Description
MyPath youth leaders Yarah and Laura will facilitate an interactive workshop where participants will learn about the barriers youth face to banking and saving money, what MyPath youth leaders like themselves have done and are doing to make change at the policy level to build greater youth financial access and why youth are necessary partners in creating a more inclusive economy. Participants will also have an opportunity to examine their own financial access story as a young person and explore ways to further increase youth asset building, economic health, and equity.
Speakers
 | Laura Trinh, Youth Leader, MyPath Hi! I’m Laura Trinh. I was born and raised in San Francisco, am a sophomore at Lowell High School and live in a low-income community. I am 15 years old and am Asian American. With MyPath, I just started saving money in my credit union account this year. I am saving for a summer abroad program. I’d like to go to France. I am saving 70% of my MyPath income every month. By the end of the program year, if I meet my savings goal, I should have about $700! I believe in youth financial inclusion, where young people should have the same rights as adults when it comes to learning about banking, managing our own money and having our own bank account. |
 | Yarah Fonseca, Youth Leader, MyPath Hi! My name is Yarah Fonseca. I am a 10th grader at Mission High School in San Francisco. I am a youth leader at MyPath and identify as Latina. Our group focuses on advocating for policy change so all young people can have access to banking, saving and when we turn 18 years old, credit building opportunities. I believe that youth should be taught about predatory services like check cashers so they can avoid having money taken away from them and ways to save their money safely and responsibly in bank account. I like being in MyPath because it does a good job of informing teens who are just coming of age to learn how to save, manage their money and build their credit so they can get jobs, housing and loans to be able to afford university, a car or a home one day. |
 | Marcus Garcia, Youth Engagement Manager, MyPath Marcus is a graduate from the University of Redlands - Johnston Center Program. He is originally from the Inland Empire in Southern California. Marcus leads MyPath's in-house youth program. He identifies as Chicano and believes that youth are the center of every community. Marcus' pronouns are he/him/his. |
 | Shirley Yee, Director of Youth Engagement, MyPath Shirley Yee is a first generation U.S. born adult ally serving as MyPath's Director of Youth Engagement and oversees the in-house youth leadership program where San Francisco youth who live in low-income communities and communities of color work to increase youth financial inclusion. MyPath is a national non-profit based in the Mission District in San Francisco that empowers youth to build their skills and increase their access to banking, saving, and credit building. MyPath takes on systems level change by partnering with youth to design youth-friendly financial tools, shares what works with cities, non profits and financial institutions and advances policies that improve youth access to financial opportunities inside youth employment systems and around the country. Shirley believes that youth voice, youth experiences and youth organizing are central keys to unlocking the barriers and exclusion youth face when it comes to financial access. |