Montgomery elected president of Oklahoma Jump$tart

Friday, September 15, 2006

Joyce Montgomery, coordinator of the Service-Learning Volunteer Center at Oklahoma State University and site supervisor for Oklahoma Money Matters – OSU, was recently elected president of Oklahoma Jump$tart, a national grassroots coalition with a mission of educating community youth and other citizens about responsible money management, including income and savings, budgeting and banking.

She has served OSU students as an advisor to Students In Free Enterprise for over five years. Together, OSU Volunteer Services area SIFE students and trained Oklahoma Money Matters students have been involved in organizing the annual eighth- and 11th-grade career fair, Career Paths, held the past several years in February at the Payne County Expo Center.

"This fall, we plan to work with a program called ‘My Money, My Life, My Choices’ to engage trained college students with other OSU students to provide peer mentorship to help students recognize behaviors and resources to alleviate credit card abuse,” Montgomery said.

Oklahoma Money Matters is an AmeriCorps educational award program sponsored through the Oklahoma Guaranteed Student Loan Program housed at the Oklahoma Regents for Higher Education. Its purpose is to help educate Oklahomans about money management skills and resources.  

During Jump$tart Your Money Week in April, approximately 150 outreach projects in more than 40 communities were offered across Oklahoma.

"Commitment of our citizens by engaging in financial skills mentoring and outreach is strengthening our existing resources for responsible and successful financial management," Montgomery said.  

She said collaborative partnerships throughout Oklahoma are integrating resources and skills to offer information to citizens who may be affected by job loss, lack of education, or social disabilities. For more information, visit www.Jump$tart.org.

Montgomery also recently attended the National Institute of Financial and Economic Literacy in Madison, Wisconsin, held at Edgewood College. Meridian Technology Center and Bank of America sponsored the trip.