Ascend Youth InitiativeAscend Youth Initiative
AscendMoney Confidence Program

12-week pilot curriculum

Twelve practical sessions across three phases

Designed for youth and young adults ages 16–26, the program follows a weekly or other approved cohort schedule. Every session uses peer learning, guided practice, realistic scenarios, and one manageable take-home action.

Consistent learning model

How Every Session Is Structured

Each session follows a consistent learning structure so participants understand the purpose of the lesson, practice the concept, apply it to a realistic situation, and leave with one manageable action to complete.

  1. A

    Connect

    A short opening question, reflection, or relatable scenario that connects the topic to participants’ everyday experiences.

  2. B

    Learn

    A plain-language explanation of the essential concepts, terminology, and responsible practices connected to the topic.

  3. C

    Practice

    A guided activity, calculation, comparison, role-play, or decision-making exercise completed individually or in small groups.

  4. D

    Apply

    A realistic scenario that allows participants to use what they learned without requiring them to disclose private financial information.

  5. E

    Act

    One practical take-home action participants can complete before the next session.

  6. F

    Reflect

    A brief knowledge check and confidence question used to reinforce learning and help evaluate the pilot.

Intended pilot outcomes

Program Learning Outcomes

These are intended outcomes of the pilot, not guaranteed results. By the end of the program, participants should be able to:

  • Explain how personal experiences, values, and habits influence financial decisions.
  • Distinguish between income, fixed expenses, flexible expenses, needs, wants, and financial responsibilities.
  • Track income and spending using a simple method.
  • Build and revise a practical personal spending plan.
  • Compare checking and savings accounts, common fees, and basic banking features.
  • Establish an achievable savings goal and an emergency-preparedness strategy.
  • Break a short- or long-term goal into manageable set-aside amounts.
  • Explain the basic purpose of credit reports, credit scores, interest, APR, and minimum payments.
  • Compare borrowing options and identify high-cost or potentially harmful financial products.
  • Recognize common scams, pressure tactics, and guaranteed-return claims.
  • Explain compound growth, risk, diversification, time horizons, and fees in general, product-neutral terms.
  • Identify marketable skills and apply basic pricing principles.
  • Use simple records to organize small-venture income and expenses.
  • Recognize basic tax, documentation, account-security, and fraud-protection responsibilities.
  • Complete a personal 90-day financial action plan.

Complete session framework

Explore all 12 sessions

Open any week to review its complete purpose, objectives, learning sequence, materials, checks, facilitator boundary, and connection to the next session.

Phase 1

Financial Foundations

Build awareness of money habits, income, spending, planning, and essential banking tools.

Session purpose

Explore personal beliefs, experiences, habits, needs, wants, responsibilities, and financial goals.

Duration: 90–120 minutes

Measurable learning objectives

  • Identify experiences and values that influence money choices
  • Distinguish needs, wants, and financial responsibilities
  • Explain how habits can affect everyday decisions
  • Create one specific personal learning goal

Key terms

  • money mindset
  • values
  • habits
  • needs
  • wants
  • responsibilities

Connect activity

Respond privately to a prompt about an early money message or a recent everyday choice.

Concepts to teach

  • How experiences and values shape decisions
  • The difference between needs, wants, and responsibilities
  • How habits and emotions can influence choices
  • Goal setting without comparison or judgment

Guided practice

Sort fictional expense cards into needs, wants, and responsibilities, then discuss how context may change a choice.

Real-life application scenario

A fictional student has limited funds and several competing priorities. Participants choose a response and explain which values and responsibilities guided it.

Materials provided

  • Participant workbook — In development
  • Personal financial-goals worksheet — In development
  • Needs and wants scenario cards — In development

Take-home action

Track one week of spending choices and privately note the reason or feeling connected to each choice.

Knowledge check

  • Identify one factor that can shape a financial decision.
  • Distinguish a need from a want in a sample scenario.
  • Select a goal that is specific and manageable.

Confidence reflection

How confident are you in recognizing what influences your money choices?

Facilitator caution or boundary

Do not ask participants to disclose family income, hardship, debt, or personal financial history. Allow fictional examples.

Connection to the next session

The spending observations from this week prepare participants to identify income and spending patterns in Week 2.

Phase 2

Financial Stability

Strengthen saving habits, plan for goals, understand borrowing, and avoid costly financial traps.

Session purpose

Set an achievable savings goal, understand emergency funds, and develop an automatic or consistent saving strategy.

Duration: 90–120 minutes

Measurable learning objectives

  • Identify expenses an emergency fund may help address
  • Calculate a manageable sample savings amount
  • Create an achievable savings goal
  • Compare automatic and manual saving strategies

Key terms

  • savings goal
  • emergency fund
  • automatic transfer
  • consistency
  • unexpected expense

Connect activity

Consider a fictional unexpected expense and identify what preparation could reduce its impact.

Concepts to teach

  • The purpose of emergency savings
  • Starting with an achievable amount
  • Consistent and automatic saving options
  • Adjusting goals when circumstances change

Guided practice

Calculate how different recurring set-aside amounts build toward a fictional emergency goal.

Real-life application scenario

A fictional participant has variable income and wants to prepare for transportation costs. Participants compare flexible saving approaches.

Materials provided

  • Participant workbook — In development
  • Savings and emergency-preparedness planner — In development
  • Emergency scenario cards — In development

Take-home action

Choose one realistic saving step and record when and how it could be completed.

Knowledge check

  • Explain one purpose of an emergency fund.
  • Calculate the time needed to reach a sample goal.
  • Compare two ways to save consistently.

Confidence reflection

How confident are you in choosing a realistic saving strategy?

Facilitator caution or boundary

Avoid prescribing a universal emergency-fund amount or implying that inability to save reflects personal failure.

Connection to the next session

The saving strategy becomes a repeatable method for funding multiple short- and long-term goals in Week 6.

Phase 3

Financial Growth and Independence

Explore long-term growth, income skills, basic venture organization, protection, and a practical 90-day action plan.

Session purpose

Learn the general concepts of compound growth, risk, diversification, fees, time horizons, and common investment terminology. This session is strictly educational and product-neutral.

Duration: 90–120 minutes

Measurable learning objectives

  • Explain compound growth using a fictional example
  • Distinguish risk from guaranteed-return claims
  • Explain diversification and time horizons in general terms
  • Evaluate how fees can affect a sample long-term outcome

Key terms

  • compound growth
  • risk
  • diversification
  • time horizon
  • fee
  • return
  • principal

Connect activity

Compare two fictional growth paths and identify how time and fees change the examples.

Concepts to teach

  • Simple and compound growth
  • Risk and the absence of guaranteed returns
  • Diversification as a general risk-management concept
  • Time horizons, fees, and product-neutral terminology

Guided practice

Complete a compound-growth learning activity using fictional amounts, time periods, and fees.

Real-life application scenario

A fictional social-media post promises fast guaranteed returns. Participants evaluate the language and list questions to ask.

Materials provided

  • Participant workbook — In development
  • Compound-growth learning activity — In development
  • Product-neutral terminology guide — In development

Take-home action

Write three questions to ask before considering any financial product or service.

Knowledge check

  • Explain compound growth in plain language.
  • Distinguish diversification from a guarantee.
  • Identify how a fee affects a fictional example.

Confidence reflection

How confident are you in recognizing general investment terms and guaranteed-return warnings?

Facilitator caution or boundary

Keep examples product-neutral. Do not recommend securities, platforms, strategies, expected returns, or actions based on an individual’s circumstances.

Connection to the next session

Evaluating value, time, and trade-offs leads into marketable skills, compensation, and pricing in Week 10.

Pilot evaluation

How Learning Will Be Measured

Pre-program assessment

  • Baseline financial-knowledge questions
  • Participant confidence ratings
  • Current financial-practice questions
  • Personal learning priorities

Weekly checks

  • Three to five short knowledge questions
  • One practical application activity
  • One confidence-reflection question
  • Take-home action completion check

Post-program assessment

  • Repeat selected baseline questions
  • Measure change in knowledge and confidence
  • Review completion of the 90-day action plan
  • Collect participant feedback on relevance, clarity, and facilitation

Optional follow-up

  • 90-day participant check-in
  • Quarterly follow-up for up to one year
  • Voluntary questions about which practices participants continued
  • No collection of bank credentials, Social Security numbers, account numbers, or unnecessary financial details

Assessment information is used to improve the program and understand participant learning. It is not used to provide a credit score, financial rating, investment recommendation, or eligibility decision.

Planned resources

Participant Materials

Materials for the complete program are planned but are not yet available for download.

  • Participant workbookIn development
  • Personal financial-goals worksheetIn development
  • Spending trackerIn development
  • Monthly spending-plan templateIn development
  • Bank-account comparison worksheetIn development
  • Savings and emergency-preparedness plannerIn development
  • Set-aside fund worksheetIn development
  • Credit and borrowing comparison worksheetIn development
  • Debt-prioritization worksheetIn development
  • Financial scam and red-flag checklistIn development
  • Compound-growth learning activityIn development
  • Skills and pricing worksheetIn development
  • Simple invoice templateIn development
  • Small-venture income and expense trackerIn development
  • Financial-records checklistIn development
  • 90-day financial action planIn development
  • Pre-program and post-program assessmentsIn development

Educational boundaries

Facilitator Standards

Facilitators are expected to:

  • Use the approved curriculum and educational materials.
  • Present information in plain, respectful, and judgment-free language.
  • Avoid asking participants to publicly disclose income, debt, account balances, credit scores, immigration status, or other sensitive information.
  • Avoid recommending specific financial products, financial institutions, securities, tax positions, or investment strategies.
  • Distinguish general financial education from individualized professional advice.
  • Use inclusive examples that reflect different income levels, family structures, education pathways, and employment situations.
  • Follow safeguarding and reporting procedures when working with minors.
  • Refer questions requiring licensed financial, tax, investment, legal, or mental-health expertise to an appropriately qualified professional.
  • Record attendance and assessment completion without collecting unnecessary sensitive information.
  • Report conflicts of interest and avoid sales or recruitment activity during program sessions.

Participant safety and privacy

Learning Without Financial Disclosure

Participants may use fictional figures, sample scenarios, or private worksheets during activities. No participant is required to disclose personal income, debt, bank balances, credit scores, account information, immigration status, or family financial circumstances to the group.

  • A participant may decline to answer a discussion question.
  • Personal worksheets are not collected unless clearly identified and consented to.
  • Group discussions should remain respectful and confidential.
  • Facilitators should not photograph completed financial worksheets.
  • Minor participation requires separate parent or guardian consent.
  • Media consent must remain separate from program-participation consent.

Proposed pilot standards

Attendance and Completion

  • Participants should attend at least 10 of the 12 sessions to be recognized as completing the program.
  • Missed-session summaries may be provided when available.
  • Completion recognition should reflect participation and learning activities, not professional certification.
  • A certificate of participation may be provided, but it must not be described as a financial qualification, license, credential, or academic credit.
  • Participants should complete the pre-program assessment, post-program assessment, and 90-day action plan to receive program-completion recognition.

Interested in the 12-week pilot?

Schedules, locations, formats, and cohort capacity are confirmed separately for each approved offering.

Register Your InterestSee Program Format