FICO Joins Marsai Martin's Foundation and Seeds of Fortune Inc. to Expand National Financial Empowerment Initiative for Families and College Students

Seeds of Fortune Inc. Partners with FICO to Launch FICO Financial Empowerment Fellowship

NEW YORK, Aug. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Seeds of Fortune Inc. and Marsai's Way Foundation are deepening their partnership to advance financial empowerment, building on a successful inaugural year that reached more than 2,000 students with financial education, college readiness, and community engagement programming. 

Seeds of Fortune Inc., a national nonprofit and education technology platform preparing students for college, career, and financial success through financial education, scholarships, and leadership development, will extend its impact through a partnership with FICO, a global analytics software leader widely known for the FICO® Score, used by 90% of top U.S. lenders.

Together, the organizations are launching the FICO Financial Empowerment Fellowship, a new initiative that prepares college students to become peer ambassadors. As part of the Fellowship, ambassadors will help fellow college students better understand the importance of building healthy credit, checking and monitoring their credit scores, and connecting with trusted financial institutions and educational resources that can help them establish strong financial foundations early in adulthood. The Fellowship will award ten $1,500 scholarships to college students who demonstrate leadership and a passion for financial empowerment. Selected Fellows will receive training in credit education, financial wellness, and community engagement before leading campus activations throughout the academic year.

Building on the momentum of the inaugural partnership with Marsai's Way Foundation, this second year represents a significant expansion of the initiative by combining celebrity influence, nonprofit expertise, and industry leadership to address one of the nation's largest financial education gaps.

"Financial empowerment is core to FICO's mission. Partnering with Seeds of Fortune and Marsai's Way Foundation shows what's possible when strength in numbers meets shared purpose — reach and impact multiply when the right partners come together," said Rukiya Kelly, Global Head of Corporate Impact & Engagement at FICO.

Throughout the partnership, students and families will participate in a series of educational experiences, including the Credit Starts at Home family workshops, digital financial education campaigns, campus-based Fellowship activations, and an exclusive Ask Marsai Anything virtual conversation where Marsai Martin will discuss financial wellness, career growth, and the importance of building healthy financial habits.

"Knowledge creates opportunity," said Marsai Martin. "We're excited to continue this journey with Seeds of Fortune and welcome FICO into the partnership. Together we're helping students build confidence around money, understand their financial future, and become leaders who can bring that knowledge back to their own communities."

Applications for the inaugural FICO Financial Empowerment Fellowship are currently open. The deadline to apply is September 21, 2026, with Fellows participating in programming throughout the fall before being recognized during the Resolution Brunch hosted by Marsai Martin in Atlanta on January 18, 2027.

For more information about the Fellowship, visit https://www.seedsoffortune.org/marsai.

About Seeds of Fortune Inc.

Seeds of Fortune Inc. is a national nonprofit organization and education technology platform that prepares students for college, career, and financial success through financial education, scholarships, leadership development, and workforce readiness programming. Since its founding, the organization has helped students secure more than $114 million in scholarships and grants while serving thousands of students nationwide.

About Marsai's Way Foundation

Marsai's Way Foundation empowers young people by creating opportunities that support leadership, education, wellness, and personal growth through transformative programming and partnerships.

About FICO

FICO (NYSE: FICO) powers decisions that help people and businesses around the world prosper. Founded in 1956, the company is a pioneer in the use of predictive analytics and data science to improve operational decisions. FICO holds more than 200 U.S. and foreign patents on technologies that increase profitability, customer satisfaction and growth for businesses in financial services, insurance, telecommunications, health care, retail and many other industries. Using FICO solutions, businesses in more than 100 countries do everything from protecting 4 billion payment cards from fraud, to improving financial inclusion, to increasing supply chain resiliency. The FICO® Score, used by 90% of top U.S. lenders, is the standard measure of consumer credit risk in the U.S. and has been made available in over 40 other countries, improving risk management, credit access and transparency.

Raven Robinson, [email protected] 

SOURCE Seeds of Fortune Inc.