Investing in Everyone Mentoring

Teaching high school students financial literacy

Background Information

Clayton Crawford grew up in the heart of the Pacific Northwest. Growing up, he noticed the lack of financial literacy being taught to him and his peers. He found his fellow students often wanted to learn more about financial literacy, but did not have the guidance to do so. Understanding the time he had dedicated to his own self-studying wasn’t possible for most students, he decided to start “Invest in Everyone Mentoring.” The goal of the project is to allow students to be financially ready for life after high school.

“I wanted to create Invest in Everyone because financial literacy was something I wanted to learn early in highschool, but never found a way to do so.” – Clayton Crawford

Implementation of Project

Clayton had to overcome hurdles early on in his project such as attendance and networking.  The networking took up most of the early days of the project.   Originally the meeting was to be held in person, but logistical issues arose with after school transportation.  So the decision was made to hold it online, which resulted in great success. All in all a rocky start led to a smooth end to Clayton’s project.  The implementation would not have been possible without massive amounts of help from his action team which he is very grateful for.

“Implementation is often the hardest part of any project, but once I overcame all of the hurdles it felt that much better.” – Clayton Crawford

Results of Project

In total, three video chat meetings were held with an average of nine people attending each meet up. “Invest in Everyone” partnered with business owners and financial managers to bring forth a unique experience. The first meeting introduced basic financial concepts like credit and debt. The second meeting got into more advanced concepts like taxes and budgeting. The third meeting a Q&A was held to answer any questions about financial topics.  After the sessions, participants stated that their understanding of finance increased tremendously, and some have stated they wish to look into financial topics for higher education.

What’s Next

In 2024, Clayton plans to attend college for a degree in Business Administration, aiming to go into financial management.  “Invest in Everyone” is something he would like to further build and continue upon once he gets to college.