Financial services firms often focus their philanthropy on financial literacy and economic mobility. Principal Foundation, the nonprofit philanthropic arm of the 150-year-old global investment management company Principal Group, has the rare distinction of tapping the power of creative writing as part of this effort. The foundation, which has an endowment of $215 million, launched a national short story contest last year about money and personal finance. Called “Money Chronicles,” its goal was to inspire contemplation and conversation about the financial narratives people carry with them from childhood that negatively impact their financial decisions as adults.
This August, the foundation launched a second short story contest (IP covered the first one here) and added a new project — this one aimed at getting kids to think about the limiting money narratives they may already have begun to believe. Called “Debunking Money Myths,” the classroom-based initiative asks students to think, talk, interview and write about the money myths they’ve heard. These may include such chimeras and fire-breathing-dragon-like beliefs as “it’s bad to use credit cards,” “renting is always throwing away money,” “talking about money is rude,” or “only rich people need financial advisors.”
The foundation gave $50,000 to We Are Teachers, a national community of more than 3 million educators, to support the creation and distribution of the curriculum. “Our research shows that young folks — their narratives, their perceptions around money — are formed when they’re growing up by their families, their neighborhoods, what people around them are doing with money,” said Jo Christine Miles, director of Principal Foundation and of Principal Group’s community relations. Miles, who joined me by Zoom from Principal Foundation’s headquarters in Des Moines, created last year’s short story contest as well as this new initiative, which taps last year’s winning stories. “We hope this will encourage students to carry those conversations outside the classroom into their homes and communities.”
“Debunking Money Myths” is also designed to support educators. Some 35 states now require schools to teach personal finance, but “not all school districts or all states have ready-made materials,” said Miles. “In addition to advancing our goal of promoting money conversations and having people unpack their own money stories, we’re also putting a resource out there for teachers.”
Money problems? Let’s talk about it.
Debunking Money Myths is a free, downloadable lesson plan on financial literacy that teachers of fifth graders and up can tailor to their classrooms. It includes financial literacy worksheets that seem so helpful that I want to fill them out myself. It also asks students to read and reflect on one of the 17 winning stories generated by the foundation’s 2023 “Money Chronicles” contest, which it launched in collaboration with The Center for Fiction and Short Édition. Miles said the foundation views the classroom collaboration as an extension of the story initiative: “Our first year was just to inspire people to think about their own money narratives and stories, reimagine them, destigmatize conversations about money and the stories that people are carrying from their childhood. This year, we want to continue that but go deeper with youth.”
I read most of last year’s stories, which hit upon themes such as debt, the replacement of handmade goods by factory production, the costs of addiction, and the struggle to find work and housing. They struck me as being written by adults for adults.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of excellent YA literature out there about money. This was true even before the explosion of YA as a hot category. I still remember lines from the 1965 Newbery Honor book “The Noonday Friends,” about Greenwich Village tweeners growing up in poverty, which I read as a fifth grader.
Why use adult stories in a program for kids, rather than ones written for this age group? “They are really, really short,” said Miles. “They’re imaginative. They’re real. Sometimes, we underestimate a young person’s ability to understand big, complicated, hairy issues. Truth be told, many of them are witnessing some of the same issues, struggles, and challenges in their own homes and communities. So in some sense, they feel seen by a story like that.”
Sharing stories of money, year two
In August, Principal Foundation also announced a call for entries for its second edition of Money Chronicles: A Story Initiative. The contest, which will generate new stories for the educational program, is open through October 2. This is a longer admission period than last year’s contest; Miles said the foundation hopes to generate more submissions this year, and wants to give people more time to write.
Principal is dedicating about $200,000 to this year’s contest and has tweaked the process in other ways. This year, judges will pick one winner, who will get $1,000, and up to 20 finalists, who will each receive $150. As with last year’s winning tales, these new stories will be distributed through Short Édition’s little blue, print-on-demand machines, each about the size and shape of a parking meter, located in six cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Seattle, Charlotte and Iowa City. Stories will also be available to print out from Short Édition’s kiosks worldwide and online.
Miles is the rare executive in this field to bring a deep appreciation for the power of the written word. Last year’s short-story-based approach was something of a risky move on her part. I asked her how her fellow employees received it. “We got a lot of great feedback once it ran,” said Miles, who noted that at least one person from Principal Group plans to submit a story this year. “It’s the first time this is happening, that a C-level exec from the organization submitted. That makes me smile.”
