College's Financial Coaching Forum Leads To $2.5M National Grant

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — To provide college students with practical financial coaching, JPMorgan Chase is awarding $2.5 million dollars to a joint project by the National Council for Workforce Education and Westchester Community College.

More than six years ago, WCC officials began a financial health initiative to address the fact that many young adults lack the knowledge, skills and behavioral tools to manage the complexities of 21st-century money management and personal finance.

They discovered that their Money Smart Forum also had immediate benefits — improving academic performance and reducing time to graduation — as well as promoting lifelong financial health.

That success has led the forum's sponsor, JPMorgan Chase, to underwrite a $2.5 million grant to develop and launch similar financial coaching programs at several other colleges.

“The Money Smart Financial Coaching Program ensures students have the resources and skills needed to build wealth, manage their finances and best prepare for the future," said Anthony Trimarchi, managing director, J.P. Morgan Private Bank, and a leader of the firm’s Westchester and Hudson Valley Market Leadership Team.

The grant opportunity will be open to community colleges that are committed to and able to deliver financial coaching, with priority given to those who serve predominantly first-generation, historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged students.

The plan is to expand to seven community colleges and one HBCU during a three-year period.

Funds granted to the colleges will provide training, guidance, and technical support needed to hire staff and to build a successful, sustainable program, with the assistance of the support team from WCC and the National Center for Workforce Education.

“As a nonprofit committed to supporting practitioners and workforce leaders to deliver equity-conscious and impactful workforce education programs, we believe that financial wellness programming is critical to addressing financial security barriers for workforce education learners and will serve to mitigate gender and racial equity wealth gaps," said Dr. Darlene G. Miller, Executive Director of NCWE.

The investment company is also giving WCC $450,000 to continue the Money Smart Forum, which it has sponsored since 2014, for another three years.

“It is a testament to the strength of our program that WCC has been selected as the template upon which other schools can build,” said Dr. Belinda Miles, President of Westchester Community College. “Over 5,000 students at WCC have taken advantage of financial wellness programs, and we look forward to promoting economic advancement for thousands more of our students in the years to come."

The RFP will be available March 2. More information about the RFP and the grant can be found here on the National Council for Workforce Education website. Details on WCC's Money Smart Financial Coaching program are on the Westchester Community College website.