A passion for financial literacy

Brian Smith is an Employment Counsellor and Financial Coach at Carrefour Jeunesse-Emploi de Côte-des-Neiges in Montreal, Quebec. Through workshops on personal finance, he teaches minority groups and youth how to manage money, save, budget and understand "all the financial mumbo jumbo out there" -- the fine print. "Learning how to invest their hard-earned money wisely gives them a better chance at life. This has become a real passion for me," says Brian.

He makes recommendations to governments, develops programs for community organizations and creates alliances with the public and private sectors. He also seeks creative ways to attract the community to financial literacy programs, from hosting a pancake breakfast with DJs to promoting the use of video conferencing in order to provide personal finance courses to a wider scale of participants across the province of Quebec simultaneously.

Brian's exceptional commitment to creating change in his community earned him the Passion for Financial Literacy SEDI Award in 2010.

Brian was first introduced to financial literacy by Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI), a Canadian nonprofit dedicated to helping low-income earners gain financial independence through financial literacy, savings and entrepreneurship initiatives. To learn more about SEDI and its initiatives -- including the Canadian Centre for Financial Literacy, the TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund, and the Independent Living Account (ILA) program, please visit www.sedi.org.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• SEDI
• CCFL
• Financial
• Literacy;
• Brian
• Smith;

[AimeeViolette]

Please come to Ottawa. My family and I would love this. We are currently struggling financially and we need to learn the basics and learn how to properly manage our finances.