The ratification of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, or ECOA, 50 years ago marked the end of illegal lending practices that discriminated against borrowers based on their race, sex, age, religion, national origin, marital status, and source of income. Financial inequality, however, is still a persistent issue in the United States. One solution to this ongoing issue is closing the education gap when it comes to topics surrounding financial literacy. In this special episode, we sit down with Courtney Pettway, CEO and Co-Founder of KidVestors, and Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street, Wall Street. These organizations are two of the 50 projects supporting women’s financial independence that were awarded funds as part of the SoFi Give Her Credit Program. Both organizations seek to empower young people by teaching them the fundamentals of saving and budgeting, the benefits of growing their wealth through investing, and exposing them to female role models in math and finance. Kidvestors is an award-winning educational platform that teaches kids about money and finance tops in fun, accessible ways. Rock the Street, Wall Street is a non-profit organization that teaches the fundamentals of investing and finance to high school girls and undergraduate women. For more, read Liz’s column every Thursday at On The Money by SoFi, sign up for the On The Money newsletter, and follow Liz @LizThomasStrat. Notable mentions in the episode: 00:00 Introduction 02:11 The idea behind KidVestors 03:48 KidVestors target age groups 06:03 Making learning finance fun 07:24 Drawbacks to not teaching kids about money 13:31 The mission of Rock the Street, Wall Street 16:04 When intervention is critical for girls 19:17 Importance of female role models in STEM and finance 22:12 Value of early financial literacy education 31:49 The confidence gap between men and women 34:45 How corporations benefit from employee financial wellness 44:00 The importance of DEI for closing the wealth gap 47:40 What should change about how we teach financial literacy today 54:17 Closing Thoughts Additional resources: On The Money: Sign up for SoFi's newsletter for intel, insights, and inspo to help you get your money right. Investing 101 Center: At SoFi, we believe investing is for everyone — which is why we’ve created a hub with info for beginners and experts alike. Start exploring to get investment education, advice, resources, and more. Wealth Investing Guide: Information you need to know to make your money work harder for you. This podcast should be used for informational purposes only and not deemed as a recommendation. Our Automated investing is via SoFi Wealth LLC, and is a registered investment advisor. Our Active investing is via SoFi securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest® platforms, please visit www. SoFi.com/Legal. ©2024 Social Finance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.