Empowering the Next Generation: Preparing Students for a Thriving Financial Future.
580+
students reached
36
workshops held
11
partner organizations
Our Process:
Dimes to Dollars is a peer-to-peer financial literacy program that aims to teach middle and high-school students the basics of managing their money. We hold our financial literacy workshops with youth-serving organizations across Southern California.
Dimes to Dollars typically holds three workshops for our partner organizations. Each workshop discusses a different aspect of personal finance. Our first workshop goes over income & budgeting, the second workshop goes over building credit, and our final workshop explains the basics of saving & investing.
Topics Include:
Income & Budgeting
- Finding a job
- Building a resume
- Taxes & budgeting
Credit
- What is credit?
- How to build credit
- Loans and interest
Saving & Investing
- Types of bank accounts
- Explaining investing
- How to prepare for your financial future
Our presentations are created using Bank of America's Better Money Habits financial literacy curriculum, and are presented by our team of trained students.
Our Process
Our step-by-step process to help eliminate financial illiteracy:
Sourcing
Our team contacts youth-serving organizations and community centers in Los Angeles and presents our concept. We coordinate with hosts to organize three, 30 minute seminars.
Presentations
Once we've coordinated with a host, members of our team present three presentations created using Bank of America's Better Money Habits curriculum over the span of three weeks. We also facilitate activities and discussions.
Continuation
Our journey doesn't stop there - Dimes to Dollars has partnered with financeforteens.org to create a weekly newsletter that explains a new financial concept every week, so students continue learning long after we leave.
Our Purpose
Dimes to Dollars was created out of a need for youth financial literacy. Schools and other community centers often overlook financial education, despite proper money management being an essential life skill. This leaves students, through no fault of their own, vulnerable to the cycle of financial instability.
We found existing financial literacy programs to be isolated to schools, so those without finance clubs or financial education classes are left with little to no financial knowledge. Dimes to Dollars aims to bridge educational gaps and reach students from all backgrounds.
Our peer-to-peer delivery allows our presentations to be interesting, interactive, and understandable; we don't emphasize technical terms or overcomplicate simple concepts so financial literacy is enjoyable and easily attainable.
Our Team
Our founding members and leadership met in high school and share a passion for financial literacy.
Peter Husman
Peter Husman enjoys math, science, programming, and all things technical. Starting from his passion for understanding the world around him, Peter began to explore topics related to the economy and his place in it. As co-vice president of his school's finance and investing club, he hopes to share this preparation with others.
Gautam Gupta
Gautam Gupta founded his school's finance and investing club after noticing a lack of financial literacy resources. Gautam interned with the California Council on Economic Education and writes for financeforteens.org. He founded Dimes to Dollars in an effort to expand his financial literacy efforts outside of his immediate community.
Gregory Kislik
Gregory Kislik loves teaching, helping others, and making sure that people have the knowledge to effectively manage their finances. Greg serves as the co-vice president of his school's finance club, working alongside Peter and Gautam. Originally, Kislik got into finance in order to educate himself, but now sees that financial literacy can be a tool for the betterment of all people.
Executive Leadership:
Junior Leadership:
Thomas Kim
Thomas interned with the Getty as a student gallery guide leader, providing him with experience with not only learning, but teaching students. Having a passion for learning, he studied economics, and was mentored by Peter, Gautam, and Greg, and continues the work they started by leading Dimes to Dollars seminars in his community. He believes it is critical to provide his community with an opportunity to prepare for their financial future.
Ethan Schweiger
Ethan Schweiger finds joy in the intricate patterns he sees in things like math and chess. Having gained interest in finance during the pandemic, Ethan views teaching financial literacy as a way to apply his love of numbers to helping those around him.
Where we are:
Dimes to Dollars has worked with ten organizations to serve over 500 students:
And many more!
TESTIMONIALS
"Some of our students had previously participated in financial literacy workshops presented by bankers, but they came away from your three Dimes to Dollars workshops with a better understanding and appreciation for the need to be knowledgeable about managing their money. Receiving this valuable information from other teens well-versed in budgeting, saving, credit, etc., was the best aspect of these presentations, as it gave them another perspective they could relate to."
Stella Murga / Executive Director / Adelante Youth Alliance
"Gregory and Gautam were incredible role models and educators to other young people their age – both in terms of content knowledge in investing, but also in taking initiative and problem solving. Seeing an issue in the community and doing the work to collaborate and solve it, making a meaningful difference in the lives of others. The presentation was well thought out, informative, professional, and Gregory and Gautam were able to answer all questions clearly, accessibly, and from a place of expertise. All youth and staff expressed gratitude for the experience, and we’d recommend collaboration with Dimes to Dollars. Thank you so much for all you do!"
Laura Hirshfield / Director of Career & Workforce Development / Sharefest
"Dimes to Dollars offers indispensable knowledge for youth transitioning into young adulthood that they would otherwise not get anywhere else. Their presentation is accessible and allows for a realistic discussion about finance with teens while the activity handouts provide a fun way for students to engage with the material. 826LA is thankful for the valuable information Dimes to Dollars shared with our students! We would love to host them again in the future."
Cecilia Gamiño / Program Coordinator / 826LA
Contact Us
If you're interested in hosting a Dimes to Dollar seminar, fill out this contact form and we'll get in touch.