ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y.–Ocean Financial FCU has announced its sponsorship of the Rock the Street, Wall Street (RTSWS) program for the 2023-24 academic year at Sacred Heart Academy.
RTSWS is a non-profit organization designed to bring both gender and racial equity to the financial markets and spark the interest of a diverse population of high school girls into careers of finance through financial and investment literacy programs.
Today, Rock the Street, Wall Street has served more than 6,000 female high school students, including 73% from BIPOC populations and 49.96% from low-income households.
“We’re honored to support such an amazing organization,” said Joe Tedesco, president and CEO of Ocean Financial Federal Credit Union. “Financial literacy is always important and Ocean Financial has an opportunity to help an organization like Sacred Heart Academy, who is dedicated to raising up young women and making them leaders in the community.”
Throughout the year, students at Sacred Heart Academy will learn about savings and investments, budgeting, the capital markets and their role in maintaining the welfare of their families and the economy, while simultaneously helping them see the real world application of the math content they learn in the classroom.
Led by female leaders in the finance and banking industries, RTSWS will be broken into four programs: in-classroom learning, mentoring, field trips, and opportunities for networking.
“The importance of RTSWS is that it gives us the opportunity to provide personal development to the girls and strong role models that are real women in real accounting and banking jobs,” said Lisa C. McGuinness, Ocean Financial Federal Credit Union’s first female. “As a former student at Sacred Heart, it is wonderful to have the opportunity to spend time with the girls and share my personal career journey.”
According to RTSWS, women represent only 6% of the leaders in the financial services professions. In addition, eight out of 10 women have said they have refrained from having financial conversations, the credit union said.