Intelligent Money
TM
Intelligent Money is a Financial Literacy and Life Skills initiative showcasing reputable sources in customized platforms for targeted audiences. This multimedia edutainment strategy has a unique social impact by creating an effective and timely program to solve a problem that has yet to be solved. The initial development focuses on high school students in underserved communities with our +Club platform which completed a successful pilot in Newark, New Jersey (See details below).
Unfortunately, whatever has been done to date in financial literacy education is not working well, with many individuals struggling post pandemic and with high levels of inflation. Intelligent Money seeks to launch and mange edutainment platforms in financial literacy to drive societal change with the following core differentiated elements:
•Engaging and Relevant: Utilize an edutainment and gaming approach to create and sustain student interest. Designed with a deep understanding on how social media and other societal factors compete for time and attention.
•Community Sensibility: Avoid a “one size fits all” mentality and custom design program with content that properly meets and addresses this underserved segment. Curated with practical and relevant knowledge with relatable community sensibility.
•Proper Messengers: Feature relatable Role Models and Instructors, many of whom are from the targeted community.
•Multimedia: Apply the team’s expertise in Media, Technology, Finance and Education to successful design and implement an interactive, curated, and condensed offering reflecting the TikTok/digital competitive environment.
•Life Skills: Incorporate much needed Life Skills into the Financial Literacy curriculum. For teenagers, improved decision-making, time management, healthy living, and social skills are equally and arguably more urgently important than some of the down-the-road topics covered in current financial literacy programs.
+Club Pilot and Planned Roll-Out
For the underserved communities, Intelligent Money completed a successful fall pilot for +Club in Newark, New Jersey. The afterschool and companion on-line program offers a foundational educational experience for students in an engaging and edutainment manner to help prepare them for life in the modern economy. The initiative aims to foster good financial habits and behaviors, putting them on the long-term path to building wealth and, ultimately, financial independence.
To best understand the +Club teaching approach and program’s impact on students, please view our videos below and visit our website to explore our curriculum and multimedia content, including role model profiles.
Trailer: +Club Overview
+Club Moment: Uncertainty
The +Club Experience offers a concise overview of student reactions and curriculum content and instructional approach.
Community Role Model Eric Pennington shares practical insights to managing uncertainty while revealing his own personal journey.
+Club in the Media
NJ.com's Mosiac Feature on the +CLUB:
This new club teaches young people how to have a good life.
By Robin Wilson-Glover | For NJ.com and Mosaic
August 01, 2024 at 2:38 pm EDT
“[excerpt] Brenda Melissa Sandoval said that what registered with her was Pennington’s talk about his difficult childhood in Newark. “Having him say that was important. I never thought that not giving up was important, but it is,” the 18-year-old from Union City said. “You know, he’s right. I’m not going to give up.”
Pennington is one of several mentors in the new +Club, a project created by business strategist and nonprofit activist Mark Pearlman and his business partner Rutgers business professor John Longo. They designed the program and funded it, along with support from Bloomberg Philanthropy.
Eric Pennington, a lanky man with a greying beard, sat in front of a group of Rutgers students in a refrigerated
classroom on a hot day in July. The students had come to learn how to be successful in business and life. Pennington, Newark’s business administrator and a longtime lawyer who has had several careers, came to tell them how they could succeed.
+ Club Vision
There is a wealth of material related to financial literacy available from multiple, reputable sources. The inherent problem is much of the material is not engaging to today’s students, nor is it targeted to specific communities.
+Club solves this problem by offering the following differentiated elements:
•Customized and targeted program to address the specific needs/issues for underserved communities. Special attention is given to the trusted messenger and curated content.
•An edutainment approach is utilized to create and sustain student interest. Short form videos and computer software games are integrated into the educational curriculum with engaging discussion to effectively create a compelling experience.
•Financial literacy is expanded to incorporate life skills advice focused on improving mindset, attitudes, habits and techniques (e.g., decision-making, daily living, career and life planning), ultimately changing behavior.
•Relatable role models share their personal stories as real-life examples to aspire to and be inspired by. This element will empower self-initiative by offering aspirational discussions on promoting life possibilities while complementing these narratives with practical advice.
•Direct links to materials online to create worthwhile interactive experiences that may be reviewed after class.
•In designing the +Club program, we seek to change behavior for lasting, positive impact based on best strategies/techniques from self-help and cognitive behavioral approaches.
Financial literacy skills are made accessible in a relatable/meaningful manner to help improve financial well-being. The +Club complements in-person sessions with a multimedia platform offering enduring video programming, an engaging/robust website, and a collaborating mentoring network. Attention is focused on proper messengers to deliver the extraordinary content.
Relatable Role Models: +Club Moments are Foundational Components
Relatable role models share their personal stories as real-life examples to aspire to and be inspired by. This curated content- +Club Moment- will empower self-initiative by offering aspirational discussions on promoting life possibilities while complementing these narratives with practical advice.
On our website, please view our +Club Moment videos featuring truly extraordinary professionals revealing their thoughtful wisdom and life’s journeys including achievements, challenges and regrets.
