Fidelity unveils next-gen campaigns in fight for financial literacy

Fidelity is looking to help more young Americans get financially savvy with a fresh series of educational campaigns.

The investing giant said its latest initiatives – building on its past efforts spanning 10 years and touching more than half a million students – will draw on its workforce of more than 74,000 associates.

“The expertise of our associates is one of Fidelity’s greatest strengths,” Pamela Everhart, head of regional public affairs, inclusion, and impact at Fidelity Investments, said in a release. “Financial education is simply what we do.”

One of the firm’s new countrywide initiatives, the FinEd Champion Program, aims to equip associates with games, online learning modules and other resources to spread the word on financial education within their communities. With opportunities for professional development and community volunteering, the program has reportedly attracted more than 500 associates in its first month.

Fidelity is also rolling out in-school learning opportunities for students and their families, with pilots launched in key regions including Boston and Covington, Kentucky. Teaming up with public school systems, the firm will coordinate classroom visits with its associates, host family nights, and provide virtual financial education courses to faculty members at 500 high schools from coast to coast.

Fidelity is embarking on its virtual education project through a collaboration with Everfi, a digital course provider, which is also working on another partnership with Edward Jones. By the end of 2025, that alliance aims to expand to one million learners.

Taking a page from the startup space, Fidelity is also pulling together associates from across the organization in a 'Shark Tank'-style event, forming teams to tackle a real-life challenge in financial education for underserved middle and high school students.

The investing giant is also rebooting its Women Talk Money series for a younger teenage audience, as well as introducing new resources and tool kits for the more than 30 million workers enrolled in its workplace plans.

“Improving financial literacy and building lifelong financial skills is the first step to financial mobility—and through financial mobility, we can strengthen financial futures for all and realize positive change for the next generation,” Everhart said.