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Financial Literacy
Understanding how money works, on both practical and emotional levels, is vital for making clear financial decisions, but also essential for a prosperous North Bay economy. Sonoma State University's School of Business and Economics is building the Financial Literacy Headquarters (FLHQ) to promote regional prosperity through financial education.
Who's Involved
The FLHQ started with a few passionate people who knew the key to success would be to find a way to streamline the delivery of financial literacy. Building on the resources of the School of Business and Economics and other non-profit agencies, including Community Action Partnership, Sonoma County Office of Education, and volunteers from the CalCPA Educational Foundation, means participants and resources can be matched more efficiently. Local businesses have generously supported the efforts by contributing resources and by providing volunteers, which has allowed the FLHQ to reach hundreds of teens and adults with financial education.
What We Offer
The Financial Literacy Headquarters (FLHQ) will use a community-based format to provide resources for and raise awareness of financial literacy in Sonoma County. The job of the FLHQ will be to access, screen, and make the many resources that exist in our area accessible to those who need it most.
The School of Business and Economics will be the main outreach to those resources and will also provide organizational support including classrooms, materials, and centralization of the FLHQ. Eventually, students, alumni, faculty, and friends of the School can all participate in giving back to the community in this much needed campaign for regional prosperity.
2009-2010 Activities
- In 2009-2010, the FLHQ ran free, monthly, drop-in sessions offering expertise from volunteers in a range of financial areas.
- Students from our Accounting Forum trained for and conducted a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) session for SSU students as part of the national VITA program.
- We worked with the County Board of Supervisors to have April declared "Financial Literacy Month" in Sonoma and conducted a quiz-campaing on campus to test the financial literacy of SSU students.
- Experts in mortgages and financing offered two public sessions in Santa Rosa and Petaluma - Remodify, Shortsale and Foreclosure: Choices and Consequences - to provide timely information for those wrestling with home finance questions.
Read our article on financial literacy published in the North Bay Business Journal.