"INFLUENCEHER” CELEBRATES 42 GRADUATES Program Promoted Financial Literacy and Emotional Wellness for Middle School Girls

The program, which graduated 42 female Pine Bush middle school students, was designed to promote financial literacy and emotional wellness in middle school girls.

BGC Executive Director Alexis Eggleton said, "This program is vitally important for our middle school girls. With face-to-face and cyber bullying on the rise, young women need to learn positive communication and be exposed to positive female role models. With less than one-third of teens graduating high school with basic financial literacy according to a 2010 Dartmouth University study, it was obvious these young women also needed basic financial education, to help them become caring, productive citizens.”

The young women attended afterschool classes for ten weeks, focusing on everything from how to save for college, balance a checkbook and budget for household expenses, to positive peer-to-peer communication, conflict resolution and leadership development. The participants also spent time with a female mentor from the community, discussing career aspirations and positive life skills. They also toured college campuses and did a day of career exploration backstage at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.

The InfluenceHer pilot program was funded through the generosity of The Orange County Women's Leadership Fund, whose mission is to "To create lasting change that moves women and girls toward financial independence.”