Financial Literacy

Financial Literacy

As a Financial Backpack Volunteer you can help us to bring financial literacy education to our local high school and college students!


The Financial Backpack Committee offers educational workshops for local teens and college students with the mission of educating and empowering students to achieve their goals and learning how to make informed decisions of their financial resources. Participating students will learn practical personal financial skills and can become more confident understanding the concepts of saving, investing, and managing credit, which can help them build financial well-being.


Our approach is based on encouraging student interaction and cultivating learning through real-life examples. Our newly enhanced curriculum is adapted for today’s youth and culture and accommodates either virtual or an in-person classroom setting. The new materials are also very robust and are flexible enough to allow volunteers to cater the materials to the specific audiences. FWA members can volunteer for one session or a series of sessions, and training is provided for each workshop.


For more information on joining the committee, please contact the Committee Co-chairs Suzanne Matthews or Lindsay Starr.


Participating Organizations

Thanks to our generous sponsors for their continuing support of the Financial Backpack program.


Program History

In 2001, the FWA began offering financial literacy workshops to high school students through the Financial Backpack program, where participating students learn practical personal financial skills, such as budgeting, investing, and planning for college. Financial Backpack is delivered in a classroom setting with a FWA member, NYC teacher, and college student team-teaching. The curriculum consists of six modules, which can be modified and arranged to cater delivery to the participating school or organization. We present these topics in a highly interactive manner, using real life case studies to get students thinking about real life applications of these important personal finance ideas. Over 2,800 students have participated and benefited from this program.


The adult financial literacy program started in 2004 with the goal of enabling adult women to better control six critical areas of personal financial decision making. The committee works in partnership with nonprofit training organizations in New York City to assist them in providing these skills to their students: with the Grace Institute, where adult women are trained for entry level administrative roles, and Non-Traditional Employment for Women, where adult women train for entry into the construction trades. The workshops focus on skills that enable these women to develop budgets, manage down their debt, and make the most of on-the-job benefits. The adult program is delivered in a classroom setting, with FWA members team-teaching sessions with the assistance of a peer trainer who is a representative of the student population, and a peer administrator who is responsible for the scheduling, attendance, and distribution of materials for each of the sessions.

Share by: