HBCU Grad Whose Program Teaches Black and Brown Youth How to Invest Receives $250K in Funding

Nationwide — Ruby “Sunshine” Taylor, a graduate of Howard University and the founder of Financial Joy School based in Baltimore, Maryland is proud to introduce Project 10,000, an initiative geared towards providing essential financial education to black and brown youth and families through the financial literacy card game, LEGACY! Card Game. The initiative is supported by a $250,000 cash grant via a partnership with Wells Fargo Small Business Growth Philanthropy and the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center.

Growing up in the Bronx, New York, Ruby, a Howard University and VUU alumna, was not privy to the world of investing or what it meant to make your money work for you, no matter how hard her family worked. Because of financial trauma and systemic racism, the racial wealth gap continues to adversely impact black and brown families.

With her life and professional experience in understanding the impact of financial challenges, Ruby founded Project 10,000 as a way to create a fun and welcoming introduction to investing and generational wealth building for black and brown youth and families.

Ruby believes, “We can create a world in which financial equity is a reality for us all. First, step reducing barriers to investing education, financial literacy, and investment cash. Project 10,000 will do that and so much more.”

Financial Joy School and Project 10,000 is on a mission to support black and brown youth and families to build generational wealth through long-term investing with joyful and practical wealth-building tools. We cannot reverse the history and current oppression of black and brown people, but we can help create a better future—one card game and financial education tool at a time. Recognizing the disproportionate generational wealth-building within this demographic, Financial Joy School decided to take up the mantle of arming Black youth and families with investment and financial literacy.

The initiative takes complex financial concepts and breaks them into bite-sized nuggets of information. It is presented in an exciting and engaging five rounds of fun in a pick-and-play card game. While having fun, black children and families will have the opportunity to win investment cash.

The Financial Joy School prides itself on championing the vital cause of being the catalyst of Black generational wealth. In a bid to guarantee that the LEGACY! Card Game decks are disseminated wide and far, the company has secured twelve distribution partners around the United States.

The following schools and organizations will receive free LEGACY! Card Games because of the support of Wells Fargo Small Business Growth Philanthropy and the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center:

Detroit Public Schools, Detroit, MI; Lancaster Teenage Girls Summit, Lancaster, PA; Black Girls Smile, Washington, DC; Portfolios with Purpose NYC, NY; Mount Washington Middle School Baltimore, MD; The Artest Foundation Queensbridge, NY; The Mix (Community Center) Lancaster, PA; Dent Education Baltimore, MD; Harlem Academy NYC; Black Fathers Foundation, Atlanta, GA; Open Hands, Pittsburgh, PA; and the African Diaspora Alliance, Baltimore, MD.

Each location will all receive its decks beginning February 2022 in honor of Black History Month.

When asked what prompted her organization to join the initiative, Lauren Carson, Executive Director of Black Girls Smile, Inc., proclaimed, “Black Girls Smile is proud to be a Distribution Partner for the LEGACY! Financial empowerment card decks because we know that Black youth and their families often experience a disproportionately negative impact related to a long history of financial stress and trauma. This type of stress and trauma impacts mental health and wellbeing. We believe that interventions like the LEGACY! cards help to increase the financial literacy and agency of Black communities, and we are very excited to distribute them to our community of Black girls and their caregivers.”

In addition to Project 10,000, the Financial Joy School will be hosting the Financial Family Reunion Summit on Saturday, September 17, 2022. The conference is breaking ground as the first financial conference geared towards fostering Black wealth and legacy by enabling Black and Brown youth and families to learn, grow, and empower themselves to create generational wealth and, most importantly, joy.

At the Financial Family Reunion Summit, one family will win $10,000 investing cash and twenty other families will win $150 to $1,000 investment cash. Registration for the event is FREE, and the event’s coordinators are encouraging individuals to sign up early so that they can have a greater chance of winning a prize. Sign up here for the conference.

To learn more about Project 10,000 and the Financial Family Reunion Summit, visit FinancialJoySchool.com

For press inquiries, contact Natalie@FinancialJoySchool.com or (410) 929-1567.