Virginia Credit Union, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond Celebrate Success of Financial Education, Workforce Readiness Program

Virginia Credit Union and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond are celebrating the completion of the inaugural “Unlocking Success” program, a five-week course designed to help teens learn money management basics and sharpen their job-readiness skills.

“No matter what path teens pursue after high school, personal finance skills and good money management habits will serve them well,” says VACU Senior Financial Education Specialist Monica Van Arsdale, “and with Unlocking Success, we’re also helping teens build those essential skills and behaviors that will ready them for college, a trade or vocational school, or the workforce.”

Unlocking Success is the latest addition to VACU’s program partnerships that reach area teens, including many in lower-income neighborhoods. Current partnerships include the Mayor's Youth Academy, a Richmond-based leadership program; Partnership for the Future, a college preparation and workforce development program; and 804 Coaches for Change, an organization working to provide youth with education-based athletic opportunities and learning activities.

Unlocking Success was comprised of a six-session program that offered financial education content to high school students while also highlighting the varied career opportunities within the financial services industry. Sessions also covered employment topics and job-seeking skills, including resumes and job interviews; building a personal brand; cybersecurity tips, including best practices for social media; banking basics; the wise use of credit; and the fundamentals of credit scores.

As an added incentive, the Boys & Girls Clubs provided a monetary incentive for successful completion of the course, with nine teens completing the program this year. VACU is already committed to hosting the program again next year.

More than a dozen VACU staff members contributed to the program’s development or facilitated sessions, with participating staff representing a number of VACU’s departments, including financial education, cybersecurity, marketing, learning and development, and consumer lending. The credit union also worked with Junior Achievement, a longtime VACU partner, to walk students through a personal budget simulation, with each teen creating budgets for themselves at ages 25 and 35 based on their life goals for education, family and homebuying.

Students were supplied a workbook developed by VACU staff covering the program’s curriculum that each was responsible for completing during and outside scheduled meetings. That workbook will serve as the foundation for VACU’s classroom-based resources this coming school year, with new presentation materials and teaching aids for educators currently being developed and added.

“The Unlocking Success program has been a game-changer for our teens, providing critical opportunities for growth this summer,” says Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond President/CEO Sean Miller. “We're also deeply thankful to VACU for their $25,000 donation last year, which supported ongoing initiatives like financial literacy and career readiness throughout the year.”