FROM BUSINESSWIRE
April 30, 2013 08:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Center for Financial Services Innovation (CFSI) will convene policymakers, regulators, consumer advocates, and others to highlight innovative approaches to building financial capability across the United States. Congressmen Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX) and Steve Stivers (R-OH), the co-chairs of the Congressional Financial & Economic Literacy Caucus, serve as honorary co-sponsors for this unique event being held in the Rayburn House Office Building from 9:30-11:30 a.m. EDT to mark the end of Financial Capability Month. The gathering, Improving Americans’ Financial Capability: Early Lessons and Emerging Innovations for Changing Consumer Behavior, will explore the power of combining personalized, timely financial information and advice with high quality financial products and services.
“Today is an important opportunity to showcase and learn from nonprofit innovators and industry experts addressing this issue, and we are grateful to Congressmen Hinojosa and Stivers for co-sponsoring this gathering”
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“Nationwide, families are facing difficult financial situations, but the strategies being offered by innovators promise to foster economic empowerment in new and exciting ways,” said U.S. Rep. Stivers. “As we move forward in our conversations about financial capability, it is important to celebrate innovative ideas and highlight those helping consumers actively improve their financial health.”
U.S. Rep. Hinojosa added, “With advancing technology and an increased understanding of what consumers want, we can enable families to take concrete steps toward improving their financial health now and into the future. The leaders at this event are demonstrating that, with the right knowledge and the right tools, individuals can take control of their finances, make smart decisions, and ultimately thrive.”
Financial capability is an important factor in the lives of all consumers, but it is particularly significant for the 28% of Americans whose needs, according to a recent FDIC survey, are not adequately met by traditional financial institutions. “Today is an important opportunity to showcase and learn from nonprofit innovators and industry experts addressing this issue, and we are grateful to Congressmen Hinojosa and Stivers for co-sponsoring this gathering,” said Jeanne Hogarth, Vice President of Policy, CFSI. “These discussions are a critical part of our mutual effort to build financial capability and to support those poised to transform the financial services industry.”
A new cohort of nonprofit innovators who were recently awarded a total of $2.5 million through the Financial Capability Innovation Fund II (FCIF II), CFSI’s competitive grant program, will discuss their cutting-edge strategies for enabling families to build savings, improve their credit, and better manage their finances. This event will also feature learnings from CFSI’s 2010 Financial Capability Innovation Fund grantees who have pioneered ideas like impulse savings and lending circles.
The event will open with remarks by Melissa Koide, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Consumer Policy, U.S. Department of the Treasury, on the state of financial capability in America.
Ms. Hogarth will welcome a distinguished panel who will share insights on a wide variety of interventions impacting financial service providers, regulators, policymakers, and funders. Speakers will include Sarah Gordon, Vice President, Advisory Services and Nonprofit Investments, CFSI; Jayson Halladay, CEO and Co-Founder, Piggymojo; Margaret Libby, Executive Director, Mission SF; Brent Neiser, Senior Director, Strategic Programs and Alliances, National Endowment for Financial Education; José A. Quiñonez, Executive Director, Mission Asset Fund; Daria Sheehan, Senior Program Officer, Citi Foundation; Joshua Sledge, Manager, Nonprofit Investments, CFSI; Irene Skricki, Senior Financial Education Program Analyst, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; and Justine Zinkin, CEO, Neighborhood Trust.
CFSI will also highlight its recently released white paper, “Stretch Time: Continuing to Reach for Financial Capability, Trends from the Financial Capability Innovation Fund II,” which documents innovative trends and common features in the proposals from the FCIF II. Insights from the report aim to inform nonprofits and other industry leaders about the nonprofit field’s adoption and development of promising approaches for improving consumer behavior.
FCIF II is supported by a collaboration of funders led by the Citi Foundation and including Capital One Foundation, NYSE Euronext Foundation, Charles Schwab Bank, Charles Schwab Foundation, and Experian.
