Jump$tart Coalition to Honor Connecticut Affiliate as State Coalition of the Year
Connecticut Jump$tart Uses ‘Out-of-the-Box Thinking’ to Promote Financial Literacy
The Jump$tart Coalition today announced it will honor Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition as State Coalition of the Year on April 6 at its Annual Awards Banquet, which celebrates and honors the accomplishments of the financial literacy community. Connecticut Jump$tart President Christopher Lee will be on hand to accept the award for his state.
The State Coalition of the Year Award recognizes the affiliate’s effectiveness and innovation in reaching, supporting and assisting teachers; its public awareness activities; the level of participation and collaboration within the coalition itself and other achievements over the past year.
“Our grassroots coalitions, which operate almost entirely with volunteers, significantly contribute to the financial literacy effort across the country,” said Laura Levine, president and CEO of the Jump$tart Coalition. “This year, the Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition rose above the others with its use of out-of-the-box thinking to bring financial literacy to the forefront in Connecticut.”
Some of the accomplishments that Connecticut is being recognized for include:
- A survey for all Connecticut public high schools to assess which schools were teaching financial literacy.
- Held a Financial Literacy Summit where nearly 150 educators, parents, business people and policymakers gathered at Rentschler Field in East Hartford to begin collaborating on new ways to improve the financial education of the state’s youth.
- A new financial literacy outreach initiative with the state Science Center.
- Contributions to Sen. Ted Kennedy, Jr.’s legislation (Senate Bill 319), which is making headway to make personal finance a requirement for high school graduation in the state.
- A series of Financial Reality Fairs, promoted in conjunction with the Credit Union League of Connecticut.
“It is an honor to be recognized for this prestigious award,” said Christopher Lee, Connecticut Jump$tart Coalition president. “It goes to show what can be accomplished with great state coalition volunteers striving for a more financially literate state.”
Additional details about the awards banquet—set for April 6 at the Renaissance Washington, D.C., Downtown Hotel—can be found on Jump$tart’s website.
State Coalition of the Year Award
Jump$tart’s State Coalition of the Year Award was first suggested by Dr. Lew Mandell, one of the Jump$tart Coalitions founding board members, and was introduced by Jump$tart in 2005. While one coalition is recognized, the award is an important recognition of the collective achievements of Jump$tart’s network of 51 affiliated state coalitions. Recent past winners were:
- 2015 – Montana Financial Education Coalition
- 2014 – Maine Jump$tart Coalition
- 2013 – Colorado Jump$tart Coalition
- 2012 – Jump$tart Washington
- 2011 – Iowa Jump$tart Coalition
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The Jump$tart Coalition is a Washington, DC-based not-for-profit organization that seeks to improve the personal financial literacy of students in pre-kindergarten through college.
Jump$tart’s nearly 150 national partners and 51 affiliated state coalitions work individually and
collectively to educate and prepare our nation’s youth for life-long financial success. Jump$tart is the original promoter of April as Financial Literacy Month and publisher of the National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education. For more information about the Jump$tart Coalition, go to
www.jumpstart.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter @NatlJumpstart.
