Financial Literacy Volunteer Spotlight

Jerry Holly, CFA

Retirement Education Specialist,
Principal Financial Group

How I got involved in the CFA Society Boston Financial Literacy Initiative:

In the early stages of this activity I leveraged personal experience with libraries to identify an alliance source and developed collateral materials and a development plan, in close cooperation with Boston Society office staff and Lit Initiative leadership, to help build ties to public libraries in our region.

finlit Alliances* i work with:

Married to a librarian, I had a unique insight into the challenges they face be it budgets, content or promotion/organization. I also had an advantage just in communicating. Libraries refer to their "customers" as patrons. They are particularly guarded about the tacit endorsement of organizations who might seek to promote their businesses. Our organization is free of these designs/desires so the challenge is to craft our messaging with these concerns in mind.

*Financial Literacy Alliances are organizations that the society partners with to offer financial literacy.

FinLIT VOlunteer positions:

My interest was recognized by Society leadership and development of the Library Alliance was suggested to me. It has been deeply rewarding to advance Literacy.

What volunteering for Financial Literacy means to me:

I appreciate the opportunity to represent Boston to the over 240 libraries, public and private, in MA. Balancing professional duties and volunteer opportunities can be a challenge - no question. But the sense of accomplishment knowing you are directly impacting individuals in a meaningful way is very gratifying. The office and leadership are committed to making FinLit successful and are always ready and able to provide support.

my Favority Financial Literacy VOlunteer moment:

One education session I co-hosted was for a group of young people embarking on graduate level studies or community service commitments. This cohort is not always the most attentive but to our surprise they were highly engaged and stayed after the formal event finished to ask follow up questions. A week later I received a card in the mail from the organizer thanking us for the valuable information they received. It was hand signed by all attendees! Deeply satisfying!

Other Comments:

My professional work reveals how needed this type of service is for many members of our communities because I see, first hand, how few people have access to knowledge we take for granted. Our Society has been the model for the National organization to promote public education.

Sean Fullerton, CFA

Sr. DC Investment Strategist,
Allspring Global Investments

How I got involved in the CFA Society Boston Financial Literacy Initiative:

I started volunteering about 6 years ago. I don’t remember the exact details but I think I responded to a “call for volunteers”. It wasn’t long before I met Alice Avanian, who was the spark that started all of our Fin Lit efforts at CFA Boston – she’s amazing! Pretty much right away, I started teaching classes at a local correctional facility and (covid time-period excluded) have been doing so ever since.

finlit Alliances* i work with:

My primary focus has been financial literacy/investing classes at a local correctional facility. I love these classes because there’s such broad diversity within the student population – for example, I can go from talking about optimizing Social Security with retirement-aged students to discussing why a Roth 401k/IRA can make sense for students in their 20s. The unified thread that I try to maintain is making the discussion all about my students’ financial goals. We start the class by documenting our goals, and ranking them based on their importance and urgency. This makes the rest of the conversation so much more “real”.

I’ve also taught other courses, such as at the Boston Public Library and via Junior Achievement. I’m thankful for the great alliance leaders who dedicate their time to leading and organizing those efforts.

*Financial Literacy Alliances are organizations that the society partners with to offer financial literacy.

FinLIT VOlunteer positions:

I’m an alliance leader for the correctional facility courses, but it’s really just a small program. Getting approved to teach requires jumping through some hoops, but I do have two amazing co-volunteers – Kate Ullucci and Victoria Wang – who are passionate and excellent teachers.

What volunteering for Financial Literacy means to me:

I love teaching, and I love doing my small part to help people live more fulfilling lives from a financial perspective. Specific to my correctional facility work, the US contains less than 5% of the world’s population, but 20% of the world’s incarcerated population. I’m not in a position to address this at a systemic level, but I can help individual people who are incarcerated.

my Favority Financial Literacy VOlunteer moment:

I’ve really enjoyed sitting with other Fin Lit volunteers at the annual CFA Boston Market Dinner. I’ve never met a Fin Lit volunteer I didn’t like – I think everyone is there for the right reasons!

Suzanne Norman

Senior Education Advisor, Executive Coach, and Mentor

How I got involved in the CFA Society Boston Financial Literacy Initiative:

A friend and I built a Financial Literacy class for 7th and 8th grade girls in 2016 for Citizen Schools and delivered it for 10 weeks at Orchard Gardens K-8 (Roxbury). It was very rewarding, but also a lot of work to manage with a busy job. Afterwards, a friend introduced me to Alice Avanian, Past Society Chair and FinLit Co-chair, and she encouraged me to join CFA Society Boston and become a FinLit volunteer.

finlit Alliances* i work with:

• Harvard Medical School- Reflection in Action (Community Outreach)
• Liberty Mutual
• The Chestnut Hill School
• ROOT
• Anaya Tipnis Foundation

*Financial Literacy Alliances are organizations that the society partners with to offer financial literacy.

FinLIT VOlunteer positions:

1. Alliance Leader
2. Instructor
3. Content Creator

What volunteering for Financial Literacy means to me:

I enjoy sharing real life stories in addition to building content. Working with likeminded professionals who want to help close the FinLit gap in the US is very gratifying. As I wrote in a recent paper, with increased financial literacy, more people will be able to transition from surviving to thriving. When we strengthen our weakest link, we strengthen our society, our economy, and our country.

my Favority Financial Literacy VOlunteer moment:

All of the teaching programs have been fun and I have really enjoyed getting to know the other member volunteers. I am excited to expand Financial Literacy month offerings (planning contest and calendar events). I am also looking forward to more cross pollination with Junior Achievement.