AAFE Financial Opportunity Corps members Dan Ping and Nathalie (bottom left and bottom right) with clients and coaches.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Wednesday, July 16, AAFE Financial Opportunity Corps held its first annual Meet & Greet Celebration at the Bank of America Tower on 42nd Street.  Over the past year, Financial Opportunity Corps members Dan Ping He and Nathalie Carril-King have trained community-based volunteers to be “financial coaches.”  Through one-on-one or small group coaching sessions, Financial Opportunity Corps volunteers have helped community members develop strategies to reduce debt, improve credit, start saving for emergencies, access benefits and build assets for long-term financial health.  The program is sponsored by Points of Light and Bank of America.

“I have learned so much by becoming a part of the financial coaching program with AAFE. When I first learned of the program I was simply just interested in receiving financial guidance which I think is a desire of most recent college graduates,” said client Shaneka Nixon.  “However over time my financial coach Julie, helped me to understand that whatever future financial path that I took had to be one that I felt was suitable for for my level of education and intelligence.  The topic of finance itself is an issue that many people struggle with.  But with the right support system it does not always have to be something that is entirely overwhelming.”

During her remarks, volunteer financial coach Melanie Miller stated, “While learning this new [financial coaching] model from AAFE, I felt I was able to provide a unique perspective to the other volunteers in the training from my previous experience, while also learning from them how to be an effective coach.” She added, “Participating in the Financial Opportunity Corps program has been a great experience for me.  I have loved being able to work one-on-one on a consistent basis with a client looking to make significant changes to improve her financial situation.  Thank you to Dan Ping, Nathalie and the rest of the team at AAFE, Bank of America and Points of Light for this great opportunity.”