Oakland-Area High School Seniors Graduate from Racial Equity Financial Education Program with New-Found Knowledge, $8,000 College Scholarships

Partners PG&E, PG&E Foundation, UC Berkeley and Mills College at Northeastern to Celebrate Graduates of Program Targeting Wealth Gap

OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Twenty-three high school students will receive $8,000 scholarships upon graduating from the PG&E Economic Equity and Financial Education Program on Saturday (Feb. 1) at the University of California, Berkeley. The program was designed to address wealth disparity and the racial wealth gap affecting African Americans.

Students completed an advanced financial education course taught at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and The PG&E Corporation Foundation (PG&E Foundation) created and paid for the program.

More than 70 high schoolers have gone through the program since the pilot in 2022. The PG&E Foundation funds the scholarships.

PG&E partnered with the UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and Berkeley Executive Education. Other partners include Mills College at Northeastern University, and Amenti Capital Group.

The program prepares African American high school students for future financial success. It also reinforces academic leadership. The program is supported by PG&E and the PG&E Foundation's Better Together Giving Program. The charitable Better Together program aims to bolster people, the planet, and California's prosperity, and ensure a safe and inclusive future for all.

Students attended classes on Saturdays over the past six months. They say the skills they learned will help guide them to future success. 

"The program has been very beneficial in teaching me how to manage my finances, which is a critical skill in life, especially when the next step in my life is going to a four-year university," said Ty Carter, 17, a student at Oakland's Castlemont High School.

PG&E created the program after two years of planning. It was part of a racial justice initiative following the George Floyd tragedy. More than $500,000 in annual funding was committed through the Better Together Giving Program. Funding for the program comes from PG&E shareholders, not PG&E customers. It is one of several scholarship programs PG&E supports.

Students took courses taught by Berkeley Haas professors and financial industry professionals. Studies focused on personal finance, capital markets and wealth creation, investments and more. African American undergraduate students at Haas mentored the high schoolers.

Mills College at Northeastern University TRIO Programs recruited the students. They did so through programs that help underserved high school students and first in their families attending college to succeed.

The curriculum was developed with Berkeley Haas Professor Panos Patatoukas and Jason Miles, an African American venture capitalist. Miles has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry and founded Amenti Capital Group.

 "I am grateful for their partnership in this impactful program, which equips Oakland-area high school seniors with the essential financial knowledge to embark on their personal finance journey. As founding faculty director, I am especially proud to see former participants now thriving as Berkeley students — a testament to the program's transformative impact on our community. I look forward to strengthening this partnership to further expand its reach and influence," said Professor Patatoukas of Berkeley Haas.

"We continue to believe that there is great benefit in empowering young African American future leaders with early access to practical investing knowledge that will enrich their lives. We remain energized by the opportunity to catalyze generational wealth creation alongside like-minded partners and this impressively talented class of students," said Miles of Amenti Capital Group.

Information from the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances helped to shape the program's intent. The survey looked at disparities in wealth by race and ethnicity. It noted that the typical white family had eight times the wealth of a typical Black family. The survey cites a number of complex factors across generations. One such factor is how personal savings and investment decisions contribute to wealth accumulation.

The 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances (the most recent released) showed the gap slightly narrowed. The survey showed that white families had six times as much wealth as the typical Black family. According to the report: "We remain far from racial equality, reflecting the large differences that have persisted for decades."

"We recognize the profound impact the racial wealth gap has on perpetuating inequality in California and remain deeply committed to being part of the solution. We believe that providing early access to financial education is a vital step in addressing equality, equipping young people with the tools, knowledge, and confidence to navigate financial systems and create a foundation for long-term success," said PG&E Senior Vice President of Customer Experience Vincent Davis. 

One student already charting success is Otis Ward, a graduate of last year's program who shared his journey in the PG&E short film "Change the System: Building Black Wealth."

When the program launched in 2022, it was hoped it would serve as a model for future high school education curriculum. In 2024, California passed legislation providing high school students have access to a personal finance course by 2027. The legislation also makes personal finance education a graduation requirement by 2031.

About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news  

About The PG&E Corporation Foundation
The PG&E Corporation Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, separate from PG&E and sponsored by PG&E Corporation.

About the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
As the second-oldest business school in the United States, Berkeley Haas has been questioning the status quo since its founding in 1898. Berkeley Haas offers outstanding management education to about 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students from around the world to attend one of its six degree-granting programs and join the school's network of 41,000 alumni worldwide.

About Berkeley Executive Education
UC Berkeley Executive Education serves leaders and organizations who aspire to redefine the future of business, delivering over 150 programs annually to a global audience. Its immersive learning experiences, led by renowned UC Berkeley faculty, equip global executives and their organizations with the vision and capabilities to thrive in an evolving world.

About Northeastern University
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. Our world-renowned experiential approach empowers our students, faculty, alumni, and partners to create impact far beyond the confines of discipline, degree, and campus.

Northeastern's comprehensive array of undergraduate and graduate programs—on-campus, online, and in hybrid formats—lead to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools. Among these, we offer more than 140 multi-discipline majors and degrees designed to prepare students for purposeful lives and careers.

About Amenti Capital Group
Amenti Capital Group is an emerging merchant bank that provides independent advisory services and venture capital to early-stage technology companies in high growth ecosystems. We leverage deep industry knowledge, operational expertise, and longstanding relationships to deliver attractive returns through our end-to-end model. We serve entrepreneurs and sophisticated investors while following our core principles of innovation, integrity and inclusion.

SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company