Project Elevate, a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading financial literacy among the youth, has been educating various schools across the Bay Area over the past year.
The co-founders, Ritika Rawat and Linda Molnar, are juniors at Carlmont High School and presented this idea at the DECA State Career Development Conference. They won and are moving on to the DECA International Career Development Conference.
Rawat and Molnar are motivated by this cause due to the alarming low percentage of financial literacy among adults. Only 57% of adults are financially literate, and the numbers continue to drop after each generation, with only 36% of Generation Z being financially literate, according to Zippia.
However, according to Zippia, 73% of teenagers want more education regarding personal finance, demonstrating that there is an audience of students who wish to learn more about financial topics.
“A lot of young people these days, I feel, are somewhat unprepared for the real world in terms of personal finance,” said Alex Kim, a sophomore at Carlmont High School and vice president of Project Elevate.
Especially because of the declining financial literacy rate among the newer generations, Project Elevate aims to help students start early in their education on these topics.
“We were inspired by the lack of financial literacy education that is relevant in schools and students’ longing for financial education that’s not being available to them readily,” Molnar said.
To ensure that each student they teach is engaged, Rawat and Molnar tailor their content based on the grade level, class, or any other preferences of students.
“We have many activities, simulations, partner group work, multiple choice questions, and also instate pre-tests and post-tests to make sure students understand what we are saying and to get a sense of what areas might be weaker,” Rawat said.
Rawat and Molnar have many plans for further expansion of Project Elevate to allow more students to obtain education in financial literacy.
“We want to expand our mission as far as we can. We want to get more students into our workshops while also maintaining the highest quality of standards,” Rawat said.
Project Elevate’s plans for the future will continue to inform even more students about financial literacy and expand opportunities through further outreach.
“We’re going to be holding our second round of workshops starting May 4. We’ve also been in communication with the San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools to talk about financial literacy in schools,” Molnar said.
