Money Smart Week® Chicago

The Unviersity of Illinois Extension is offering train-the-trainer workshops using Extension’s All My Money curriculum at several locations around Illinois over the next year, starting with the Chicago area in September. All My Money is a hands-on, train-the-trainer curriculum, designed for staff and volunteers in community agencies and social service organizations who work directly with limited-resource clientele. The lessons cover all the basics of money management and consumer skills.

All My Money training sessions will be held at regional locations throughout Illinois between September 2011 and summer 2012. Get additional information and register today!

Now in its tenth year as a Money Smart Partner, the Chicago Public Library (CPL) continued its commitment to Money Smart Week this past spring by hosting more than fifty events. These events covered a variety of financial literacy topics including personal investment and finance, IRS updates and credit and debt management. The CPL hosts financial education events throughout the year. Be sure to check out the upcoming events for this fall. 

Money Smart Week® activities appeal to a wide variety of consumers. In 2011, a variety of MSW events were held throughout Chicago and its suburbs at convenient times and in several different languages. Money Smart partners continued to expand their subject offerings and reach new audiences. More than 600 events and activities were offered and the number of attendees and participants exceeded 32,500. For more details about this year’s activity around Chicago, take a look at the annual report.

 Money Smart Week is proud to partner with Snoop Youth Football League Chicago (SYFL) to empower youth in under-served communities through financial literacy.

Through a series of programs and initiatives offered by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, SYFL student athletes will learn the basics about money, savings and investing in fun and exciting ways. Athletes will take part in the Money Smart Kid Competition, an annual essay contest where kids compete for scholarship dollars. The competition happens during Money Smart Week in Chicago – which offers a series of free classes and activities designed to help adults and children better understand and manage money. The partnership comes under the scholastic arm of Snoop Youth Football.

The Money Smart Week program director and SYFL Chicago executives are planning to incorporate various elements of Hip Hop and the entertainment business in next year’s event to help drive the message of financial empowerment to youth. Stay tuned for additional information!

Now, more than ever, the role of government in improving financial literacy for all consumers is critically important. Join Visa Inc. and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for the fifth annual Financial Literacy and Education Summit 2011. The event will be webcast live from the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago on Monday, April 4, 2011. The program, themed The Role of Government in Financial Literacy, is designed to cover economic challenges facing people of all ages and financial situations.

Thought you missed out? Read on, then click on the registration link. An on-demand video will be made available of the event.

The Summit featured Maria Bartiromo, anchor of CNBC's Closing Bell, Charles L. Evans, President and Chief Executive Officer Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and John W. Rogers Jr., Chair of President Obama's Advisory Council on Financial Capability Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and  Chief Investment Officer of Ariel Investments.

The event focused on the government's role working with financial education leaders and providers to equip consumers with the tools needed to make wise financial decisions. To view the webcast online, please use this registration link.

Since Kamal Bilal accepted the scholarship grand prize for the Money Smart Kid essay contest in April 2010, he has been anything but idle. He has continued to engage in financial literacy efforts through speaking opportunities. Kamal has served as a guest speaker for the Kids Money Smart Connection Workshop in August, been a guest on the CBS "Monsters in the Morning" panel and has been interviewed by the Chicago Tribune to discuss the Money Smart Kid contest. Not only has he continued to vocally advocate for financial literacy but he is also a writer for the Young America Saves newsletter and a writer for the On the Money Magazine.  Kamal is the perfect example of a “money smart” kid.