95 Percent of Urban Students Go Without Financial Literacy Access: This partnership brings financial literacy to Boston high school seniors

BOSTON, Nov. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Possible Zone (TPZ), in partnership with EmpowerED Finances and Citizens, launched a five-module, interactive financial empowerment series to help equip high school seniors in Boston with the tools and confidence they need to take control of their financial futures.

The need is urgent:

• Across the U.S.: About 75% of students do not have access to a dedicated personal finance course – in urban school districts: this rises to 95%.
  
  
• Schools with higher proportions of Black or Hispanic students are about half as likely to guarantee a standalone personal-finance course compared to schools with fewer than 25% Black/Hispanic enrollment.
  
  
• Just 4% of Americans demonstrate full proficiency on seven core personal finance questions.

Through EmpowerED's Learn – Earn – Engage model, seniors at The Possible Zone, a youth development program headquartered in Boston, are:

• Learning budgeting, saving, credit, and investing.
• Earning a digital badge and acceleration money towards a bank account.
• Engaging with financial professionals at an account-opening event.

Through the program, each student is receiving their acceleration funding, earning a digital credential, and building confidence to further help them navigate early adulthood.

"Throughout our core programming, students build durable and technical skills that help prepare them for post-secondary success – in continued education and enduring careers," said Joanna Sanborn, TPZ V.P. of Post-Secondary Pathways. "This extra-curricular financial education course with EmpowerEd and Citizens is helping a cohort of our students develop essential life skills to manage money effectively, build a strong financial foundation, and make informed decisions that can positively impact economic mobility and foster longer-term financial security."

"At Citizens, we champion financial literacy as a cornerstone of lifelong independence and success," said Mark Thompson, Regional Market Executive at Citizens Private Bank. "We were proud to join TPZ's FastForge Hackathon last month, where our team saw firsthand the creativity and determination these students bring to every challenge. Together, we're helping unlock possibility and create pathways to economic mobility."

Committed to strengthening community members' financial security, Citizens is also working with TPZ to offer four financial literacy classes for family members of TPZ students over the next several months, beginning with Financially Lit Dads held earlier this month.

"What truly sets EmpowerED apart is our belief that financial education should unlock possibility, not just proficiency. Students earn college credit, acceleration funding for savings or investing accounts, and digital badges as tangible proof that their ideas and effort matter, while youth organizations and high schools get a turnkey model that removes barriers instead of adding them. We're building pathways to financial freedom that students can feel today and carry for a lifetime," said Farida Graham, Co-Founder of EmpowerED Finances.

The inaugural cohort of TPZ students participating in the five-module financial literacy empowerment program will celebrate completion of the module on December 2, 2025, at the organization's Boston Innovation Center.

About The Possible Zone
Young people spark their passions and develop key skills and mindsets, entrepreneurial spirit, and valuable networks through The Possible Zone—an exciting, tuition-free, experiential learning program that helps them prepare for life-long learning and readiness for careers of the future. Hundreds of high school students immerse themselves in early career exploration, thrive as they learn changing STEAM technologies, and develop valuable social and emotional skills in our supportive programming. Reinforced by a network of key educational and industry partners in our expansive ecosystem, and guided by our college and career advisors, students leave The Possible Zone equipped to shape their futures and ready to pursue innovative and in-demand careers. We are committed to helping them find their passions; cultivate essential skills, mindsets, and assets; and carve paths on which they can experience upward economic mobility.

About EmpowerED Finances
EmpowerED Finances is redefining financial education by bringing high-quality, college-level personal finance learning directly to young people and the schools and community organizations that serve them. Through its signature Learn–Earn–Engage model, students build real-world money skills, earn digital badges, college credit and acceleration funding, and connect with financial professionals who expand their sense of what's possible. Early results show powerful traction: strong knowledge gains, high learner satisfaction, and measurable increases in financial confidence and behavior. With a growing ecosystem of school districts, youth-serving organizations, banks, and higher-education partners, EmpowerED Finances is building a new standard for equitable, scalable financial literacy. At its core, the organization is committed to closing opportunity gaps and ensuring every student has the knowledge, confidence and tools to build financial freedom.

About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation's oldest and largest financial institutions, with $222.7 billion in assets as of September 30, 2025. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,100 ATMs and approximately 1,000 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on X, LinkedIn or Facebook.

SOURCE The Possible Zone