By Justin Tang
May 16, 2011

Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, as a recipient of the U.S. Conference of Mayors DollarWise $20,000 Innovation Grant for 2011, fittingly kicked off the city’s 6th Annual Youth Job Fair on April 28 with the DollarWise check presentation ceremony. At the press conference, Mallory celebrated the occasion by announcing, "This grant will allow us to have an even greater impact on the kids coming to our job fair. The DollarWise grant will help the city incorporate financial education to our youth jobs fair."

The DollarWise Campaign’s goal is to incorporate financial education into every summer youth job in the country. Cincinnati is a member of the campaign and will use the innovation grant to provide financial education classes during the summer for those who earn a job from the fair.

At the Duke Energy Center, thousands of high school and college students visited dozens of booths that featured summer jobs, apprenticeships, and other career opportunities. The job opportunities ranged from working with kids at the local youth center to apprenticeships with electrical engineering companies. Organizations in attendance included the Parks and Recreation Center as well as Electrical Union Apprenticeships.

The job fair provided young adults with a plethora of summer job and career options. Mallory said, "It is an opportunity for young adults to figure out what they want to do. If kids just want seasonal work, that is definitely available, or if the kids just graduated and want to start a career, that is available too."

The second important component of the job fair was the inclusion of financial education to the job fair. The Conference of Mayors partnered with SmartMoney, the local organization for financial education, to set up three booths that quizzed kids on topics of credit, savings, and banking. In addition, DollarWise’s founding sponsor, Bank of America, provided the financial planners to assist with the event. Bank of America Merrill Lynch Financial Planner Ashley Ruef said, "The participants have been really excited and engaged in our discussions about savings."

These interactions between financial planners and young adults are important because they represent initial exposure to financial literacy for many kids, some of whom will enroll in SmartMoney’s financial education classes during the summer, made possible by the DollarWise Grant. SmartMoney Executive Director Lisa Roberts-Rosser found the event to be a huge success. She said, "Kids came away with great tips on how to save and at the very least, I hope we helped them pause for a moment before they spend spend spend."