Legacies

Junior Achievement of Arkansas recognizes business leaders who promote education

By Mark Carter

Junior Achievement of Arkansas will honor its 2023 Legacy Award winners at the 15th annual Legacy Award Luncheon on May 25 inside the DoubleTree Hotel Ballroom in downtown Little Rock. The Legacy Awards Luncheon is the nonprofit’s largest fundraiser, benefiting thousands of students throughout central Arkansas.

Founded by Sheffield Nelson in 1987, Junior Achievement promotes economic and financial education in central Arkansas schools and recognizes those who champion that mission. The Legacy Awards were established in 2008, and recipients are chosen for their exceptional leadership in supporting academic excellence in Arkansas.

This year’s Legacy Award winners are Miguel Lopez, senior vice president and chief community outreach officer for Encore Bank, and Sharon Vogelpohl, president and CEO of MHP/Team SI. Dr. Fitz Hill, CEO of Arkansas Baptist College Foundation and the Scott Ford Center for Entrepreneurship & Community Development and founder of the Derek Olivier Research Institute for the Prevention of Gun Violence, is the 2023 Education Award winner and US Bank will be honored as the Nelson Summit Award winner for its commitment to JA’s mission.

Arkansas Money & Politics asked award winners about their involvement with Junior Achievement and the importance of promoting financial literacy in local schools. Representing US Bank is Mike Richardson, branch banking market leader for Arkansas and Missouri.

AMP: Tell us about your involvement with Junior Achievement and promoting education in Arkansas.

Vogelpohl: I became involved in JA nearly 25 years ago when Steve Holcomb was a board member of JA and had the idea of creating the “Future Leadership Board” — a group of young up-and-coming professionals to interject energy, new ideas and a pipeline of “hands on” volunteers to the JA network.

The “FLB,” as it became known, was one of the first young professional auxiliary groups in the nonprofit community and now is a more widely leveraged strategy. The FLB grew significantly, and, as was the vision for FLB, I “graduated” to the JA Board as Steve’s successor a few years later. Some FLB alumni try to get together to bowl in the Bowl-a-Thon each year to continue to support JA. And, yes, I have a few Turkey Bowl championship trophies. (My bowling name is Janis.)

One of my first contributions to the board was a concept in which we approached longtime supporters of JA — like Sam Alley at VCC — to help promote JA by “donating” some of their firm’s planned advertising in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette to do a campaign to raise awareness of JA, what they do and showcasing the caliber of community leaders and companies that choose to support JA and why. For example, Sam Alley told his story of how he came to the U.S. with nothing and built one of the nation’s largest construction giants. Entrepreneurship in action. Remember … this is before social media existed. So, this was an unprecedented awareness push.

After serving a few more years on the board and the northwest Arkansas market launched, there was discussion of establishing a statewide board for JA, and I was fortunate to be invited to the inaugural board tasked with the strategic planning to bring what is now the statewide board to life, which was truly an honor.

One of the things that really sticks with you about the JA story is the retention rate of volunteers in the classroom. JA makes it so easy for anyone to “just add water” in the form of their personal life and business experience to bring the amazing JA materials to life.

I had also become involved in the Rotary Club of Little Rock, and Rotary International was celebrating its centennial. Then banker, now congressman, French Hill was the president of the club at the time and invited me to be a part of his cabinet and planning high visibility projects for the club in the community. About that same time, JA was promoting a concept called “JA in a Day” — where a group would basically take over a school and teach six weeks of JA curriculum in a day. I saw that this concept would be very appealing to busy professionals who saw the scheduling aspect of volunteering in the classroom as a hurdle/ excuse for not volunteering.

The Rotary Club of Little Rock adopted a school, and senior executives from business and nonprofits rallied to teach all the curricula in one day. Media was secured to help promote the program for JA as a new option, and many of the Rotarians who participated were able to bring volunteer opportunities back to their places of business.

After I rolled off the board when I had children, we continued to be involved as a firm with pro bono consulting and public relations services, participating in the bowl-athon and the business luncheon.

More recently, the next generation of the agency’s leadership, Kristen Nicholson, earned a slot on the central Arkansas board, then was promoted to statewide board and now is serving as the chair of this Legacy Awards event, which is very special to me.

Lopez: As the chief community outreach officer for Encore Bank, I manage 11 community outreach officers across our footprint. Three of which are right here in Arkansas. We partner with Junior Achievement from San Antonio to Tampa Bay and everywhere in between. I am proud of our involvement in schools here in Arkansas. Out staff is super sharp and diverse. It’s not just about teaching financial literacy but also about representation and showing our children that they too can be a banker one day.

Richardson: I’ve personally been involved with Junior Achievement for nearly 20 years in different capacities. Promoting financial literacy in Arkansas and across the country is a huge priority for US Bank. In 2022, approximately 1,400 US Bank employees served nearly 80,000 people by teaching financial literacy. Some of my career volunteer highlights are working within our schools and among young students to help them gain financial knowledge and build confidence.

Hill: As a native Arkansan, I have been involved in educating students of The Natural State for nearly 30 years. I have had the awesome opportunity to work with students from middle school through postsecondary education. Growth often comes outside of the student’s comfort zone; consequently, I take great pride in encouraging those who I get to work with that being consistent in persistence is fundamental in achieving desired goals.

AMP: How important is it to expose students at an early age to programs that foster financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship?

Lopez: Our education system’s curriculum is flawed in that it does not teach our students practical real-life lessons around money. Money is the most important tool we should learn to master, and the earlier the better. Junior Achievement fills that gap. Teaching our students real-life practical lessons around money, like how to save, budget and invest are crucial for establishing a strong foundation early on. I haven’t used the Pythagorean Theorem since high school, but I check my household budget and investments routinely.

Hill: Financial literacy empowers students’ abilities to make sound decisions regarding their finances, which pays huge dividends in the future by consistently using sound core principles of money management. Strategic financial planning of personal resources and working with appropriate mentors assist students in comprehending financial theory as well as successfully implementing the applied principles for sustainability. These elements are invaluable in creating an entrepreneurial mindset, which improves the lives of individuals, communities and the overall economy.

Richardson: It is incredibly important to work with students of all ages to teach appropriate financial literacy concepts as well as emphasize work readiness and entrepreneurship. It’s never too early to start discussing the importance of saving and planning for the future.

Vogelpohl: It’s huge … and the need continues to grow. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family business, so I was issuing payroll, balancing checkbooks and cutting checks to pay vendor invoices and expenses from a very early age.

The family was in the car business, so the importance of consumer credit scores, how interest rates work and monthly budgeting were foundational. When I had to type (yes, I said type … and you couldn’t make a mistake on a four-deep carbon copy form) sales contracts, those boxes listing interest rate, term and seeing the calculation of “total of payments” really gets your attention. Not everyone has that opportunity, and it is imperative that basic financial literacy be established early.

I can’t count the number of times I have overheard (and still can) my dad counseling someone on not buying the car they want but convincing them to buy the car they can afford. He had JA as a student growing up in Illinois and would go to local high schools that didn’t have JA and teach students how to budget, negotiate and make good decisions about buying a car so as not to get “upside down,” as we say in the car business.

AMP: Are schools currently doing enough to help promote these concepts?

Hill: There will always be room for improvement. However, it’s important to find creative ways that inspire students to want interact with educational tools, which promote and train for the desired outcomes to be achieved. Interactive learning through smartphones and Esports can assist educators with teaching financial concepts.

Richardson: I am encouraged by community organizations like Junior Achievement and the unique partnerships that take place in our schools to help promote financial literacy concepts.

In Arkansas, our employees are regularly connecting with teachers and other leaders invested in the lives of students to teach, encourage and come alongside our local youth.

Vogelpohl: Schools and our teachers have an enormous responsibility and numerous expectations to teach core curriculum. If it were up to me, financial literacy would be core curriculum. But since it is not, it is important that the community, business and parents rally around programs like JA that supplement the core.

Lopez: We are making great strides especially here in Arkansas, and JA Arkansas has led the way.

AMP: In what ways have you seen first-hand how the JA mission is making a difference?

Richardson: During a recent JA in a Day event, I was particularly inspired as I watched students and teachers interact. Hearing them talk about making and saving money, and also giving back to their community, was really encouraging.

Vogelpohl: Having been in the classroom as a volunteer before I had children, it is amazing to see the level of excitement and engagement that having a special guest/JA volunteer in the classroom for 45 minutes can engender.

Then, my own children have been the beneficiaries of JA at Our Lady of the Holy Souls under the leadership of Dwain Hebda, a truly tireless and passionate volunteer who has taught countless lessons and reached hundreds of students with JA’s inspiring and practical programming over nearly a decade.

Lopez: When you go to the schools to volunteer, you see firsthand the difference JA makes. I encourage you to get involved!

Hill: Junior Achievement strives to inspire and prepare students to succeed in a global economy. The organization assists participants in discovering what’s possible while connecting what’s learned in the classroom with real life experiences in work spaces.