Our Impact
Pockets Change was recognized in 2023, by Sony Create Action for our work building intergenerational financial resilience and transforming communities. We received the 2022 Innovation Award from the National Jump$tart Coalition for our creativity, ingenuity, and ability to connect financial topics to a diverse audience. Inspiring financial conversations across generations, Pockets Change Hip Hop pedagogy promotes youth-led learning and professional relationship building for social impact.
Our innovative approach to connecting Hip Hop and finance improves upon the traditional practice of teaching money by numbers. We build intergenerational financial resilience through creative conversations, unpacking systems, building habits to your personal rhythm, and advocating for change guided by personal values.
Over the last 14 years, we’ve developed an educational framework that is rooted in research and grounded in evidence-based practices. Our 5 Steps Financial Resilience Educational Framework has been utilized by thousands of educators and was featured at SXSW EDU, Harvard, and Columbia.
From learners ages 6-60, we see Hip Hop & Finance work; our community partners report:
Testimonials
“Having financial security allows you to be the person that you're supposed to be. Right? You can't focus on crushing your goals and making sure that you are focusing in school and going to work when you don't have stable housing or you don't know where your next meal is going to come from. So I think that having financial security just removes a lot of barriers, and also just the earlier you start learning about your finances and how to take control of them, the better off you are.“
“I think just the format and the way that Pockets Change approaches this, like pedagogically, is a game changer for us. You know, the young people that we're working with, hip hop is something we relate to automatically and sort of just intuitively, culturally, and so to use that as a medium to teach such an important skill set is huge for myself.”
“In the last year, I’ve gained more control of my personal finances and feel more confident in talking and teaching the topic in class.”
“If we don’t create a plan for our money, someone else will. It’s about making a plan that works for you.”
“I can't tell you how many teens have come to us after we've done financial literacy sessions and have said, How come we don't learn this in school? I wanna learn this in school”
“If we're not knowledgeable about these things, and then when we're faced with it in the real world, we're not going to know how to respond to it.”
“Learning how my personality connects to my money”
“I really loved this workshop! It's such an eye opener. It made me think of my options and what I can do right now and in the future”
“In our communities we need strong communication skills, understanding and expressing personal talents, and strategies for working with others (about Hip Hop + Financial Programming). We all need this. I do. Our kids do. Our communities do. This isn't just a life skill it's a life necessity”
“The most valuable part of this session was understanding more about myself as an educator in terms of the different life skills I can pass on to any student I encounter”
“The host was amazing and actually engange the participants.”
“It helped me to think about money in a different way. I liked how the presenter mentioned that Money is an exchange of energy.”
“I learned money has a direct tie into how we interact with others as well as ourselves. Our actions and thought processes can change based on our relationship with money.”
“When I heard we were having a financial workshop series, I was afraid it's bbe boring. But then you guys got here and I learned so much and my kids had fun. Thank you. This was amazing”
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Interested in partnering with Pockets Change? We love hearing from organizations who are as passionate about personal finance education and empowering students, families, and communities as we are.
