Financial Beginnings is the pathway to a financially capable nation.
We're a national nonprofit that provides accessible and unbiased financial education programming to youth and adults in schools and community-based organizations across the country.

The generosity of community members, volunteers, businesses, and foundations enables Financial Beginnings to provide all our programs at no cost to learners and educational partners. We deliver programming to tens of thousands annually, serving K-12 and adults, and prioritizing groups from low-to-moderate income (LMI) households.


Our Mission
Financial Beginnings empowers youth and adults to take control of their financial futures.
Our Vision and Theory of Change
The Society We Want To Create: A financially capable and literate nation where individuals are vested in and contribute to a healthy economic system nationally, regionally, and in their neighborhoods.
Our Vision For The Future: A world where individuals cease to see finances as a barrier and instead view them as a tool to realize their dreams.
Our Theory of Change: View an illustration of the path we hope to create for learners and the broader community.
Our History
Founder, Dr. Melody Bell, was inspired to fill an education gap that existed in local Oregon schools by launching Financial Beginnings in 2005. Despite a growing need in educating young people about personal finance, few schools at the time offered financial literacy curricula.

In her experience working within several facets of the financial industry, she repeatedly encountered individuals who had failed to properly protect themselves financially, leaving little money for savings and personal security, and delaying life goals such as higher education, retirement, and home ownership.

Dr. Bell was determined to create an organization that provides unbiased personal financial education to young people, based on the belief that sound financial decisions are a result of early education.

Since its inception, Financial Beginnings has expanded to serve both youth and adults, adding programming that educates and empowers elementary school, middle school, and high school students, postsecondary students, low-to-moderate income earners, vulnerable adults, and Spanish-speaking learners. In 2020, Financial Beginnings started offering online programming in addition to in-person instruction through webinars and an interactive Learning Management System (LMS).

Once a local Portland, Oregon nonprofit, Financial Beginnings now provides programming in several states and continues to expand into new parts of the country each year.
Making Meaningful Progress!
We've helped financially empower more than 250,000 people since our inception in 2005.