By Megan Sayles,
AFRO Business Writer,
msayles@afro.com
Associated Black Charities (ABC), a Baltimore-based racial equity organization, will hold its first Teen Financial Literacy Summit on April 13 at the DoubleTree Baltimore North Hotel in Pikesville, Md. The free event builds on the success of ABC’s six-week Teen Financial Literacy summer series that took place last summer.
Baltimore area youth aged 12 to 16 are welcomed to attend the summit, alongside a guardian aged 18 and over, to learn about critical subjects, including entrepreneurship, budgeting, assets, liabilities, debt management, investing and philanthropy.
“As Black people, we’ve been disenfranchised from information on how to build wealth, how to have multiple streams of income and how to become investors,” said Chrissy Thornton, president and CEO of ABC. “As we are training the next generation, we need to make sure that the current generation not only has the information, but that they are positioned to be supportive of their children.”
Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby will open the summit with a keynote address. Attendees will then participate in breakout sessions on finance essentials. During one session, guardians and youth will separate. Adults will take part in a discussion about breaking generational mindsets around money while youth will learn about job seeking and interviewing skills.
The program employs curriculum from Morgan State University alumnus Kerwyn Phillip’s book, “Malik’s First Job.” The story follows Malik who has his first job interview at a local sneaker store. During his employment journey, he seeks his father’s guidance to learn how to manage money and become financially responsible.
(Courtesy of Kerwyn Phillip)
Phillip said he was inspired to write the book because he wanted to prevent young people from facing the same financial challenges he did.
“Coming out of college I didn’t know how to properly manage money. A lot of the things that I’m teaching now, I didn’t do myself,” said Phillip. “It caused me to get into debt and to struggle financially. I just wanted to share what I’ve experienced so that the next generation doesn’t go through the same thing I did.”
Without comprehensive financial education, Phillip said people are unable to create generational wealth and pass it on to their children. He cited a study conducted by The Williams Group that revealed 70 percent of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation.
“We’re hoping that with this program, we help spark conversation within households,” said Phillip. “These children are still in their teen years. We hope once they get older they’ll already have a basic understanding and appreciation of finance.”
Megan Sayles is a Report for America corps member.
