Walmart Foundation Funds Junior Achievement, Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Other Key Financial Literacy Initiatives

by | 08/05/14 | Commentary, News, Uncategorized

Walmart continues to break new ground in its funding of financial education initiatives, as the largest retailer in the world is continuing to increase its already strong support of financial literacy programs and organizations. In one of the Walmart Foundation’s latest grant awards, The Thurgood Marshall College Fund has received $600,000 to aid with scholarships and develop future leaders for students attending publicly-supported Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), with a big component of the funding to be used for financial education.

Over 500 students each year participate in financial literacy training programs from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund that teach them about budgeting, saving, credit, debt, money management and other important financial education topics. The Walmart grant will be used to support this initiative, as well as for related programming designed to ensure that these students are best equipped to become successful with respect to their career and personal financial affairs.

Financial literacy advocates also are hailing Walmart’s longtime support of Junior Achievement. Walmart has been one of the largest funders of local Junior Achievement programs. Its funding to Junior Achievement of Alaska to develop and launch financial literacy programs for K-12 students across the state was noted for achieving one of the most successful infusions of financial support of this type in Alaska given the results it generated, while other local Junior Achievement organizations also have seen significant success with financial education initiatives funded by Walmart. The retail giant is widely expected to continue its support of Junior Achievement’s work in financial literacy.

Walmart’s efforts in this area are longstanding. The company declared “National Money Management Day” about five years ago to assist Walmart customers with their personal financial affairs. As part of that initiative, Walmart launched a $3 rollback price on its MoneyCard with the company’s objective for the broader program being to save consumers half a billion dollars. This effort gained significant attention at the time, in part because it targeted the increasing number of individuals who do not use traditional checking accounts to manage their finances.

Similarly, in 2012, the Walmart Foundation joined six women’s foundations to roll out the Partnership for Women’s Prosperity, a national alliance created to assist economically vulnerable women in gaining greater understanding and control over their financial lives. And when Walmart gets behind an effort, the impact is far-reaching; to that point, the Walmart Foundation’s grants to the Partnership for Women’s Prosperity helped approximately 5,000 women and girls in more than 15 regions throughout the United States.

Walmart also has taken a more “hands-on” approach to financial literacy than many other national corporate foundations. One example is the company’s hosting of financial literacy workshops throughout the U.S. designed to teach individuals about a broad range of financial topics, including budgeting, saving, credit, debt and long-term money management. To broaden the reach of these workshops, Walmart also has partnered with many national organizations, such as the National Urban League, the National Disability Institute, AARP and the National Council on Independent Living, all of which have worked with the retail giant to connect the company’s financial literacy programs to local participants in communities throughout the nation.

Additional information about the Walmart Foundation’s financial literacy efforts, including funding, scholarship and volunteer opportunities, can be found here.

Many other multinational corporations are beginning to follow Walmart’s lead in the area of financial education support, which should bode very well for the continued growth and success of the financial literacy industry in the years to come.

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