When I joined Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF) this month, I knew I was stepping into a community of changemakers committed to empowering students through financial education. For me, as a Black woman, early educator, and social justice advocate, this journey is personal. I grew up in a predominantly Black and Brown community in the Bay Area, and like so many, I entered adulthood knowing more about Algebra than APRs and more about balancing chemical equations than balancing a checkbook. It wasn’t until I was an early-career educator myself that I realized the gap in my own financial education. 

Reflecting on my experiences as a teacher, I remember standing in front of a classroom of curious young students, their eyes wide with questions about the world, their futures, and, eventually, how they could achieve their wondrous goals of big homes and multiple trips to Disneyland a year. It was those questions from my students that ultimately opened my own eyes to how underserved our communities are when it comes to financial education. Those kids deserved answers that my own education had never provided me. I remember promising myself that I would work to bridge that gap not just for them but for students across our country.

I’m no stranger to working with students who face immense systemic barriers and hurdles. Equity has become the backbone of everything I do, even though, recently, it feels like "equity" is treated as a buzzword – or worse, a divisive one. But, to me, it isn’t just jargon or an agenda. It's the driving force behind my work. I joined NGPF because I believe financial education is a pathway to equity, a route for students to have a fair shot at their own dreams, regardless of the zip code they come from.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Financial education is a tool for bending that arc, equipping our youth with the knowledge they need to be economically self-sufficient and resilient. When I think about my role with NGPF, I imagine my younger self, sitting in a classroom, wishing for the tools to understand what financial freedom looked like. I imagine my own students, eager and ready to learn how they can navigate a world where financial education isn’t just a privilege, but a right.

About the Author

Kaytie Brissenden-Smith

NGPF's Professional Development Operations Manager Kaytie is a former early childhood teacher, instructional coach, and social justice advocate.

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