Consumer and personal finance education is the focus of Rosella Bannister’s professional life. For 25 years, Rosella was the Executive Director of the National Institute for Consumer Education (NICE) at Eastern Michigan University. NICE provided multidisciplinary teacher professional development programs and resources, including the Classification of Concepts in Consumer Education, funded by the U.S. Department of Education.
Rosella holds degrees from Purdue University and Wayne State University in Detroit. She worked in business for Armour and Company in Chicago, for the Dearborn Press in consumer journalism, and for the Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Service in Detroit. She served on a one-year special assignment with the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
Rosella chaired a working group to update Jump$tart’s 2015 National Standards in K-12 Personal Finance Education, 4th edition, a curriculum development tool for K-12 classrooms. This free publication can be downloaded at www.jumpstart.org/standards.
In retirement, Rosella serves as a consultant to the director of the online Jump$tart Personal Finance Clearinghouse, a leading source of information about free and inexpensive educational resources for teachers, parents and students at www.jumpstartclearinghouse.org.
Her professional awards include:
- Jump$tart William E. Odom Visionary Leadership Award
- U.S. Senator Philip A. Hart Consumer Leadership Award in Michigan
- Purdue University, Distinguished Alumni Award
- Japan Academy of Consumer Education Leadership Award
- International Consumer Citizen Network’s Tower Person Award, Tallinn, Estonia
