The MassMutual Foundation’s mission to help build financial capability and resiliency takes many forms. Whether it’s through innovative program development in the area of affordable housing and first-time homeownership, advancing groundbreaking work centered on social determinants of health and their link to financial prosperity, or driving innovation nationally in the community finance sector, our focus is constant: We want all Americans to have the opportunity to thrive and understand the role that financial security plays in that.
Foundational to building financial wellness is a fundamental understanding of financial concepts and terms, and the ability to incorporate that knowledge into sound financial habits. To that end, introducing financial education to our youth is widely believed to be a substantive and valuable exercise; in fact, the MassMutual Foundation set out to not only provide a financial literacy curriculum to engage middle school students in an effective way, but to also understand the impact of that experience on America’s students.
Ten years ago, the MassMutual Foundation partnered with EVERFI to develop and deliver an innovative and meaningful financial education experience for middle school students – and FutureSmart was launched! The program is delivered in an online format and is free to use for schools, students, families, and educators. Our goal was to educate six million students in ten years, and as of this past June, we have met and exceeded our goal, bringing FutureSmart to students in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.
But the numbers are only part of the story. Working closely with EVERFI, we have been hyperfocused on understanding the impact our program has had in both the short term and long term. To that end, we initiated multiple studies to understand the efficacy of the curriculum, and we focused on knowledge gains, the development of positive financial habits, and modeling responsible financial behaviors.
As the MassMutual Foundation reflects on these results and the last ten years, we are edified in that we accomplished what we set out to do in 2015, but the work doesn’t stop here. In our mission to help communities access the tools and resources they need to build financial capability and resiliency, we understand that financial education is but one critical element in achieving those objectives. We look forward to working with Ray Martinez and the amazing team at EVERFI to evolve our financial education efforts and deliver even more helpful experiences that can unlock more opportunities for students, their families, and their communities, so everyone can grow and prosper.
You can learn more about our FutureSmart program here and also read the press release detailing our latest achievements.
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