Executive director of ScholarShare Investment Board Cassandra DiBenedetto believes that youth gaining exposure to financial literacy is critical to educational success after high school and will translate to their adult lives.
“Financial literacy is not natural to most communities, so it has to be taught,” DiBenedetto said. “A lot of times students are not super comfortable walking into a bank.”
ScholarShare Investment Board is a state program of the State Treasurer’s Office, and runs the California Kids Investment and Development Savings Program (CalKIDS). That program teamed up with Golden 1 Credit Union to educate high school students and families on banking basics and higher-education savings opportunities provided by the state at Golden 1’s Cosumnes branch in Sacramento on April 5.
Golden 1’s Cosumnes branch on Bruceville Road is located within the eighth-most diverse ZIP code in the U.S., according to Niche, a data analytics company that assesses neighborhoods and schools. Niche calculated the rating using U.S. Census data and takes into account the levels of variance in race, age and income levels. In the 95823 ZIP code, the population is 35% Hispanic or Latino, 18% Black, 16% white, 5% Asian, 4% Pacific Islander and 19% identifies as some other race.
The free late-afternoon event hosted about 70 high school students and families from the Sacramento City Unified School District, with special guests including California State Treasurer Fiona Ma and Sacramento Kings mascot, Slamson, in attendance. The second annual Community Day was expanded to multiple Golden 1 branches across Northern California, which hosted similar events on April 5.
“We want to make sure that you as the next generation can stay out of student loan debt and dream for the future,” said Fiona Ma, a speaker at the event and a candidate for California lieutenant governor in 2026. “Whatever you all want to be, money should not be the barrier.”
