Please join the Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition and State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier for a summit on the financial literacy of Connecticut's youth to be held on Thursday, October 15, at the conference facilities at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.  The summit will bring together key stakeholders to plan a better financial future for our students.

Register Now! 

The $20 Registration Fee is not meant to be cost prohibitive.  Scholarship details can be made available by contacting Emily Bjornberg, Director of Financial Education, Office of the Treasurer  at Emily.bjornberg@ct.gov 

 

NOTE:  SUMMIT DOORS OPEN AT 1:45 PM and WORKSHOPS BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 2:00 PM!

Pre-Conference Workshops                                                  2:00 – 4:00PM

Two pre-conference workshop sessions are scheduled in this time block, and attendees will have the opportunity to choose among the four options below.  Registrants will receive a follow-up email in which they’ll be able to indicate their choices.

 Session 1

Workshop 1-A:  Leveraging Technology to Support Financial Education

Presenter:  Steve Sandak, EverFi

More and more schools are utilizing web-based technologies as an effective, cost-efficient means of enhancing their financial education programs.  This session, conducted by Steve Sandak from EverFi - a leading education technology company that provides online financial instruction to schools at no cost – will review how other states have leveraged these digital tools to better prepare their middle and high school students for their post-secondary money challenges.      

Workshop 1-B:  Money Smart for Young People: Raising Financially Capable Children

Presenter:  Robert Kinzer, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

The FDIC’s new “Money Smart for Young People” is a free, standards-aligned financial education curriculum series for use by both teachers and parents.  Robert Kinzer, an FDIC Community Affairs Specialist, will discuss the innovative features of this program, including its flexibility, age- and grade-appropriate modules and extensive range of accompanying resources.  He’ll also talk about the Parent/Caregiver Guides for each curriculum, which offer exercises, activities and conversation-starters on financial topics such as saving, setting financial goals, prioritizing spending decisions and staying safe online. 

 Session 2

Workshop 2-A:  The Impact of Financial Illiteracy

Presenter:  Stephen Bright, CFA, Senior Vice President, People’s United Wealth Management

During this session, Steve Bright of People’s United Bank will review key aspects of what it means to be financially literate and discuss how financial illiteracy at an individual level can aggregate to create problems on a broader, societal level.  Whether you’re an educator, a policymaker, a parent or simply an advocate of a financially-literate society, this workshop will help you understand the urgency of this issue.

Workshop 2-B:  Money on Campus:  The Financial Behavior of College Students and How to Improve It

Presenters: Mary Johnson, Vice President, Financial Literacy and Student Aid Policy, Higher One, Inc.;  Lewis J. DeLuca, Jr., M. Ed., Coordinator of Student Financial Literacy and Advising, Southern Connecticut State University

During this workshop, Mary Johnson of Higher One will review the latest findings of Money Matters on Campus, a national survey of 50,000 first-year college students conducted by EverFi and Higher One.  The study examines students’ financial attitudes, behaviors and knowledge to better understand student preparedness and what predicts both positive and negative financial outcomes.  She will be joined by Lew DeLuca from Southern Connecticut State University who will discuss the strategies he employs to help financially-strapped college students become better money managers.

 

Formal Presentations                                                        4:00 – 5:30 PM

Denise L. Nappier, Connecticut State Treasurer:  Personal Financial Literacy in Connecticut:  At a Critical Crossroad 

Laura L. Levine, CEO, Jump$tart National:  Financial Education Across the Country:  Change, Challenges and Success Stories

Jack E. Kosakowski, CEO, Junior Achievement USA:®  Getting our Kids on the Road to Economic Success 

Christopher Lee, President, CT Jump$tart:  CT Jump$tart’s New Survey of Personal Finance in Connecticut High Schools … and What It Means for the Path Ahead

 

Reception / Networking                                                               5:30 – 6:30 PM

                          

                              

The event will bring together representatives of the educational, government, business and nonprofit communities as well as state leaders, policymakers and parents to begin discussing and collaborating on new ways to improve the financial literacy of our students.

    

 

Summit Objectives

• Share what the latest research shows about the status of financial literacy in the United States and in Connecticut in particular  
• Examine the current and future impact of continuing on the present trajectory
• Begin a civic discourse on potential approaches/solutions to the problem of financial illiteracy among our youth

About the Jump$tart Coalition 

The Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy (www.jumpstart.org) is a national, non-profit advocate for financial education based in Washington, DC.  With a network of 51 affiliated state coalitions and their partners, the organization has become a well-respected national voice in, and resource for, the financial literacy effort— remaining steadfastly committed to its primary mission of developing “financial smarts for students."

Summit Speakers and Workshop Presenters 

 

Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier

As Connecticut’s chief elected financial officer, Treasurer Nappier oversees $54 billion in state funds, including the $30 billion Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds and a $20 billion debt portfolio.

Throughout her administration, Treasurer Nappier has served as a catalyst and effective advocate for financial literacy across the state.  She works with the private sector and community- and faith-based orgnaizations to expand financial education. Her office was a founding member of the Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition, and she was the driving force behind the annual Money Conference for Women.  Treasurer Nappier was twice named one of the nation’s 100 Most Influential People in Finance by Treasury & Risk Management magazine.

 

Laura Levine, President and CEO,  Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy

Laura Levine began her career in credit unions and was a credentialed Capitol Hill correspondent before moving into the securities industry.  She served as Director of Editorial Services for the National Association of Securities Dealers (now FINRA) and, later, as Director of Education and Information for the NASD Office of Individual Investor Services. From 1999-2004, Laura was Director of the NASDAQ Educational Foundation.

In 2004, she became executive director of the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, a Washington DC-based coalition committed to “financial smarts for students,” and was named President and CEO in 2011.   In 2008, she was appointed to the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy by President George W. Bush and chaired the Council’s Youth Committee.

Jack E. Kosakowski, President and CEO, Junior Achievement USA®

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Junior Achievement USA, Jack Kosakowski heads the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices.

Starting as a student in the Junior Achievement program in Toledo, Ohio, he attended the University of Toledo on a Junior Achievement scholarship and has since served in a variety of staff positions with increasing levels of responsibility over the past 40 years. He was named President and CEO of Junior Achievement USA in 2007.

Jack was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve a two-year term on the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy in 2008.

Christopher M. Lee, CFP,® President, Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition

 Chris Lee is currently co-owner of New England Capital Financial Advisors, LLC (a Registered Investment Advisor company registered with the SEC) and has been in the financial service industry since 1993. He holds a B.S.  degree in finance from Central Connecticut State University’s  School of Business and received his Certified Financial Planner ™ designation in 2007.

Chris is a speaker and seminar leader on various financial planning topics. He has also written articles for numerous newspapers and trade journals.  Chris has been the President of the Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition since 2011.

Steve Sandak,  Director of K12 Partner Services, EverFi

As Director of  K12 Partner Services based in EverFi’s Boston office, Steve Sendak leads a team of implementation specialists helping  thousands of schools educate their students in critical life skills through EverFi's web-based platform.  Prior to his role at EverFi, Steve was a high school teacher in both Colorado and Boston. He also served in the office of Family and Student Engagement at Boston Public Schools through the Education Pioneers Graduate School Fellowship. A native of Stamford Connecticut, Steve holds degrees from Colby College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Robert P. Kinzer, Community Affairs Specialist, FDIC

 Robert P. Kinzer is a Community Affairs Specialist in the Division of Depositor and Consumer Protection at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).  He represents the FDIC’s interest in advancing financial education and economic inclusion through his work with leaders of community-based organizations, schools, governmental agencies and financial institutions.  Robert’s thirty years of experience in the financial industry includes positions in both the private and public sectors.  His experience is diverse, ranging from brokering personal and institutional stock trades, to performing financial analysis and reporting on financial institutions, to managing the liquidation of banks.

Stephen W. Bright, CFA, SVP & Senior Portfolio Manager, People’s United Wealth Management

Steve Bright has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry and recently joined People’s United Wealth Management as a Senior Portfolio Manager.

He has been managing diversified portfolios for high net worth individuals and non-profit organizations for the last fourteen years at Webster Bank and Trust Company of Connecticut, a division of NewAlliance Bank.  He held CIO level positions at both NewAlliance and Trust Company of Connecticut and worked on equity, fixed income and mutual fund research throughout this period. 

Mary Johnson, Vice President, Financial Literacy and Student Aid Policy, Higher One, Inc.

 Mary Johnson’s experience includes more than 25 years in higher education finance and state student financial aid administration. As Associate Commissioner for Finance and Administration at the Connecticut Department of Higher Education, Mary was a strong advocate for maintaining college affordability and financial stability for students. She also managed the development of an online, interactive financial literacy program specifically for college students.

 As Vice President for Financial Literacy and Student Aid Policy at Higher One, Mary manages the $tart with Change initiative, which focuses on increase financial capability among today's college students, and the Financial Literacy Counts grant program, which supports financial literacy efforts at colleges and universities.

 

Lewis J. DeLuca, Jr., M. Ed., Coordinator of Student Financial Literacy and Advising,Southern Connecticut State University

Lew DeLuca is a seasoned college enrollment manager with over twenty years in private and public college admissions, financial aid and financial literacy and advising.  His background also includes experience in teaching, athletic recruitment and consulting.

As the Coordinator of Student Financial Literacy and Advising at Southern Connecticut , Lew works with various cross-divisional staffs to design, implement, and assess financial literacy programs and financial planning services for prospective and current students. Through advising, outreach and on-campus programming, his goal is to raise student awareness about financial literacy, student aid programs, scholarships, career paths, and long-term financial obligations.