Phase 1
Financial Foundations
Build awareness of money habits, income, spending, planning, and essential banking tools.
Your Money Story and Mindset · Income and Spending Awareness · Building a Working Spending Plan · Banking Essentials
Ascend Money Confidence Program
Build confidence with money, one practical step at a time.
The Ascend Money Confidence Program is a 12-week financial literacy experience for youth and young adults ages 16–26. Participants move through practical lessons, hands-on activities, personal reflection, and real-life assignments designed to strengthen financial confidence and responsible decision-making.
Intended pilot outcomes
What the pilot is designed to support
Understand everyday money
Improve understanding of budgeting, banking, saving, credit, and debt.
Make decisions with confidence
Increase confidence when making everyday financial decisions.
Use a spending plan
Create and use a personal spending plan based on real needs and responsibilities.
Recognize financial traps
Identify financial scams and high-cost financial products before acting.
Set an achievable savings goal
Choose a realistic savings target and a consistent strategy for reaching it.
Plan the next 90 days
Complete a personal 90-day financial action plan with practical next steps.
How it runs
How the 12-week pilot works
01
Register Your Interest
Share your preferred format and topics. We contact you when an approved offering is being organized.
02
Complete 12 sessions
Move through three phases on a weekly or other approved cohort schedule, with peer learning and facilitator support.
03
Practice between sessions
Use hands-on activities, practical worksheets, and take-home assignments to apply each lesson.
04
Build your next 90 days
Complete a personal 90-day financial action plan, with optional quarterly follow-up for up to one year.
Curriculum
Three phases, twelve sessions
Phase 2
Financial Stability
Strengthen saving habits, plan for goals, understand borrowing, and avoid costly financial traps.
Saving and Emergency Preparedness · Financial Goals and Set-Aside Funds · Credit and Borrowing · Managing Debt and Avoiding Financial Traps
Phase 3
Financial Growth and Independence
Explore long-term growth, income skills, basic venture organization, protection, and a practical 90-day action plan.
Growing Money Over Time · Increasing Income and Pricing Skills · Small Ventures and Financial Organization · Taxes, Protection, and the Next 90 Days
Pilot delivery
What each offering may include
- 12 facilitated learning sessions
- Approximately 90–120 minutes per session
- In-person, virtual, or hybrid delivery depending on the cohort
- Approximately 20–25 participants per cohort
- Hands-on activities and take-home assignments
- Participant workbook and practical worksheets
- Pre-program and post-program assessments
- Personal 90-day financial action plan
- Optional quarterly follow-up sessions for up to one year
Schedules, locations, delivery formats, and cohort capacity are confirmed individually for each program offering. No public cohort is currently confirmed.
Special Topics
Shorter series for specific groups
Adapted sessions are being developed for parents and caregivers, educators and youth workers, college- and career-bound students, young parents, small ventures, and young people transitioning to independent living.
Parents and Caregivers
Adapted short series
Practical ways to discuss money at home without shame or pressure.
Educators and Youth Workers
Adapted professional learning series
Tools for reinforcing practical financial learning in youth-serving settings.
College- and Career-Bound Students
Adapted short series
Understanding the financial decisions connected to education, training, and early career steps.
Young Parents
Adapted short series
Money planning that reflects changing income, household responsibilities, and caregiving costs.
Who it is for
Youth and young adults ages 16–26, beginning with high school juniors and seniors and extending to college students, trade-school students, early-career young adults, and young people transitioning toward financial independence. No prior knowledge is needed.
Everything here is general education only. It is not investment, tax or legal advice.