By Dustin Tyler Joyce
June 28, 2010

Conference of Mayors President Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz highlighted the continuing work of DollarWI$E, the Conference of Mayors financial education outreach initiative, in her address at the Monday morning business plenary session of the 78th annual meeting of The United States Conference of Mayors. Calling the campaign "very successful," Kautz noted that, among its many efforts over the past six years, DollarWI$E has awarded Innovation Grants to 16 cities to bolster their financial education efforts.

Kautz announced the recipients of a new round of smaller grants through the DollarWI$E Summer Youth Campaign:

• Baton Rouge (LA)

• Charlotte (NC)

• Houston (TX)

• Norwalk (CT)

• Philadelphia (PA)

These cities will use their SYC grants to support the integration of financial education into their summer youth employment programs.

Highlighting her own city's efforts to help youth become more financially literate, Kautz noted that Burnsville "is working with the DollarWI$E Campaign to demonstrate a new Web-based financial education program for youth called Money U." Through this online curriculum, youth in Burnsville will be able to complete an entire financial education program over the Internet in an online, interactive environment outside of a classroom, guided by a mentor.

Kautz encouraged all mayors to participate in DollarWI$E Week 2010, coming up this fall. She also thanked Bank of America, the campaign's founding sponsor, for their productive partnership with the Conference of Mayors and ongoing support of mayors- financial education initiatives.

Kautz also took the opportunity to announce a new DollarWI$E initiative being launched in conjunction with the Foundation for Financial Planning, the Financial Planning Association, and the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards. Through the new Financial Planning Days initiative, the Conference of Mayors is working with mayors in up to 30 cities to organize free financial education events for the public, powered by the financial expertise of professional financial planners. At these events, members of the public will have the opportunity to speak one-on-one with a financial planner to discuss individual or family finances in a more personal way than is possible in a classroom or seminar setting.

In closing, Kautz commented, "I want to congratulate the over 200 cities that have participated so far in the campaign. We invite everyone to be part of this extremely important Conference of Mayors initiative."

Kautz's comments in the Monday plenary session came on the heels of an in-depth discussion of mayors- financial education efforts at the Council for the New American City meeting June 11. Jim Peniston, Executive Director of the Foundation for Financial Planning, was on hand to speak of his organization's support for the new Financial Planning Days initiative and the DollarWI$E Campaign's involvement in it.

Peniston was joined by Tony Shinn, Senior Vice President and Oklahoma City Market President for Bank of America. Shinn highlighted his bank's support of financial education efforts nationwide, including DollarWI$E, as well as state and local financial literacy programs. Of note, Shinn stated, is Bank of America's support for efforts in Oklahoma to make a course in financial education a requirement for graduation from high school. Such a class will be required for all high'school graduates by 2014, making Oklahoma the latest state to require the teaching of this important life skill to high-school students.