Students in Pennsylvania have a hand up to gain financial literacy skills, thanks to Kenneth Booth, who is the founder of Black River Financial Youth Academy. ABC 30 reported that Booth’s nonprofit focuses on teaching kids about financial information. Booth’s commitment to raising awareness about money management is also connected to his professional aptitude.
(iStock.com/Milkos)According to the Black River Financial Youth Academy’s website, Booth possesses
more than 30 years of financial literacy leadership. The nonprofit leader’s areas of specialty include financial planning, portfolio management, design and implementation of retirement plans, and all aspects of SEC and IRS reporting. His formal education includes earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from Drexel University, and his Masters of Business Administration from Wilmington College, according to the website. The youth enrichment program is offered to youth ages 5-18, in Philadelphia and neighboring areas. The program will form partnerships with local school districts, churches, and various youth organizations. Additionally, the program strives to educate youth about money management before they reach adulthood.“We want to teach kids the difference between income and wealth,” Booth said in ABC 30’s article. “We want to create wealth.”
The chair of the Department of
Africana Studies at Temple University added perspective about how Black Americans became disadvantaged in the area of amassing generational wealth while looking forward.“We basically came here without the wealth or even material possessions that we had in the continent of Africa. We had basically nothing,” Dr. Molefi Kete Asante also said.
Back in 2013, Time reported that there is a big push to mandate personal finance classes to enhance financial literacy in youth as early as kindergarten. The article mentioned that during the time period in which the article was written, only four states require a stand-alone course in personal finance-focused courses.
ABC 30 also added that Booth believes that reaching kids early, when it comes to financial literacy, is a key to their success.
“You will create millionaires!” Booth also stated in the article.