Intuit recently partnered with the Suh Family Foundation to host a financial literacy assembly for the students of Inglewood high school. The Suh Family Foundation was co-created by Super Bowl LV champion defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and his wife Katya.
“We loved meeting the students of Inglewood and sharing our own financial literacy journeys with them,” Ndamukong and Katya Suh stated. “This is such an important age to learn these skills and it was great to see the students take the curriculum so seriously and really engage in the conversation.”
The main pillars of the Suh Family Foundation are health and wellness, empowerment, and education. Suh and Katya used personal anecdotes to explain key financial lessons. They had an open discussion with the students, talking to them about jobs, saving money, and banking.
The Suhs also shared with the students the importance of a bank account and investing in a 529 plan.
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“I think it is a wonderful beginning to what will be a long, strong relationship community partnership with Intuit,” said Inglewood Unified School District chief human resource officer Brian Coffey. “Providing financial literacy to our high school students is something that is so needed right now.”
Everfi implementation specialist Jamil Bryant conducted a trivia competition with the students to test their knowledge of financial literacy. A main lesson taught during the assembly is the 50/30/20 budget rule: 50 percent of income should go to necessities, 30 percent to wants and 20 percent to savings.
“If you’re able to build that budget and stay within your budget, then you’re setting yourself up for success,” Bryant said. “We find a lot of time when students start venturing outside of that budget, that’s when they start getting themselves into a little bit of trouble.”
Penieo Parker won the trivia competition; he found Suh and Katya’s presentation to be engaging. He got an autograph from the NFL veteran.
“I learned about reasons to save money and reasons to get a credit card, building my credit score,” Parker said. “I usually spend the money I get but maybe now I’ll start saving a bit of it and using it for a bank account.”
Intuit has been teaching financial literacy by creating curriculums around their financial services including TurboTax and QuickBooks. The Suh Foundation has been another effective component in teaching youth.
“I think myself, working with the teachers, we can plant seeds but it gives an extra element to have [Suh] and Katya’s celebrityism and passion behind it,” said Intuit prosperity hub school district manager Josh Phelon. “They’re not just talking the talk, they’re walking the walk by being in person, it’s a key pillar to their foundation is the personal finance education.”
Inglewood high principal Debbie Tate noted how the assembly was a great opportunity for students to further understand money management.
“A lot of times with teenagers, they don’t really experience things until they come out of the box,” Tate said. “Once they graduate from here and they get out into the world, there’s some things that they’re gonna really need to know that’s maybe not in a textbook.”
