The Brilliant Futures program will provide up to $1,000 per year from kindergarten through 12th grade to students at Bradbury Heights and Jackson Road Elementary Schools

The Greater Washington Community Foundation is excited to announce the launch of Brilliant Futures, a children’s savings pilot program that will provide students at two schools with up to $1,000 each year from kindergarten through 12th grade. Upon graduating high school (or equivalent by age 24), the students will be able to put their savings toward ongoing education and training or to pursue other income- or wealth-generating opportunities, such as buying a home or starting a business.

The Community Foundation has partnered with Montgomery County Public Schools and Prince George’s County Public Schools to launch the pilot program for all kindergarteners currently enrolled at Jackson Road Elementary School in the White Oak neighborhood of Silver Spring, MD in Montgomery County and next year’s kindergarteners at Bradbury Heights Elementary School in Capitol Heights, MD in Prince George’s County.

The Community Foundation has committed to funding the program for two consecutive kindergarten cohorts at each school. The program is expected to enroll up to 400 students. The participant population is 90% Black, Latinx, and Hispanic with all students eligible for free and reduced meal service (FARMS). The schools were selected in alignment with The Community Foundation's strategic focus on high opportunity priority neighborhoods across the region where residents are experiencing the deepest disparities in homeownership, income, and life expectancy, according to several data sources.

“Expanding the possibilities not just for one, but for an entire community of young people can move us toward our vision of narrowing the racial wealth gap in our region,” said Tonia Wellons, president & CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation. “We are confident that children’s savings will help us reshape how and where resources flow in our communities so that we can build more equitable systems which lead to a more resilient and prosperous region for all.”

The pilot program will be funded using $10 million of contributions raised by The Community Foundation’s “Together, We Prosper Campaign for Economic Justice” and through investments from generous donors. Upon completing high school, the goal is for each student to have access to at least $13,000, plus any investment earnings, that they can use to seed their future aspirations.

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"We are proud to be a part of such a transformative and innovative program that provides an investment that every student in the nation deserves," said Interim Superintendent of Montgomery County Public Schools, Dr. Monique Felder. “When these young people graduate high school, they will immediately have a strong cornerstone upon which to build a prosperous life whether they choose to go straight into the workforce, higher education or entrepreneurship."

Researchers for the Annie E. Casey Foundation have found, through economic modeling, that having an asset such as a children’s savings account can close the racial wealth gap in a community by as much as 28%.

“We’ve seen the transformative impacts of well-executed programs that provide savings for young people and adults alike,” said Superintendent Milliard House II from Prince George’s County Public Schools. “We hope that by supporting students with a down payment on life, whether that goes toward funding a college tuition, starting a small business, or buying a house, this program will level the playing field, promoting racial and financial equity in the Greater Washington region.”

“At Jackson Road, we recognize the need to address the whole child—in and out of the classroom,” said Ms. Rosario Paola Velasquez, Principal of Jackson Road Elementary School. “We take a community-centered approach and wrap our arms around this community.”

The Greater Washington Community Foundation will work with the schools as well as with community partners Reid Community Development Corporation in Prince George’s County and Parent Encouragement Program in Montgomery County to manage the program.

To learn more, visit www.thecommunityfoundation.org/brilliant-futures.

Support Brilliant Futures

On April 19, The Community Foundation hosted a panel of national leaders for a discussion about how investments in Children’s Trust Accounts create a brighter future for communities. The event was part of the “In Pursuit of Economic Justice” Webinar Series –designed to bring together experts to explore innovative approaches to closing the racial wealth gap.

“We want young people to be able start their lives with the flexibility to pursue their dreams in any direction that they want to go,” shared The Community Foundation's Anna Hargrave. “By expanding the possibilities for an entire group of children, we can help forward our vision of closing the racial wealth gap across the Greater Washington region.”

“When you think about poverty, you often focus on income,” Dr. William Elliott a leading researcher and professor at the University of Michigan shared. “But income is dealing with the symptoms of poverty instead of the root cause of poverty. Poor people don't just have a lack of income; what they have is a lack of opportunity.”

“Children’s Trust Accounts are not just about money; it's about making sure that future generations are in a position to access the resources they need to be successful.”

Child Wealth Building Programs (such as a “Child Savings Accounts”, “Baby Bonds” or “Children’s Trust Accounts”) are growing increasingly popular in the philanthropic and public sectors. A private or public funder provides seed money to open a savings account for kindergarteners, which accrues value until the student graduates high school and can be used for different purposes.

In the case of Child Savings Accounts, funding is often restricted towards post-secondary education or training through a 529 state college savings plan. A Children’s Trust Account allows funding to go towards a wider range of wealth building opportunities, including trade school, homeownership, or entrepreneurship. The Community Foundation intends to launch a Children’s Trust Account pilot program at two elementary schools in Prince George’s County and Montgomery County sometime in the next year.

Dr. Elliott is the founding director of the Center of Assets, Education, and Inclusion, and recently authored a comprehensive report “Unleashing the Power of Children’s Savings Accounts (CSAs): Doorway to Multiple Streams of Assets”. The report outlines some of the biggest outcomes from child wealth building programs, including what Dr. Elliott calls “tangible hope.”

A mother participating in NYC Kids Rise's Child Wealth Building Program shares the impact the program has had on her son's learning.

“When you give a kid an asset, you're allowing them to begin to purchase some part of their future self,” Dr. Elliott explained. “It's a very valuable thing. It's concrete. It's not just ‘I hope one day they go to college.’ You’re giving them real, tangible assets so they can plan for their future in a way that they’ve never been able to do before."

“All of a sudden, college is possible; not just in a wishful thinking kind of way, but in a tangible, near-future, kind of way.”

“It's not just about having an asset accumulate and be able to gain on that early investment,” Leila Bozorg, Chief of Strategy and Policy at NYC Kids Rise added. “It's about the narratives that a kid is hearing from an early age and those expectations of success and support to meet those expectations.”

NYC Kids Rise started out in 2017 as a pilot program in New York City’s School District 30 (about 3,500 kindergartners). Six years later, the program has expanded city-wide – thanks to a partnership with New York City Public Schools – making it the largest such program in the country. Champions of the project included Maryland Governor Wes Moore, then CEO of Robin Hood, which invested more than $1 million towards the initiative.

Governor Wes Moore (then CEO of Robin Hood) talks about the importance of Child Wealth Building Programs.

While the financial partnership with New York City Public Schools has been a huge benefit to NYC Kids Rise, Leila says that it’s the existing infrastructure provided by the school system that has opened new windows of opportunity for students.

“What we've tried to do is not just build a vehicle for asset accumulation; we’ve engaged the entire ecosystem that impacts the long-term success of a child,” Bozorg explained. “We know that each part of that ecosystem can impact a child's economic opportunities in the future.”

NYC Kids Rise works with the school system to develop financial education curriculums for the classroom that can be personalized to each child – allowing them to develop financial literacy skills in real-time. They also provide workshops and resources for parents so they can create their own savings account – building the foundation of a culture of saving for the entire family that Dr. Elliott says is important to strengthen and encourage.

“Because of these programs, families are starting to have active conversations about their kids’ futures, well in advance – they’re catching a glimpse of a financial future that they didn’t have the capacity or resources to see before. Over time, they begin to develop and adopt long-term habits for financial success.”

Community Leader Claudia Coger talks about their community investment in the NYC Kids Rise community scholarship program.

When asked about secrets to success, Bozorg added that community involvement is key. Early on, NYC Kids Rise set up community scholarships – allowing anchor institutions and community groups to make direct contributions to child wealth building programs rather than contributing through more traditional scholarship programs. Dr. Elliott noted that this format allows funders to have a greater impact on students, since their investment multiplies the impact of the child’s savings account.

“Any investment can make a difference in a child’s life,” Bozorg said. “But we’ve found that the real growth happens when communities and community partners take the lead in committing to a generation’s future.”

When asked about lessons learned from such a program, Bozorg had just one word to say: “Patience.”

“These are long-term, legacy-changing programs that can have major impacts on institutions and on people's lives. That change isn't going to happen overnight.”

“We're trying to change minds and cultures around saving,” Dr. Elliott added. “It's one thing to have this platform and provide this resource; it's another to help them access it and see the value in it.”

That being said, both were highly optimistic about the prospects for The Community Foundation to launch a Children’s Trust Account pilot program.

“I think your program will be a good marker,” Dr. Elliott remarked. “Not only for the Greater Washington Region, but for the whole country to better understand what happens when we make larger investments in our children’s future over time.”

Click here to view a recording “In Pursuit of Economic Justice: A Primer on Children’s Trust Accounts. For additional information on Children’s Trust Accounts and other economic mobility initiatives, visit www.thecommunityfoundation.org/strategic-plan.