For A Bright Future Foundation Takes Its NextGen Finance Lab District-Wide in Manhattan: First Cohort of 8 High Schools Starts This Fall, With All 50 as the Long-Term Goal
Louis Hernandez Jr.'s Foundation For A Bright Future (FABF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, announced on October 26 that its NextGen Finance Lab program will expand district-wide across Manhattan's high school district in New York City: a first cohort of 8 high schools launches this fall, with further schools added in phased cohorts in the semesters that follow and a long-term goal of reaching all 50 public high schools in the Manhattan district. The rollout is in partnership with the Manhattan High School District Team, under the supervision of Superintendent Gary Beidleman.
The confirmed first cohort is Leadership and Public Service High School, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, High School for Law and Public Service, Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers, High School of Fashion Industries, Hudson High School of Learning Technologies, Mott Hall High School and Food and Finance High School.
The program was piloted at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School. Its principal, Manuel A. Ureña, said students left the Pitch Like A Dragon event 'more confident, more articulate, and more prepared to manage their own financial futures than I've seen from any other initiative we've run,' and that he is proud the model his students and teachers helped build is now reaching classrooms across Manhattan.
The NextGen Finance Lab is a project-based financial literacy program that integrates the Dave Ramsey Financial Literacy curriculum with FABF's FinTech mentorship ecosystem. Students build skills in budgeting, saving, debt elimination, investing and entrepreneurship while working directly with FinTech professionals on banking, digital wallets, investing and career pathways. It culminates in Pitch Like A Dragon, a school- and district-level competition in which student teams pitch original business and FinTech concepts to industry leaders, venture capitalists and New York City business professionals, with scholarship awards for top teams.
Gina Rogoto, FABF's SVP of Operations and Programs, said the expansion is proof of what is possible when a nonprofit, a school district and industry partners commit to the same goal, and that the model shaped at Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis now serves as a lasting foundation for advancing financial literacy for thousands of students across Manhattan. Program Chairman Benson Porter said a career in financial services taught him how much difference early exposure makes: the program gives students the confidence to pitch real ideas, take feedback and think like entrepreneurs.
FABF empowers underserved youth with access to education, technology, financial capability and wellness, and also runs the NextGen Media Creators Lab, merit- and need-based scholarships and youth leadership programs nationwide.
Source: GSM · USA
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：纽约 Manhattan 航拍资料图，帝国大厦与哈德逊河沿岸在图中可见，非项目现场。图片：Don Ramey Logan，CC BY 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons（裁切并加 GSM 角标）。Photo: Aerial file photo of Manhattan, New York, with the Empire State Building and the Hudson River waterfront; not the program site. Photo by Don Ramey Logan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped, GSM badge added).
