Women in Finance

ILLUSTRATION TALIA GREENBERG HUDGINS

Women in Finance

Great News: Nine in 10 girls say it’s important to learn how to manage money, according to a recent survey by the Girl Scouts of America. Not so great is that only 12 percent of girls feel confident making personal financial decisions.

“Financial transactions are part of every American’s daily reality,” says Kit Jackson ’83, senior managing director and portfolio manager at First Republic Investment Management in New York and recent President of the Garrison Forest Board ofTrustees. “To be financially illiterate is a tragedy, but becoming financially literate is easy.”

Empowerment comes from knowledge, not just of your potential, but in knowing what it takes to embrace it. Garrison Forest embraced this philosophy nearly a decade ago with the creation of The James Center, the overarching GFS program that brings together the school’s traditions and initiatives in leadership development, community outreach, STEM and financial literacy. The James Center’s financial literacy program offers lessons about money, budgets and investing as tools to achieve goals.

Kit, who was recently named to Barron’s list of “Top 250 Female Wealth Managers,” witnessed GFS’s financial literacy focus during her just-completed tenure as President of the Board of Trustees. “I am impressed with the programs the school has created to ensure that the next generation of women truly understands the power and importance of being financially smart. Learning these lessons and getting girls interested in financial matters early on makes all the difference. We need more women considering finance as a career path.”

LOWER SCHOOL FINANCIAL LESSONS

At Garrison Forest, financial literacy begins early. Using children’s literature as a springboard for learning, students develop an understanding of economic vocabulary and basic economic principles.

Girls as young as Kindergarten can participate in the Lower School’s monthly banking program with M&T Bank. In 2018-19, 35 Lower School students saved their tooth fairy and allowance money with

M&T Bank. A big lesson for elementaryaged girls is distinguishing between a need and a want and creating a budget, but the Lower School also dives deep into investing, credit, diversification and careers in finance beginning in the Fourth Grade. “Our goal is to teach our students about financial responsibility through a fun, hands-on program,” says Gail Hutton, Head of Lower Division. “Garrison Forest’s program overlays the classroom curriculum and provides an amazing leadership opportunity for our Fourth Grade students.”

“Garrison Forest is unique in providing an intensive, comprehensive, highly

FINANCIAL FUN IN THE LOWER SCHOOL

experiential and ambitious financial literacy program in its Lower School,” adds Andrea Perry, the school’s Director of The James Center and Dean of Special Programs. “Experiences that often wait until the high school years – hands-on banking, ‘playing’ the stock market – are integrated into the elementary years. This gives us a remarkable foundation for Middle School and Upper School programming that goes beyond, into areas like entrepreneurship and career planning. Creative and committed teachers weave ‘financial literacy’ into engaging and relevant learning that sticks.”

• Since 2015, Fourth Grade has managed GFS’s “Wise Bank,” a school-hosted “branch” of M&T Bank. Each month, Lower School account holders visit Fourth Grade tellers to make deposits. M&T employees conduct monthly training and financial literacy seminars for the Fourth Grade, complete with a behind-the-teller-desk visit to the Owings Mills M&T branch.

• Fourth Grade speaker series with financial experts (parents and alumnae and a video conference with the Federal Reserve Bank in Cleveland) that covers budgeting, saving, investing, credit, critical thinking, the stock market and more.

• Fourth and Fifth Grade participation in the statewide Stock Market Game, competing against other elementary school teams in Maryland. Working in groups, they “invest” and manage a virtual portfolio of $100,000 using the same tools and techniques real investors use to research stocks: Yahoo! Finance; P/E ratio; earnings per share; 52-week range; current events; etc.

• Investwrite, an expository and vocabulary program that corresponds to the Stock Market Game. Fourth Grade students write essays on the stock market. Last fall, one of the GFS students placed 10th nationally for her Investwrite essay.

• Financial field trips to Towson University’s T. Rowe Price Finance Lab, a trading floor classroom, for a stock market lesson taught by an economics professor (Fourth Grade) and the annual trip for Fourth and Fifth Grades to JA BizTown, a simulated city economic experience sponsored by Junior Achievement of Maryland. Students are assigned various BizTown jobs – CFO, bank president, restaurant owner, real estate agent, etc. and the elected positions of mayor and deejay – for a daylong immersion into the realities of how the economy works. GFS is joined on the field trip by the fourth- and fifth-grade classes from Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, adding another real-world dimension. (Prior to the trip, there’s a school-sponsored “playdate” with icebreakers with the boys.)

Fourth Grade students researching stocks

A PROJECT INNOVATE! CASE STUDY: STICKERS & STUFF STARTUP

The 2019 winning Project Innovate! (PI) team of Seventh Graders Kylie Beckerman- Berman, Rayah Howell and Reilly Sullivan applied the same skills M.B.A. students use when developing a business model and plan. To create their subscription box service, Stickers & Stuff, they:

• researched two of the digital and retail world’s biggest trends – subscription-box services and pop-up shops – and reimagined them for a middle school market;

• surveyed the market to determine inventory wants, price points and distribution options;

• researched cost-effective ways to create and distribute their product;

• developed, designed and produced a product sample based on their research;

• created a marketing plan for advertising and retail options, which includes both a subscription-box service delivered to the Middle School and a pop-up shop;

• presented their startup to the PI judges.

The winning Project Innovate! group presents its Stickers & Stuff business plan to the judges.

MIDDLE SCHOOL MONEY MATTERS Faculty and administrators in the Middle School see the fruit of the Lower School’s early financial literacy lessons in a GFScreated program called Project Innovate! (PI). Since 2015, the Seventh Grade has participated in PI, which is modeled on the popular TV show Shark Tank, where business owners pitch ideas to a panel of investor judges. For PI, each team of students comes up with a challenge to address that affects the Middle School or greater GFS community, brainstorms solutions and pitches its startup idea to a GFS panel of judges.

“This year’s students were much more aware of budgetary restrictions and were able to develop multitiered proposals that included expensive, ideal options along with more affordable alternatives,” says Shannon Schmidt, Head of Middle School. “It has become harder to choose a PI winner because the girls have thoughtfully created multifaceted proposals with some no-cost, low-cost and more expensive options. At this point, many ideas from each of the projects are being adopted, even if the entire project is not being implemented.”

The 2019 PI winners, Stickers & Stuff, developed a plan to market a sticker subscription box to students in various divisions and have families commit to and pay for each box up front. “It was great to see them think through how to keep startup costs minimal for the Middle School while brainstorming how to make the boxes attractive to students, affordable to families and profitable for the school,” Mrs. Schmidt explains.

Adds Reilly Sullivan, one of Stickers & Stuff ’s project team members, “It was a balancing process between cost and desired profit margin goal. The most important financial lesson I learned was it takes money to make money, and you have to research, strategize and sometimes modify a business plan.”

Next spring, Lindsay Kelland, the Instructional Technology Department Chair and Middle School Digital Learning Specialist, will launch GF$, Inc., an Eighth Grade elective focused on creating a business and learning about business practices. “We’re going to look at marketing our idea, all financial components, etc.,” says Mrs. Kelland, who has an undergraduate business degree and is certified to teach business education. The class will go well beyond business theory, actually forming a business, with any profits supporting a class trip or endof-year activity.

FINANCIALLY SAVVY UPPER SCHOOLERS

The Lower School and Middle School financial literacy lessons feed into Upper School life in numerous, purposeful ways. Older students debate how to spend the Junior Class Ring Dance funds and create a budget for a club activity or for their Jenkins Fellows applications. They research the interplay of economics and public health in the Half the Sky: International Perspectives on Women, Gender and Health elective. In another elective, Economics: Making ¢ents of Personal and Global Financial Literacy, students dive

deeper into their financial literacy and the factors that influence the global economy. Through the College Counseling Office, all sophomores participate in the Career Explorations program that gives students tools to consider career paths that address broad elements related to finance, including educational requirements and earning potential. Students in the junior- and senior-year Decision Making and Transitions classes explore financial issues related to college choice and college life, hear from finance experts and have finance-related options for their Independent Senior Project. Going full circle, some become alumnae who return to the Upper School for Career Day.

Through life prep and career prep, Garrison Forest’s in-depth focus on financial literacy teaches early-on financial concepts, vocabulary and applications to create women who are financially literate and financial leaders. That’s a philosophy that can change the world.

The Buck Shouldn't be Stopping Here:

54.5% of the 2018 U.S. financial services industry were female.

YET ONLY

12.2% of CFOs in the top 20 global financial services firms are women

and ONLY 13% of hedge fund and private equity firms are run by women CEOs.

“Garrison Forest is unique in providing an intensive, comprehensive, highly experiential and ambitious financial literacy program in its Lower School.”

–Andrea Perry, Director of The James Center and Dean of Special Programs

There’s a 24% first-promotion gap between women and men despite women asking for comparable promotions. For women of color, that gap jumps to 34 percent.

Source: Catalyst (catalyst.org/research/womenin-financial-services/)

Women in Finance

ANNIE HARVEY ’07

Vice President, Wealth Management Division, Brookfield Public Securities Group B.A., Public Policy and Law, Trinity College

Finding her fit: I wanted a career that would give me a basic understanding of how the world works. Finance is a platform I can build on. Part of the allure for me is that I didn’t know much about it. My first job was in sales for a small financial company.

RIKKI PELTA ’05, ESQ.

Legislative Analyst, American Council of Life Insurers B.A., History, Franklin & Marshall College J.D., American University Washington College of Law

Biggest reward: I love finding clients I align with and providing them with a good product [to invest in]. My learning curve is endless, but that’s a good thing. Information is always evolving. My biggest fear is being caught flat-footed. I like that I am held accountable by my clients and need to provide them with the best service.

Finding her fit: I went to law school knowing a law degree was versatile, but it took some trial and error. I worked with a different trade association, but it wasn’t a great fit. I wasn’t necessarily interested in the life insurance industry, but the good part is most people come in with no background, and I could learn on the job.

Best advice: Get out there as much as you can and network. I always hated hearing that because it was a little awkward, but I wish I had started earlier. We have a great GFS alumnae network [see GFSConnect, inside back cover]. Offer coffee or lunch or schedule a phone call. If you’re still interested, pursue an internship, a summer job or an Independent Senior Project (ISP). Learn as much as you can to decide if it’s something you like.

COURTNEY MULLIN ’13

Investor Relations Associate, Greenspring Associates B.A., Business Administration, Loyola University Maryland Sellinger School of Business and Management

Finding her fit: My father works in finance, so I grew up hearing about what he did, but at GFS I never thought that I would be in finance. I thought I

didn’t have the technical or math skills. In college, I took a business class and realized that the field was much broader. I’ve always thought of myself as a people person. I didn’t think that there were those types of people in finance, but I was wrong. I’ve wound up with a blend of the technical reporting process and general communications. And I love that in venture capital, we are financing ideas and companies that are changing the way we live and work.

Best advice: I am in an environment where there is so much emphasis on diversity. I work with a lot of women, which is super helpful to me. Sexism still exists in the financial field, but Greenspring Associates has made an intentional commitment to female leadership. When looking for a career, give yourself time to explore. Your needs and interests will grow.

TALLI CROKER OXNAM ’90

Senior Vice President and LPL Program Manager, Wye Financial Trust B.A., Communications and Media Studies, University of Puget Sound

Finding her fit: I ran a family construction business for almost 20 years. I started off budgeting project management and human resources and became chief operating officer. If you know your numbers and have a financial plan, you can make a lot of things happen. Finance is about relationships and dealing with one of the most intimate things people have: their money.

Best advice: Look for finance in lots of different areas. You don’t have to work for a financial firm. So much is possible if you look for the opportunities. If you’re fascinated by the pharmacy or theater fields but don’t want to be a pharmacist or an actor, you can run the finances behind it. And as soon as you get your first job, get into the 401(K) plan.

M.C. HOOPER ERNST ’04

Vice President, Airline Underwriting Department Manager, U.S. Aviation Underwriters, Inc. B.A., Psychology, Vanderbilt University M.B.A., St. John’s University, The Peter J. Tobin College of Business

Finding her fit: I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do out of college. I applied for a Waddell Fellowship, which is offered to three women every year to work in London in the aviation insurance marketplace. I ended up getting it and worked as an underwriting assistant at Lloyd’s of

London. I went in not knowing anything about insurance and aviation and came out absolutely loving it. Aviation insurance is something that will always be needed.

Best advice: Don’t take a job because it looks fun or offers a short-term promise. Look at where you want to be in 10 to 20 years. Find a viable mentor. Be on the lookout for what‘s coming next for your industry and for technology. If you know what’s on the cusp, you will continue to provide value. Never lose the confidence you gained at Garrison Forest. Having the confidence to adapt, learn, interact with others and make a path for myself is a massive strength in a male-dominated industry.

MAKEDA NOCK ’11, C.P.A.

Senior Accountant, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Institute of Human Virology

B.A., Accounting and Psychology, Mount St. Mary’s University M.B.A., Liberty University

Finding her fit: At GFS, I wanted to be in psychology and work with children. In college, I had a friend who took an accounting course, and she let me look at her book. I like structure, and psychology had little structure, so I double majored in accounting and psychology. In the financial field, there isn’t a single tool that won’t help you for life.

Biggest reward: I’m not crunching numbers all day. Our institute conducts research and finds cures for infectious diseases. I help manage large federal and foundation grants. Visiting countries where we are doing work is incredible – I’m watching funds get used for real work to save lives. My parents always instilled in me the idea that if you have knowledge, use it to help others.

2019 GARRISON FOREST SCHOOL