By Andrea Stevens
AFRO Staff Writer
astevens@afro.com
The Youth Wealth Summit recently returned for its fourth year with a new direction and a deeper partnership with Baltimore City Public Schools. Each year the summit serves an opportunity to expand financial education for middle and high school students in a city where economic mobility is a tough challenge for many.
The event is run by the CEO Empowerment Network, founded by Anthony and Raven Parker. Anthony Parker said the summit was created to blend community education and entertainment while giving young people meaningful access to financial literacy.
“The basic goal of the Wealth Summit is to empower people in our community and underprivileged youth with the knowledge they need to advance in wealth creation,” he said. “We saw a gap in the market and a yearning for people wanting to be more informed.”
About 130 middle and high school students attended the summit, choosing from five workshops and a panel discussion centered around the theme “CEO of Your Life.” Post-event surveys showed strong engagement, with students reporting that the hands-on workshops helped them feel more confident about money, leadership and entrepreneurship. Participants also earned student service learning hours, and members of the youth advisory council who helped design the event were paid for their work.
Several of the workshops offered real-world simulations of wealth-building concepts. Anthony Parker led a session on business ownership that introduced students to purchasing businesses as a path to wealth, followed by a Shark Tank-style pitch activity.
Another workshop, led by Morgan State University’s Entrepreneurial Development Assistance Center, walked students through stock market investing using real-time scenarios. Additional sessions focused on budgeting, entrepreneurship and student-led opportunities within Baltimore City
Public Schools, including how students can access school funding to create new programs.
According to information from the American Bankers Association, “nearly nine-in-10 consumers (87 percent) agree that financial concepts should be taught in high school and 72 percent believe they would be better off financially if they had learned the basics of personal finance at an earlier age.”
Raven Parker said exposure is a central goal.
“We wanted to be able to expose them to more opportunities so they can actually see what wealth looks like right around them,” she said. “Putting them in rooms with people they look up to has been very rewarding. A lot of mentorship has been happening and they have been able to get access to grants through pitch competitions.”
One student said the summit helped broaden his understanding of financial responsibility.
“My favorite part of the event was getting to understand different ways to make money and to save money, not just spending it on things that you want,” said Nathaniel Monroe Jr., a student from the Academy of College and Career Exploration.
Funding remains the summit’s biggest challenge.
“Passion projects do not always bring income,” Raven Parker said.
SECU opened 30 bank accounts for youth last year and deposited $100 into each.
She credited long-term partners, including First National Bank, Wells Fargo, EDAC and CQ Bank for sustaining the program.