Teaching girls financial literacy, empowering students and going on field trips: these are all things the Invest in Girls Club has worked on in the past couple of years.
As teenagers transition into adulthood, financial literacy matters more than ever. The Invest in Girls Club, which meets every X-block in UA31, aims to create a space where women can feel empowered to work in predominantly male-dominated fields, while fostering a sense of community and bringing girls together.
The club, led by presidents and seniors Maya Schwartz and Clara Thibault, works on improving women’s financial literacy while empowering them. They attend conferences like BOLD, an event that pushes women to careers in business. Thibault said that the club is an effective resource for girls who want to learn more about finance.
“We all agree that it’s important that we need to know how to control our own finances, in high school, college and the rest of our lives,” Thibault said. “So it’s just a good starting point for all of that.”
Senior and club member Priscila Hill said that financial literacy in women is important because everybody should learn to be independent. She said that one of the main goals of the club is to show people that they’re capable of achieving their goals.
“Financial literacy is something that everybody needs to be able to know how to do,” Hill said. “In the modern world, where women are working in high percentages, we want to be as independent as possible, not only [by] knowing what skills you need and how to manage your finances, but also wanting that independence.”
Senior and club member Elin Lindgren-Palm said that the Invest in Girls club showed her that the path to business is not as direct as she originally thought:going to college and getting a degree isn’t the whole path to a career.
“I used to see business as a very direct path: you go to college, you get a business degree, then you go work in investment banking or marketing,” Lindgren-Palm said. “But in my experience with this club, hearing so many different people talk, with the guest speakers we’ve brought in and the conferences we went to, it’s a lot less direct than you would think.”
Thibault said that her participation in the club made some unexpected differences in her personal life by making it easier for her to connect with people she’s close to.
“Being in this club and talking to my family about it, I’ve been able to talk to my dad more about his job, my uncles and my whole family,” Thibault said. “And just talking to my brothers about what they’re doing in school, we’re on the same page and I think that makes a difference.”
Lindgren-Palm said that there are a lot more opportunities open to her than she expected, and each one is interesting in a different way.
“There’s a lot of ways to get into business and there’s a lot of different angles to approach business. You can do business for so many different companies that have nothing relating to the business field,” Lindgren-Palm said. “So there’s a lot of opportunities in business for people who aren’t specifically interested in things like ‘I want to be an accountant for the rest of my life.’ There’s a lot more opportunities that I’ve been opened up to.”
Schwartz said she urges students interested in leadership and finance to take the opportunities they find. She said students are surrounded by many great resources and inspirations and encourages students to work for what they want.
“Just go for it. There’s so many opportunities where we live and so many inspirational people,” Schwartz said. “Have the ambition just to cold email people or reach out. We have so many opportunities surrounding us in our nearby area.”
