by RTSWS | Nov 19, 2018 | Uncategorized
It Starts with Step #1
TD Ameritrade’s ThinkorSwim offices hosted students from Chicago’s Lincoln Park High School. The field trip, and the entire Rock The Street, Wall Street year long program, is a decisive route in getting more girls interested in finance.
“If the girls know more about the programs that are available to them, if they know more about the challenges that do exist with regard to women and their finances as well as their lack of representation in leading roles in the profession, we, as volunteers, can help educate the students so that they begin to visualize controlling their financial lives as well as joining us in our careers. Step #1 is opening your eyes and being aware.”
–Alisa Kolodizner, CFP, Guidance Sales Manager at TD Ameritrade and RTSWS lead volunteer
The Chicago students’ eyes opened wide during their on site industry trip where they met female role models at TD Ameritrade’s Think or Swim offices. For the past two months, girls participated in classroom workshops at their schools where they were given hands-on financial projects to work on collaboratively with their classmates. This was capped off with the field trip to meet women who work with numbers – something they don’t see in popular culture.
If they can see it, they can be it. After tours of the trading rooms and offices, the students met and listened in on a lively panel discussion that included:
- Stephanie Lewicky, Senior Manager of Futures & Forex at TD Ameritrade
- Laura Van Peenan, Managing Director and Head of Chicago Coverage for William Blair
- Melissa Binder, Vice President of Distribution for PPM America
- Lorraine Gavican, Managing Director of Trader Operations, Supervision and Oversight at TD Ameritrade
A lively Q&A session ensued.
Step #2?
Make a connection
The Gen Z students connected and shared some of the following thoughts with us…
“I was one of the people who would say ‘Why do I even need math in my life?’ and now I know that I will need it for sure.”
–Amanda Kubanychbekoba, Lincoln Park High School“Before I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to take a math class in college or university but now I know that I want to because I realize that it is important in real life. It is always something teachers say you need but this has shown me that I really will need it.” — Eleni Bethke, Lincoln Park High School
And our champion teachers, those school teachers who help us recruit our students had this to say…
“To see the students’ enthusiasm after they were leaving the class that had been going on… how exciting! They said ‘what a great session!’ They feel confident and are very interested.” – Mary Enda Tookey, Lincoln Park High School
Throughout the semester, these RTSWS students have been eager to learn and engage with the financial professionals surrounding them in their classrooms and worked with them on their personal and professional goals.
RTSWS chooses to work with teenage girls who are beginning to define their future selves. We are influencing students at a crtical juncture in their lives – just before they choose their colleges and majors/minors.
We show young women that knowledge of finance is critical to their personal freedom. We offer, too, a view into the financial profession – an avocation where they can help change the trajectories of individuals, families, companies, municipalities, states and nations.
They can change the world.
Thank you, TD Ameritrade.
Your inviting corporate culture, innovation and leadership is just what our high school girls need to see.
by RTSWS | Oct 23, 2018 | Uncategorized
Look Out Cause Here They Come…
During the next three months, we will be taking our students to the financial frontlines as approximately 500 Rock The Street, Wall Street students take 17 field trips across 13 U.S. cities. Our first trip begins tomorrow in Chicago and will continue through December to financial institutions and financial departments from coast to coast. Girls will meet, many for the first time, REAL women in finance. Our field trips are packed with department tours, senior management panel discussions, small group huddles and Q & A sessions.
Today’s students are visual learners and a field trip lets them touch, feel, and listen to what they’re learning about in the RTSWS workshop “hands-on” financial projects, build on classroom instruction, gain a better understanding of finance and expose them to worlds outside their own. It inspires students to obtain skills to bring them to the next level.
Two of the goals of RTSWS is to catch girls BEFORE they get to college. We expose them to the M in STEM in high school so they can learn that a life of financial independence can be theirs AND there is a career in this field waiting for them.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for highlights and photos from our students’ trips into the real world of finance.
If they can see it, they can be it.
Schedule of RTSWS Field Trips, Fall 2018
October
TD Ameritrade, Chicago; Lincoln Park High School
TD Ameritrade, Omaha; Burke High School
HCA, Nashville; MLK Jr. High School
November
JP Morgan Chase, Nashville; Independence Academy High School
Fiduciary Trust, NYC, NY; Hunter College High School
TD Ameritrade, Fort Worth, TX; VR Eaton & Byron Nelson High Schools
Fidelity Investments, Merrimack, NH; Merrimack High School
TD Ameritrade, St. Louis, MO; Parkway Central High School
Nasdaq, NYC, NY; Hunter College Campus High School and Baruch College Campus High School
Jackson National Life, Nashville, TN; Centennial High School
LPL, Charlotte, NC; South Mecklenburg High School
Mediant Communications, Raleigh, NC; Panther Creek High School
December
CarVal Investors, Minneapolis, MN; Hopkins High School
SunTrust, Atlanta, GA; Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School
CalSTRS, Sacramento, CA; Rosemont & McClatchy High Schools
Kayne Anderson, Los Angeles, CA; Harvard-Westlake School
This is what instilling financial confidence in the next generation of women looks like.
by RTSWS | Oct 11, 2018 | Uncategorized
An Insider’s Look at an RTSWS Classroom Workshop
Forging Forever Finance Friends
The auditorium at Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School in Nashville, TN filled quickly as the high school girls entered in packs. A record 42 girls participated in financial modeling this semester. The girls knew there was work to be done—they were entering their FINAL Rock The Street, Wall Street (RTSWS) classroom workshop for 2018. On this day, our RTSWS volunteers – Jennifer Knight, Senior Investment Analyst at Hospital Corporation of America, Maggie Ehrenreich, Assistant V.P. Relationship Manager at Wells Fargo, and April Edman, Director of Financial Processes at Sarah Cannon Center, led the charge.
“Their eagerness to learn is inspirational. All the students have became more vocal as they understand this is a safe place to talk about money,” said Jennifer Knight.
Kerissa Bryant, a senior who hopes to attend Stanford next year, sat near the front as Jennifer gave an overview of their task for the day—break into groups and prepare a budget for Janella, a fictional 27-year-old woman who has a job, bills to pay and savings goals to meet. The students immediately get to work calculating and allocating together and bouncing ideas off one another. This collaborative approach to math application and exposure to financial professionals has opened the girls’ minds to managing their own money and to financial sector careers.
“I now know I am capable of having a career in finance, whereas before it was never presented to me” said Kerissa Bryant. “It also enforced I could start my own company – a dream of mine. I thought it was this big dramatic thing, but this program cemented to me that business and finance are not as complicated as I thought.”
As a public academic magnet school within Metro Nashville Public Schools, students at MLK need to qualify with an academic average of 85 or above and Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) scores that are “proficient” or “advanced.” In short, these girls have worked hard to get where they are.
MLK students agree that following the stock market is a particularly compelling part of the curriculum. Students follow the price patterns of a number of stocks throughout the five week series of workshops. This is just a small example of how RTSWS ensures our curriculum is “up to minute” and relatable to our students. They discover, too, the various career opportunities available to them in financial services – careers they had no idea even existed prior to joining RTSWS.
Awareness Allies
Awareness of pay inequality is the first step, not only for professionals in the workplace now, but for the next generation. RTSWS equips high school students at a pivotal point in their lives. As they embark on their life paths they are fueled with the data they need to be advocates for change for themsleves, and at their future colleges and workplaces. It starts with awareness…it continues with action! Below is a recent ADP study on gender pay inequality.
Thanks For Rocking Our Vote!
Out of 500 submissions and more than 166,000 votes, RTSWS is a First Tennessee #25YearsofGiving Winner. The funds will go directly to empowering high school girls in Tennessee to “own” their financial lives.
by RTSWS | Sep 26, 2018 | Uncategorized
Dear Rock The Street, Wall Street Volunteer,
Our school year is off and running! It’s full speed ahead as we get Rock The Street, Wall Street’s fifth year off to a record-breaking start with more than 450 students this semester, 120 volunteers, 13 cities, (7 new this year) and 18 schools, (9 new this year). We are truly coast to coast!
We could not reach the girls without YOUR involvement.
Thank you for:
- Spreading the word that a life in finance can indeed be a prosocial, self-transcendent purpose-driven career.
- Taking time out of your busy day to pay it forward to the next generation.
- Showing girls how to “own” their financial lives now.
- Teaching girls how to save and invest, not just budget.
- Lifting the veil on finance, which, for the most part, is nothing more than first year algebra.
- Changing the culture of the financial services industry by expanding the pipeline of future female candidates.
- Modeling to the girls that it’s just as much about confidence as it is capability.
As you lead the financial “hands-on project” workshops, you will see high school girls respond to YOU. Watch THEIR confidence grow as they take you in as their financial and aspirational role model. This is critical as the research shows:
- Neither mom nor dad are speaking to their daughters about financial management.
- The number one reason girls state they are not choosing STEM professions – They don’t see women in those professions. The number two reason – They don’t see their girl friends choosing those professions.
YOUR PRESENCE ON HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUSES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY CHANGES THIS!
Think about it… Imagine seeing 15 – 20 women in the M of STEM coming through the high school doors all at once. Talk about making an impression!
During our last five years, we’ve seen teenage girls begin to take ownership of their finances. YOU are the one who is changing the trajectory of these girls’ lives. As a role model and mentor, YOU “walk the talk” on all matters financial. YOU bring light where once there was darkness on these issues. Ask yourself… How many of YOUR girl friends are still in the dark on their financial matters? YOU are changing this.
Sincerely,
Maura Cunningham, Founder & Executive Director, RTSWS
Thank you to all the sponsoring firms and agencies listed below for their skill-based volunteers.
YOU ROCK!
by RTSWS | Sep 13, 2018 | Uncategorized
Facebook Live was abuzz last week as Nasdaq’s Meg Modic and Rock The Street, Wall Street Founder Maura Cunningham hashed out the challeges females face in finance and how to #RewriteTomorrow.Check out what all the emoji reaction was about. Feel free to express yourself and share it with YOUR social media connections now!
Role Models Matter
Nasdaq President and CEO, Adena Friedman, the first female to hold this position, is a fantastic role model for all RTSWS students. Why? The #1 reason girls aren’t choosing STEM professions – They don’t see women in those professions. The #2 reason – They don’t see their girl friends choosing those professions.
We are thrilled to be working with Nasdaq to #RewriteTomorrow today! Click below to see the recorded Facebook Live interview.
Don’t you know, they’re talkin’ bout a REVOLUTION
Join RTSWS Founder Maura Cunnigham in Sacramento for California Vision 2020 (#CaVision2020), a statewide incubator for societal change initiatives. During the three-day conference (Sept. 20-22), leaders will describe, envision — and execute — breakthroughs on the tough issues we are facing today such as gender bias in the workplace and financial illiteracy across the U.S. 
This year’s theme is “Lighting the Way to a Better Future,” featuring interactive presentations, panel discussions, roundtables, workshops, skill-building practice sessions and inspiring musical performances. The line-up of presenters includes Jennifer Siebel Newsom, Marianne Williamson, Louis Gossett Jr., Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Stockton Mayor Michael D. Tubbs, Valarie Kaur and more than two dozen other visionaries. #JoinUsCalifornia
Ain’t no hollaback girl
Ellen Hoffman, (l), CFP, Vice President at FTB Advisors in Nashville,TN and RTSWS volunteer, is an ironclad example of a young professional woman who is pioneering the way forward for females and giving our students a platform to find solidarity in their life missions.
Ellen launched Her Story of Success podcast to amplify the voices of women who are finding ways to overlap their personal life missions and interests into their everyday careers…something she says she found in being a financial advisor and volunteer with RTSWS.
Visit her site and learn more about how Ellen is raising the voices and profiles of local business women in Nashville, TN.
Change the lives of young women in your community.
