Phoenix Club of Nashville joins forces with RTSWS and MNPS Overton High School to empower girls with the M in STEM.
Last year The Phoenix Club of Nashville (PCON) awarded Rock The Street Wall Street (RTSWS) $12,500 to co-sponsor our program at Metro Nashville Public School, Overton High School. Using their Venture Philanthropy (VP) process, PCON partnered with us–creating a relationship of mutual respect and passion for change.
You might think RTSWS which caters to females ONLY, would NOT have much of a champion in a men’s ONLY organization. However, we have met our match with PCON and are very alike in what we are trying to achieve:
PCON’s mission is to benefit under-served youth in Middle Tennessee AND to develop its members into leaders who will address diversity and inclusion issues in their community and in their business.
Want to hear more about how that aligns with RTSWS? We asked 2018 PCON President Dave Hanson “the hard questions.” See below for his answers.
Q:Why did your club want to sponsor the RTSWS program at Overton High School?
A: There are many reasons, but some of the most meaningful are that RTSWS: 1) Clearly articulates the problem they are trying to solve
2) Has a passionate and capable management team and organizational structure
3) Tracks the outcomes of how girls in the program progress in business and finance
4) Mission aligns with the background/experiences of many PCON members, many of whom are finance professionals
The opportunity to co-invest with the HCA Foundation at Overton High School was one that made a lot of sense for the Phoenix Club. Our corporate development team, led by Roscoe High & JC Darby, is constantly looking for collaborative partnerships with business leaders in Middle TN, and the co-investment at Overton fit squarely into what we are looking to achieve. The Phoenix Club sees dozens of non-profit programs per year, and we hope to build on this model as we work with other corporations / foundations to help them achieve their philanthropic goals.
Q: Why does a club for men think it’s important for high school girls to know how to budget, save and invest?
A:PCON and RTSWS both look to provide equality of opportunity and access to valuable skills and programs that can dramatically change family trajectories in one generation. RTSWS’ program has served as a reminder that things don’t just change on their own—people have to create the world they want to see. Economic empowerment carries lasting impact. Understanding the core components of finance can provide a sense of security, and the ability to go out and take a risk and make better decisions for yourself and your family. No one should be limited by a social stereotype or historical gender role, and sometimes it just takes a nudge to remind people.
RTSWS is providing valuable skills and new economic opportunities for girls in Middle Tennessee. These opportunities are creating a brighter future for girls in Middle Tennessee and has a “compounding interest” effect as more and more girls follow in their footsteps.
PCON you’re a spark plug for good!
Thanks for igniting something amazing at MNPS Overton High School!
WHO: CORPORATE PARTNERS – LPL Financial and MFS Investment Management
AND WHO ELSE: HIGH SCHOOL PARTNER- South Mecklenburg HS
WHAT: MOST SUCCESSFUL RTSWS INAUGURAL LAUNCH AT A NEW SCHOOL!
WHERE: CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
WHEN: FALL AND SPRING SEMESTERS, 2017/2018
# OF FALL STUDENTS – 55 STUDENTS – OUR MOST EVER AT ONE SCHOOL!
# OF SPRING PROTEGES – 41 STUDENTS – OUR MOST EVER AT ONE SCHOOL!
# OF VOLS – 41 LPL VOLUNTEER MENTORS – OUR MOST EVER AT ONE CORPORATION!
Changing the Perception of Finance
Students from South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, NC rocketed over to the East Coast corporate offices of LPL Financial – the largest independent Broker-Dealer in the US – for their RTSWS field trip and met more women of LPL. The field trip capped off five weeks of financial “hands on” projects led by LPL female fiancial professionals. During the field trip, the pros spoke of their own college and career trajectories and about getting on the right pathway early in life with their personal finances.
Cheryl L. Vanosdall, Teacher and Math Academic Facilitator at South Mecklenburg said, “The girls talked about the field trip the entire way back to school on the bus and then to their teachers once they returned. I had a teacher stop by my office at the end of the day and asked me how the field trip went. As I was telling her all about it, she said, “I know. A couple of the girls came back to my class when you returned and told me everything with such enthusiasm and excitement.”
#FinanceRocks!
RTSWS provides access to valuable skills and programs that dramatically change family trajectories in one generation.
That’s the POWER of being financially literate.
Charged. Inspired. Grateful.
That’s how your generosity makes our students feel.
Just a few blocks from the “Charging Bull” and “Fearless Girl” installations in the Wall Street district, NYC Baruch College High School girls came face-to-face with their financial future during their RTSWS field trip to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) offices.
Kay, a RTSWS student from Baruch, best states what the RTSWS financial projects she worked on during the semester means to her and her classmates in the video above:
“Math, and science and finance (aren’t) really just some school subjects that I have to sit though. (They are) things I am going to need in the real world.I’m so lucky to be learning about it now, because so many young women, and youth in general, don’t get the opportunity. It made me more aware of how much privilege I have to get educated on these topics… My entire group (of classmates), realized that it isn’t just this fictional person named Jane – that it’s going to be us when we graduate in two years and when we’re in college…and then (when we’re) independent…”
If they can see it, they can be it.
During the Manhattan field trip, these RTSWS students:
Met Melanie Mortimer, President SIFMA Foundation
Participated in a Q&A panel with top female Broadridge Solutions and SIFMA executives
Learned about the college and career paths of these women
Learned too, about the gender pay gap and how to negotiate a raise
Were introduced to the SIFMA Stock Market Game
Broadridge Solutions, sponsor of the RTSWS program at Baruch College HS, is a provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions to banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds and corporate issuers. The Broadridge women were classroom financial project instructors and guest panelists. They have meaningfully impacted these students’ lives, many of whom had never before been in an office environment, met women executives nor heard about the trajectories of women in finance.
More from Kay about the Broadridge financial volunteers who guided her and her team through the classroom financial projects:
“They (Broadridge volunteers) are just so inviting and empowering and encouraging. They are not the typical—when I think of business and finance I think of some old guy sitting in a cubicle staring at a white wall or ceiling. But they are completely different from that which is why I think they have the program in the first place. They are so warm and you can tell that they really care about us and it’s they are not in it just for them. They recognize that we are youth and that we have power.”
Thank you for your time, talent and funding, Broadridge.
You make finance fun!
RTSWS students from Thomas Jefferson High School in Dallas were given the red carpet treatment last month during their field trip to the Fidelity Investments regional offices in Westlake, Texas. Fidelity Investments has a long tradition of community service in the neighborhoods where their employees work and live. They are making a difference in the Dallas schools by offering high school girls the RTSWS program so that they may work on financial projects which teach them the basics on savings and investments, as well as inform them about careers in the financial field. Fidelity Investments is providing students and their families with an educational foundation to attain personal and financial success.
Financial pros, during the panel discussion offered what they liked best about their jobs including:
Helping people who are starting a new job enroll into a company 401k
Helping employees invest their 401k money wisely
Helping families save for a home
Helping parents save for their children’s education
Helping individuals who are planning their financial retirement
The pros then offered the girls the inside scoop—the best thing about working at Fidelity Investments? The people!
What our corporate volunteers are saying about RTSWS
Listen in as Leah Sandock, Senior Vice President of Communications and Education at Fidelity Investments offers her observations on what the RTSWS program brings to the students she has been instructing in Dallas.
Top Comments
When asked why girls should participate in the RTSWS program, Leah, who grew up with a single mom who instilled in her to be self sufficient said, “There’s so much to gain by being in this program. You’ll learn things that you may not learn in school about when it comes to your own financial wellness and how to be successful… and making sure you have enough money to live a good life….”
“(We as volunteers) are also hoping to motivate you… You’re going to learn (about) and see women in financial services careers and how we’ve gotten there and some of the stumbling blocks we’ve overcome…We’re hoping to motivate and empower you to want to do better for yourself to go to college and get into the area of finance.”
You can’t see them right now, but all of our Dallas students are totally doing a happy dance!
Please feel free to invite like-minded investment professionals to this MidSouth Alternative Investment Association (MSAIA) event hosted by Elliott Davis Decosimo, Trident Fund Services and Cowen Prime Services.
Speaker Biographies:
Meredith Jonesis an internationally-recognized researcher, writer, speaker and expert in the alternative investment industry with over 19 years of experience. Meredith is an alternative investment consultant and author of Women of The Street: Why Female Money Managers Generate Higher Returns (And How You Can Too), which won an Axiom Award Gold Medal in 2016. She was also named as an Inc. magazine’s “17 Inspiring Women To Watch in 2017” and has presented her research internationally—including conferences in Tokyo, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Sydney, Geneva and more.
Beth Johnson, CFA, CAIA partner and senior investment consultant at Mercer Investment Consulting, currently services endowments or foundations clients with more than $7 billion in aggregate assets under advisement, focusing on asset allocation, investment manager selection, performance evaluation, and fund operations and governance. In addition, Beth is a voting member of Mercer’s Endowment and Foundation Investment Committee.
Angela M. Helbig, CFA, CMT, Founding Principal of Capital Management, LLC, is Chief Investment Officer and is responsible for the management of the 576 Family of Funds equity portfolios and for construction and management of all HMS investment portfolios. Angie has more than 20 years investment experience and has managed a diverse mix of assets including enhanced cash, equities, taxable and tax free bonds, REITs, and commodities.
Lisa Calhoun, Managing Partner of Valor Ventures, is the first woman to launch a venture capital firm in Georgia. Her leadership has contributed to over a billion dollars in liquidity, including supporting exits in adtech, legal, energy and emerging b2b technologies. She serves on the global Board of 100,000-member Women Who Code. She is active on the board of Atlanta Women in Alternatives, Georgia Association of Pension Plan Trustees, and the emerging manager committee.
