As we embark on another school year, we ask,
WHY DO GIRLS LIMIT THEMSELVES?
The answers to that question is too lengthy to address here today. What we can do, however, is continue to encourage girls to reach their full potential and excel in the M in STEM: finance. There is NO LIMIT to what they can achieve and having the financial tools to navigate their own way through life is paramount to a successfully led life.
Valiere, a TD Ameritrade professional, and Megan, a senior at Byron Nelson High School in Texas, (pictured above) recently shared with us the impact their Rock The Street, Wall Street mentor-protege relationship has had on their personal and professional lives. Listen in on what makes this pair a dynamic duo:
Rock The Street, Wall Street prepares high school girls for college and careers by offering mentoring and job shadowing to our students in the spring semester. Connecting with a female financial professional in a one-to-one mentor/protege relationship helps develop the future female finance professional pipeline. Equally important, it gives girls an opportunity to see financial professionals at work in this field where females and minorities are underrepresented. This is critical as women in STEM aren’t depicted in popular culture from which girls at this age are predominately influenced.
RTSWS Mentoring and Job Shadowing Helps Girls:
Why is this important?
One in three young people surveyed in The Mentoring Effect (2014) did not have a mentor while they were growing up. Applying their experiences to the U.S. Census demographics for 8 to 18 year olds, it is projected that 16 million young people, including 9 million at-risk young people, will reach adulthood without connecting with a mentor of any kind. It doesn’t have to be this way; contact us to make a difference today.
“When you get where you’re going, don’t forget to turn back around. Help the next one in line. Always stay humble and kind.” –Tim McGraw
We couldn’t do it without the support of the school superintendents, principals, teachers and volunteers who help us recuit our students across the cities.
The list of cities where we’ll be offering our newly enhanced year-long financial “hands-on” projects for girls include:
According to LinkedIn’s August 2017 Workforce Report, Nashville (where Rock The Street, Wall Street is headquartered) has a skills gap driven by a scarcity of workers with certain skills.
Our female financial professionals are teaching high school girls FIVE of the TOP TEN skills needed in today’s economy.
How many programs for girls in your city can make this claim?
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For the first time, The Opal Group scheduled a Summit in New York City with only women money managers on the day-long series of panels—The Women’s Investment Management Leadership Summit. The attendance was on par with the Emerging Managers Summit which was being hosted concurrently. Financial professionals including members of Single Family Offices, Allocators, Hedge Fund Managers and Venture Capitalists agreed the addition of the women’s conference made for a better, more mind bending conference.
Our Founder, Maura Cunningham, and RTSWS Board Member, Meredith Jones, discussed during one session, their ideas on filling the pipeline with more women and the steps needed to increase gender equality in financial careers. RTSWS was designated as the charitable partner for the event and connections were made with female and male leaders in the investment management industry and beyond.
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Our Founder, Maura Cunningham and RTSWS board member, Meredith Jones, are guest speakers at the Women’s Investment Management Leadership Summit in NYC this coming week. The two friends will discuss how to fill the financial pipeline with women by attracting them at the pre-college planning stage and ensuring that high school girls know how to budget, be bullish and breakout among the bros.
And in case you missed it, August 26th was Women’s Equality Day.
To celebrate contributions of women in all facets of life, USA Today posted an article highlighting quotes from modern-day trailblazers. Our newest board member Meredith Jones was quoted (and in good company with Melinda Gates):
