Thrive: Learning to Save and Budget Helps Youth Thrive Into Adulthood

Thrive: Learning to Save and Budget Helps Youth Thrive Into Adulthood

From Good Things from Lemonada by Lemonada Media

April 9, 2026 · 30 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how financial education and support can help young people, especially those leaving foster care, thrive into adulthood.

For young people, financial basics like opening a bank account, building credit and saving for the future can be challenging. It’s even harder if you are leaving foster care, and you don’t have a knowledgeable mentor, caregiver or parent to help you learn to manage money. That's where Opportunity Passport® comes in. It’s a program that has helped more than 22,000 young people build financial skills over the past 25 years. In the second episode of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's series on what young people need to thrive, host Gloria Riviera talks with Sandy Wilkie, Senior Fellow at the foundation, and Von Jackson, an Opportunity Passport participant, about how the right education and support can transform a young person's financial future. This episode was made possible with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, an organization that develops solutions to build a brighter future for children, youth, families and communities. Learn more and access the free curriculum, The Keys to Your Financial Future at aecf.org.

People in this episode

Host: Gloria Riviera

Guests: Sandy Wilkie, Von Jackson

Topics covered

  • financial literacy
  • youth empowerment
  • foster care
  • budgeting
  • saving
  • credit building

Keywords

  • financial skills
  • youth
  • foster care
  • Opportunity Passport
  • budgeting
  • saving
  • credit

Sponsors

Annie E. Casey Foundation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Opportunity Passport, Lemonada Media

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