EBCI’s Financial Literacy Program for Youth Earns National Recognition

Qualla Financial Freedom, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ financial literacy program for tribal youth and families, received national recognition when its groundbreaking online curriculum for youth was honored by the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) as Financial Literacy Program of the Year in 2011.

Students learn how to buy real estate during a mock exercise.All youth need to learn basic financial skills, but perhaps none more so than young EBCI members, who have been getting per capita payouts from casino revenues put into an account in the Minors Trust Fund since they were children.   When they become young adults, they are eligible to withdraw a big sum from the trust fund and need to know how to manage it wisely. 

Tribal youth are required to complete the online Manage Your EBCI Money course with at least an 80% score and graduate from high school in order to get their trust fund money at age 18.  If they don’t meet either of these requirements, they must wait until they are 21 to get their trust money.

The online course begins with a reminder that the Cherokee have a proud history of literacy – two centuries ago, Sequoyah created a written version of the Cherokee language in just a dozen years by developing a symbol for each syllable in the verbal language -- and that financial literacy is just as important.  And Cherokee youth get it.  The teens involved in the Junaluska Leadership Council asked that a course be designed for Cherokee youth.  And soon after the first group of teens completed the program, a local bank noticed that young people on the Qualla Boundary were signing up for more than checking and savings accounts.  They were asking for investment services, too!

Qualla Financial Freedom began in 2003 with multi-year funding from Cherokee Preservation Foundation.  Since 2009, the program has been funded by the Tribe and operated by the EBCI Cooperative Extension Program.  Keith Sneed, Financial Skills Educator, has spearheaded the online curriculum for youth and developed it with Shawn Spruce and Sarah Dewees of First Nations Development Institute, whose mission is to strengthen Native economies through financial education.

The Manage Your EBCI Money curriculum consists of eight modules that cover topics such as budgeting, managing a checking account, investing in securities, and safeguards to protect against identity theft.  Content includes downloadable worksheets, financial calculators and even music videos that help deliver key messages.

Sneed’s dream is to see every young tribal member parlay his or her accumulated per capita income into $1,000,000 by age 40.  He thinks that is a reasonable goal if tribal members put into practice what they learn from Manage Your EBCI Money.

There is more to Qualla Financial Freedom than the online course.  One experiential learning event offered is called Mad City Money.  It’s a program created by the National Credit Union Association and in Cherokee, it is presented by EBCI tribal programs and local businesses.  During the 2-1/2 hour event, ninth graders get a taste of the real world as each is given an occupation, salary, spouse and children and, of course, debt.  Then they move about to different merchant stations to purchase housing, transportation, food, clothing, day care and other items.

Cherokee High School seniors go through a similar event called the Money Mo$h, in which they are advised of their pretend life scenarios and then they have to deal with a dizzying array of financial problems that are thrown their way.  The youth find these events challenging, fun and very educational, often saying they now understand the difficult choices their parents have to make.

Qualla Financial Freedom also provides financial education workshops to budget conscious EBCI families who recognize that good financial skills will enable them to manage their money to maximum effect, especially in a difficult economy.

Given the breadth and scope of Qualla Financial Freedom’s programming, it seems like a pretty good bet that young entrepreneurs will be starting up and growing plenty of successful businesses on the Qualla Boundary in the years to come.