Sacred Hearts welcomed the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (FRBSF) for all-day personal finance workshops for students in grades nine to 12 for the second time.

Students sat in on three sessions, including the purposes and functions of  the Federal Reserve Bank, useful tips for personal finance and how to finance college. Speakers from the Fed included Jody Hoff, the Senior District Manager of Economic Education in Community Engagement Group; Lorraine Thayer, the Education and Outreach Manager; Daniel Fukuyama, the Fed Ambassador Program Manager and Ellen Chan, the Senior Outreach Strategist in Economic Education.

Students found the workshops invaluable.

Sophomore Kanoe George said, “After the Fed’s visit, it just reiterated my thoughts of the importance of having a personal budget. I recently started working and I’ve been saving a portion of my income to go towards getting a new car. Throughout the sessions, the Fed gave me important tips and steps to do so.”

Senior Noelle Yamamoto also found the workshop tips practical.

“Since I will be graduating and heading off to college soon, I found the Fed’s visit to be extremely valuable for me. Their session on financing college and keeping a personal budget will definitely help me in the near future. I plan on setting a simple budget to save some money and hopefully stick with my plan.”

In the last session, Hoff facilitated an entrepreneurial leadership panel discussion with a question-answer segment. The panel featured young local entrepreneurs that focused on the aspects of business and industry. Local entrepreneurs included Emmanuel Bamfo, founding CEO of Recharge; Traven Watase, founder of Scholar’s App; Martina Welke, co-founder and CEO of Zealyst; Susan Yamasa, Executive Director of the Pacific Asian Center for Entrepreneurship (PACE) and Evan Young, co-founder and Director of Business Development of VRCHIVE.  

Sophomore Haley Peterson said, “I loved the panel discussion because the speakers shared their personal stories about their path to finding their businesses and taught us how we can all become entrepreneurs. Overall, I really enjoyed the visit from the Fed because it helps me to better understand the steps I need to take in my life to properly finance my future. ”