Roundtable attendees learn and share solutions to financial illiteracy

It was one of three that Consumer Action and Capital One hosted there in 2012, with other trainings in Virginia and New Jersey.

Williams and Santiago rolled out the first Best Practices training of the year in McLean, Virginia in early 2012. Over 38 advocates from Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia and New York gathered in a conference room at the Tyson Corner Marriott Hotel to learn strategies for using the renowned MoneyWi$e curriculum. Subjects included adopting the key principles of adult learning, using the newly revised MoneyWi$e ID Theft & Account Fraud module, and finding resources for the MoneyWi$e trainer. (Click here to view all MoneyWi$e modules.)

A session on best practices for helping clients overcome barriers to saving was also featured. Guest speakers Bonnie Tazewell, director of financial stability for the United Way of South Hampton Roads, and Lanette Kelly of the Virginia Cooperative Extension gave the presentation.

Community outreach manager Linda Williams ended the roundtable with a “Community Toolbox” networking activity, where participants broke into teams and used their expertise to solve complex community issues. Each team was assigned the task of identifying two issues plaguing their community, brainstorming possible solutions, and selecting two team ambassadors to go from team to team to find more solutions for the issues identified. The activity created a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm among participants.

The New Jersey Best Practices training was held on Sept. 27 in Jersey City and was attended by nearly 40 advocates from community-based organizations in New Jersey and New York.

Both the Jersey City and Austin roundtables featured interactive learning activities that allowed participants to share their agency’s best practices for delivering financial literacy to diverse communities, including locating a target audience, recruiting clients, measuring the effectiveness of their programming, and ensuring the sustainability of their program model.

The evaluations for each of the three trainings were very positive. When asked if they planned to implement some of the strategies and tools covered at the roundtable, over 80% of participants said yes.