts and run a question and answer session with the students.
• The school visits will commence in August and run until the end of the year. During the visits, Citi Peka volunteers will distribute 6,500 copies of the comic book to students and 500 copies of the teacher's guide book. Three important fundamentals are covered in the comic book: (1) the importance of saving for the future, (2) spending wisely and (3) financial planning for the future.

Citibank Savings & Award-winning educator launched "Take Charge of Your Money"

• On September 4th, Citibank Savings launched its new "Take Charge of Your Money" financial education seminar series with Dr Queena Lee-Chua - a multi-award winning educator, writer and columnist. Dr Lee-Chua incorporated many realistic case studies and simple charts and plans.
• Designed to help clients and members of the public better manage their money and build a secure financial future, the seminar covers five subject areas namely: “Budgeting”, “The Magic of Compounding”, “Inflation”, “Saving and Investing,” and “Setting Financial Goals”.
• The talks will be held in Citibank Savings’ 36 branches nationwide, as well as a number of venues in neighboring communities.

Citi & FINEX Launch Outstanding Financial Educators Awards Program

• Citi Philippines and FINEX Foundation joined forces to launch the first search for Outstanding Finance Educators in the Philippines. The recognition award – Rafael B. Buenaventura Outstanding Finance Educators Awards - is in honor of the late BSP (Central Bank of the Philippines) governor.
• Catherine Weir, then ASEAN, Markets & Banking and Citi Country Officer for Singapore spoke about the development of capital markets in the Asean region.

Atlas Citibank Implements Financial Education Program in Copiapo

• More than 20 students from the Jose Manso de Velasco School participated in an educational event held in the Financiera Atlas premises in Copiapó. The purpose was to improve the financial culture of the population.
• This initiative aims at introducing the school-going community to all aspects of the financial world by means of a tour through all the departments of Atlas Copiapó, where the children learn about the work of this financial institution.

"Banks in Action" Program to Award Young Bankers-to-Be

• More than 600 children from Quito and Guayaquil are participating in the "Banks in Action" program, which teaches children how to become bankers and make business decisions. The program, sponsored by Junior Achievement and the Citi Foundation, is designed to involve young entrepreneurs in activities to develop their vision of business.
• During the program students learn basic concepts related to economy and finances. Currently, students from different schools, including Camilo Ponce Enriquez, Manuel Cordova Galarza, Velasco Ibarra, Luis Napoleon Dillon, among others, are participating in the program. Training sessions are carried out by Citi executives, who every week attend the above-mentioned schools to teach and support students.

Citi & Junior Achievement Partner with MESE Program

• Through a Citi Foundation grant, Junior Achievement, an educational program of Fundación Paraguaya, completed the annual competition of one of its most successful programs: Management and Economics Simulation Exercise (MESE). The finals took place at the Citicenter building, with the participation of the finalist teams from each school.
• MESE is a business simulation software which offers young participants the opportunity to operate their own virtual companies in an environment that simulates the real business world. Participants must stretch their strategic analysis and decision-making skills, including the impact of their decisions in different circumstances.
• Over 3,300 students forming 1,100 teams from 43 public and private schools from the interior and the capital city participated in the competition, which lasted over three months. Participants manage topics such as the business and its environment, administrative management, marketing, financial management, accounting and production.

Citi Partners with Junior Achievement on Financial Training Course

• After last year's successful pilot experience, Citi Uruguay in partnership with Junior Achievement launched the first edition of its Financial Training Course on Monday, September 3. This is an educational program funded by the Citi Foundation, which targets 60 high school seniors from schools in Montevideo.
• Students will receive theoretical training from senior Citi executives during eight weeks. The classes are designed to give participants an overview of the bank and financial industry, including a brief history of the banking sector, its main operations and procedures as well as its products and services.

High School Students Compete in JA "Banks in Action" Program

• Every year in Costa Rica, the Citi Foundation sponsors the program JA "Bancos en Acción," (JA Banks in Action) through which high school teenagers have the opportunity to live the experience of learning how to manage a banking institution within a competitive environment. This project is implemented together with the organization, Junior Achievement Costa Rica. More than 3,000 public high school students have completed the program to-date.
• This year, eight public high schools from different parts of the country participated in this activity during a four-month period and then they begin the competition. During the first stage, high schools compete among themselves to determine the team that will represent them in the final national competition. The winning team will represent Costa Rica in the Latin America Competition to be held during the month of November in Panamá.