AMES, Iowa -- Members of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy will host "Financial Literacy in the Heartland" -- a special listening forum with invited statewide leaders in financial literacy -- on Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hotel Fort Des Moines.
The 16-member President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy was created in January by President George W. Bush with the purpose of assisting Americans in understanding and addressing financial matters. The President and Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson have asked the Advisory Council to work with public and private sectors to help increase financial education efforts for all Americans. In response to that charge, members of the council are hosting "listening sessions" with financial literacy leaders throughout the country.
Sponsored jointly by the Iowa State University College of Business and College of Human Sciences, the Greater Iowa Credit Union and the Iowa Credit Union League, the Iowa listening session is being convened by Tahira Hira, ISU professor of personal finance and consumer economics, who serves on President Bush's Advisory Council.
"The information gleaned from these meetings may be applied toward the Advisory Council's recommendations to the U.S. Treasury Department and ultimately to the President," Hira said.
Dan Iannicola Jr., the U.S. Treasury Department's deputy assistant secretary for financial education and the executive director of the Advisory Council, will moderate the session. He will also interact with local reporters during a 30-minute media briefing with members of the Advisory Council beginning at 9:15 a.m.
"We are in extraordinary economic times," Iannicola said. "While financial education has long been seen as important, more people are now beginning to see that it is also urgent. With the concerns and questions many consumer have about rapidly changing events, we find ourselves in a national teachable moment for personal finance."
"The President's Council, through sessions like this, is fulfilling its important mission of gathering insights from people across the country to better inform their recommendations to President Bush and Secretary Paulson," he said.
President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy members scheduled to attend the event include:
- John Bryant, Vice Chairman, and Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Operation HOPE, America's first non-profit social investment banking organization, which has raised $400 million from the private sector to empower the poor.
- Ted Beck, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Endowment for Financial Education.
- Tahira Hira, Iowa State University, who has taught and conducted research in family financial management, consumer credit, gambling and consumer bankruptcy. She was a presenter and one of four facilitators at the Financial Education and Financial Literacy Research Symposium, sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in October.
- Sharon Lechter, Lechter Development Group, who is co-author of the best-selling book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and the Rich Dad series of books. She is one of the founders of the Rich Dad companies, and inventor of the "CASHFLOW for Kids" board game.
- Janet Parker, Chairman, Society of Human Resource Management and Executive Vice President of Human Resources at Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Ala., one of the top 10 banks in the nation with nearly $140 billion in assets.
Bryant and Carrie Schwab Pomerantz -- the daughter of Charles Schwab, chair of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy -- will be the event's keynote speakers. Pomerantz is Chief Strategist, Consumer Education, at Charles Schwab & Co. Inc., and President of the Charles Schwab Foundation. She also will also participate in the media briefing.
Financial literacy advocates participating in the listening session include Shazia Manus, President/CEO, Greater Iowa Credit Union; Cara Heiden, Co-President, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in West Des Moines; and Kevin Shields, FDIC Community Affairs Specialist. Financial literacy leaders from such organizations as the Iowa Credit Union League, Jump Start, the Iowa Department of Human Services and the Society of Human Resource Management will also participate. The listening session will feature five-minute constituent testimonials followed by 15-minute discussions with Advisory Council members.
Invited leaders from Des Moines' financial industry will also meet with Advisory Council members during a private breakfast meeting at the hotel prior to the media briefing.
