An Open Letter to Volunteers

Dear RTSWS Volunteer,

You will now be making a difference in your professional life as you join the ranks of women who will make math, personal money management and a career in finance more relevant and appealing to high school girls. You bring your time, leadership experience and social capital to local high school girls. Girls, who, until the day they meet you, have no idea what you do for a living, nor have any idea of how being financially independent is key to living a self-determined life. You will be helping girls view math-focused fields of study as compatible with a career that has a positive impact on the world. RTSWS sparks girls’ enthusiasm for finance at a critical age and makes them aware of the societal benefits personal financial knowledge and math-oriented careers can have.

As you are probably already aware, women still represent only:

• 6% of senior investment roles across ALL financial firms • 2.5% of Hedge Fund CEOs

• 8% of Venture Capital professionals

• 11.7% of Private Equity professionals

• 14% of the employees in junior investment roles- so, the pipeline is

still not looking good

Change will only come about by making a long-term cooperative arrangement between the private and public, (schools and non-profit) sectors. It will depend on the coming together of schools, principals, teachers, students, banks, investment firms and financial professionals who understand the need for this type of program – a program that brings the relevance of finance to girls’ everyday lives.

You will share with them the excitement that lies ahead for those girls who choose a career in finance. Through this concerted effort, we can begin to move the needle on the number of women confidently handling their finances AND being heard on the world stage on financial matters as we build the pipeline of female talent coming into our profession.

Endless gratitude,

Maura K. Cunningham Founder & CEO - Rock The Street, Wall Street