We are pleased to announce the recipients of the Plutus Foundation’s Spring 2021 grants. We received a significant number of outstanding submissions and are pleased to announce the three recipients for this round.
Here are the grant recipients for the Spring 2021 cohort.
Future Millionaire Money Camp for Kids
The Money Camp for Kids offers an engaging and informative learning opportunity from home.
The four-week curated learning experience is designed for students ages 8-14. Students are introduced to money management fundamentals and proven strategies to help young students practice and apply money behaviors and make wise money decisions using relevant examples.
Each week there is 60 minutes of live instruction which explores a valuable money lesson through playful activities, discussion, demonstrations, and videos. Each training component is designed to deliver financial knowledge and quick wins. The money topic is reinforced through self-paced activities and action items to be completed during the week before the next session of live instruction.
About the founder
Holly Reid Toodle, CPA is an award-winning author, speaker, and Certified Financial Education Instructor dedicated to helping student audiences manage their finances as responsible stewards. She is the founder of The Master Playbook, a financial education and wellness company that has educated thousands of people through her book, Teach Your Child to Fish: Five Money Habits Every Child Should Master, financial $martCards, speaking engagements, and online courses using sound financial principles, practical tips, and her personal experiences.
As a personal finance advocate, Holly is on a mission to motivate, inspire, and help others break the cycle of paycheck to paycheck living and create a legacy worth leaving. Holly’s philosophy is grounded in the basic principles of living debt-free, saving for the future, and investing wisely. She believes each person has the power to create a healthy financial future and is equipped to meet people where they are on their financial journey. She enjoys peach cobbler, Motown Classics, and traveling with her husband, Gene.
Transform Your Money Accountability Project
The Transform Your Money accountability project was designed to develop a community of like-minded individuals who are dedicated to improving their financial literacy skills so that they will be empowered to:
- Better manage their household finances
- Improve their credit scores
- Establish emergency savings funds
- Eliminate consumer debt and the related stressors
The Debt Free Divas serves women in the 35-50 age range who are often at the midpoint in their careers. Our audience consists of both single and married women who are charged with taking care of and providing financially for families. The participants will receive living training on financial topics, make bi-weekly progress check-ins, and compete against other teams to make the most progress toward stated financial goals.
About the founder
Toni Husbands is one of the co-founders of the Debt Free Divas and the principal content contributor at DebtFreeDivas.com. She and her husband paid off $107,000 of consumer debt over seven years. Near the end of that journey, she worked with three ladies to develop a community that provided the constant support and encouragement that helped her stay focused.
Since 2010, the Debt Free Divas has sought to provide that support via blog, a long-running podcast, and financial literacy development campaigns. In 2015, Toni self-published The Great Debt Dump: Running Toward Debt Freedom with the Power of Community. Response to this book planted the seeds to helping women develop virtual accountability partners through the Transform Your Money accountability project.
The Debt-Free Like Me Family Series
West Advisory Group will develop a series of classes: both grade-appropriate lessons for kids AND fun and interactive workshops for parents. These ongoing classes will create trust and help build relationships between our organization and families that live in poverty in an effort to positively affect behaviors and change financial outcomes.
Youth and their parents are able to ask questions in the corresponding classes through the workshops to positively reinforce the information being presented. Youth are engaged in peer-to-peer learning with young instructors. The youth create vision boards to provide a physical representation of the type of jobs, cars, and lifestyle they want to live as adults and come up with SMART money goals to achieve their dreams. Both the kids and parents play games to win prizes, which are awarded to those who actively participate and share during the sessions.
About the founders
The cofounders of the West Advisory group and co-authors of “Debt Free at 33: 33 Ways You Can Become Financially Free,” Norman and Olivia West, known collectively as “Team West,” form a unique and formidable husband and wife duo whose financial journey resonates with audiences of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. Paying off all of their student loan debt, credit card debt, car loans, and personal loans totaling more than $170,000 at a time when they never made six figures, Norman and Olivia have mastered the arts of debt elimination and family financial management.
The couple has become a leading authority on personal finance, entrepreneurship, community development, philanthropy, and success for families and young adults, being featured nationally on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Huffington Post Live, and Cornerstone TV.
Some of the core components that Norman and Olivia strive to disseminate through their educational teachings are those of giving back, paying it forward, and serial philanthropy. Norman and Olivia believe that the achievement of financial independence introduces a tremendous opportunity to engage in sacrificial giving, volunteerism, and community involvement, activities in which they encourage their clients and workshop attendees to readily participate.
By promoting a financial philosophy that instills the virtues of altruism, genuine concern for the welfare of others, and leaving behind a legacy that transcends generations, Team West aspires to make an indelible impact on the hearts and minds of all whom they encounter, facilitating change that will positively and immediately impact their social surroundings.
Thank you to everyone who applied for our Spring 2021 grants. In such precarious times, it is wonderful to see the creativity, diversity, and expertise that continues to define this community.
Congratulations to this season’s grant recipients. If you are interested in receiving support from the Plutus Foundation for your financial literacy project, subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to hear when the next round of grants is available for submissions.
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