Seedlyng Financial Education

Seedlyng is addressing the lack of financial literacy education for underrepresented groups in STEM, particularly girls and students of color. The problem of gender inequity in STEM is prevalent across the United States, with women making up only 28% of the STEM workforce. Additionally, students of color are underrepresented in STEM fields, making up only 11% of the workforce. 

The lack of financial education and resources for these groups is a contributing factor to this problem. Students from underprivileged backgrounds often face financial obstacles that hinder their ability to pursue STEM careers. 

This is why Seedlyng's solution provides accessible financial education and resources for these students, empowering them to overcome financial obstacles and pursue their STEM goals. 

Our program includes pre and post-assessments, certificates of completion, and a comprehensive curriculum that is accessible on any device. With Seedlyng, we aim to close the gender and racial gaps in STEM by providing the necessary tools for success.

Seedlyng Financial Education is a comprehensive financial literacy program for students in K-12 that aims to improve their financial knowledge and decision-making skills. Our solution includes a web-based platform with interactive lessons, games, and quizzes, as well as an app that reinforces learning through daily challenges and exercises. 

Our program covers a range of financial topics, including budgeting, saving, investing, credit, and more, and is aligned with state and national financial literacy standards. The platform uses engaging and interactive learning tools such as videos, animations, and simulations to help students understand complex financial concepts and make informed decisions.

In addition to the educational resources, our program includes pre- and post-assessments to measure students' progress and provide feedback to teachers and administrators. Students who successfully complete the program will receive a certificate of completion.

Seedlyng integrates seamlessly with popular learning management systems such as Google Classroom and Schoology, making it easy for teachers to incorporate financial literacy into their curriculum. Our platform is designed to be accessible to all students, regardless of their background or prior financial knowledge.

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Seedlyng's solution serves students in middle and high schools, particularly those in underprivileged and underserved communities, who may lack access to quality financial education. Our solution will impact their lives by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to make informed financial decisions, set financial goals, and achieve financial independence. 

We are working to understand their needs by collaborating with educators, parents, and community organizations, conducting surveys and focus groups, and analyzing existing research on financial education. We also involve students in the development process, soliciting feedback and ideas, and incorporating their perspectives into our design. 

Our solution addresses their needs by providing a comprehensive financial education program that includes interactive modules, personalized assessments, and practical resources, all tailored to the unique needs of each student. Our platform is accessible, engaging, and easy to use, allowing students to learn at their own pace and according to their individual learning styles. By improving financial literacy among students, we aim to empower them to make informed decisions that will positively impact their lives and their communities.

Derrick Wesley, the founder of Seedlyng, is a veteran educator with over 15 years of experience working in underprivileged communities across the United States. As the winner of TD Ameritrade's Innovation Contest, he has a proven track record of designing and implementing effective solutions that positively impact student learning outcomes. Richard Ciarletta, Seedlyng's COO, is a former school principal and edtech consultant with extensive experience working in K-12 education.

Our team's proximity to the communities we serve is a key strength. We understand the unique challenges facing students from underprivileged backgrounds and are committed to developing a solution that meets their needs. To ensure that our solution is grounded in community input, we have engaged in extensive outreach efforts, including conducting surveys, holding focus groups, and meeting with community leaders.

Our team has also prioritized building strong partnerships with schools and organizations that serve underprivileged communities. These partnerships have allowed us to gather valuable feedback and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure that our solution is tailored to meet the needs of the communities we serve. Through our ongoing engagement efforts, we are confident that we are well-positioned to deliver a solution that will meaningfully improve the lives of the students we serve.

Seedlyng has been awarded RFPs for the following school districts. 

We have worked with schools in Texas, Chicago, Idaho, California, New York, Washington D.C., and Lebanon in the Middle East.

We are applying to the Gender Equity in STEM Challenge because we believe that our solution can make a meaningful impact on the lives of students and educators, and we want to reach more students and partners on a global scale. However, we face financial barriers in improving our technology and expanding our reach. 

We hope that Solve and Tiger Global Impact Ventures can help us overcome these challenges by providing us with access to a network of resource partners, learning and development modules, and leadership coaching. These resources will enable us to refine our business model, theory of change, and plans for scaling, ultimately helping us improve, grow, and scale our product to reach more students and educators globally.

Derrick Wesley, our CEO and Executive Director, is deeply connected to the community we are serving. As a veteran educator with over 15 years of experience in the classroom, he has seen firsthand the financial struggles faced by students and families. 

He is passionate about closing the financial literacy gap and has dedicated his career to improving financial education in schools. Through his work as a teacher, mentor, and financial literacy advocate, he has built strong relationships with students, families, and educators in the communities we are serving. 

He is committed to ensuring that our solution is guided by the input, ideas, and agendas of the communities we serve and that it has a meaningful impact on their lives.

Seedlyng's solution is innovative in several ways. Firstly, our financial literacy curriculum is designed to be engaging and interactive, with gamification elements that make it fun for students to learn about financial literacy. Secondly, we provide a personalized learning experience for each student, tailored to their individual needs and learning style. This is achieved through our adaptive learning technology, which assesses each student's strengths and weaknesses and adjusts the curriculum accordingly.

Additionally, our budgeting tool is integrated with Plaid, a leading financial data platform, allowing us to provide real-time data and insights to our users. This helps them to better understand their spending habits and make informed financial decisions. The tool also includes features such as warnings when users are close to overspending and reminders to stay on track with mini-lessons that are connected to their previous lessons.

Our solution has the potential to catalyze broader positive impacts by increasing financial literacy among students, which could lead to better financial decision-making and more responsible spending habits in the future. It could also change the market by offering a more engaging and effective financial literacy solution than what is currently available, leading to increased adoption and use among schools and students.

Our impact goals for the next year are to reach at least 10,000 students with our financial literacy curriculum and budgeting tool. We aim to measure the impact of our program by tracking improvements in financial literacy scores, and by monitoring changes in student behavior related to budgeting, saving, and spending habits. 

Over the next five years, we aim to scale our solution to reach at least 500,000 students across the country. Our goal is to create a generation of financially literate young adults who are equipped to make smart financial decisions that will positively impact their futures. 

To achieve these goals, we will continue to work closely with educators, community organizations, and financial institutions to ensure that our curriculum and tool are accessible and effective. We will also leverage technology to create a personalized learning experience for each student and to make our program scalable and sustainable. Additionally, we will collect and analyze data to continually refine and improve our solution, ensuring that we are meeting the needs of our target population and achieving our impact goals.

In terms of tracking our impact towards our goals, we will be measuring several indicators such as the number of students enrolled in our program, the completion rate of our financial literacy curriculum, the increase in financial literacy knowledge and skills of our students, and their improvement in financial behavior, such as budgeting and saving. We will also be tracking our partnerships with schools and community organizations to expand our reach and impact. 

By tracking these indicators, we aim to show the direct impact our solution has on improving financial literacy among students, which ultimately leads to greater economic and social well-being, reduced inequality, and responsible consumption and production, all of which are aligned with the SDGs.

Our solution provides interactive financial education to students in an engaging and accessible way, which helps them to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed financial decisions. By improving financial literacy, we aim to increase financial inclusion, reduce the wealth gap, and promote economic stability. 

We expect our solution to have an impact on the problem by providing students with the necessary tools and knowledge to take control of their finances and make informed decisions that can positively impact their economic and social well-being. 

Our theory of change is based on the premise that by providing engaging and accessible financial education, we can increase financial literacy, which will lead to better financial decision-making, increased financial stability, and economic growth. Through our budgeting tool, we also provide ongoing support and reminders to help students stay on track with their financial goals. 

Ultimately, we believe that our solution can contribute to achieving the SDGs of No Poverty, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Reduced Inequalities, and Responsible Consumption and Production by promoting financial inclusion, reducing the wealth gap, and improving economic stability for individuals and communities.

Our solution is tech-based and utilizes a web-based platform and mobile application. The core technology that powers our solution is an algorithm that analyzes users' financial assessment data and creates a personalized financial education plan based on their unique financial situation. 

Our platform also integrates with Plaid, a financial services company that allows users to connect their bank accounts and provides real-time access to their financial data. Additionally, our platform includes interactive financial lessons, budgeting tools, and alerts to help users stay on track with their financial goals. 

We also utilize data analytics to track user progress and adjust their financial education plan as needed. Overall, our technology allows us to provide personalized and effective financial education to our users at scale.

Full-Time = 2

Part -Time = 6

Contractors = 3

Seedlyng has been working on our solution since 2016. We started with the launch of our youth leadership and critical thinking programs. In 2019, after winning the TD Ameritrade Innovation Contest, we used the funds to develop our mobile application and expand our services. 

Seedlyng is committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our work. Our leadership team comes from diverse backgrounds, including Black, Italian-Jewish, and Indian. We recognize that diversity is a key driver of innovation and progress, and we actively seek to incorporate diverse perspectives into our decision-making processes.

We have also set goals for ourselves to become more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. We have established partnerships with organizations that focus on promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

In addition, we have taken action to ensure that our content and services are accessible to individuals from all backgrounds. For example,  we work with content partners who have expertise in financial education for diverse communities.

We believe that our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion not only reflects our values but also enhances our ability to achieve our mission of promoting financial literacy and empowerment.

Seedlyng's business model is based on providing financial literacy education to individuals, schools, and organizations through our online platform. We offer various courses and resources that are designed to educate and empower people with financial knowledge and skills. Our products and services include personalized financial assessments, interactive courses, financial planning tools, and access to financial experts.

Our target customers and beneficiaries include individuals and organizations that are looking to improve their financial literacy and become more financially responsible. Our customers may be looking to improve their personal financial situation, or they may be seeking to enhance the financial well-being of their employees or members.

We generate revenue through a subscription-based model, where customers can purchase access to our courses and resources for a monthly or yearly fee. We also offer custom packages and pricing for organizations and schools that are looking to provide financial literacy education to their employees or students.

Our ultimate goal is to create a sustainable business model that can help support our mission of improving financial literacy and empowering individuals to take control of their finances.

Seedlyng's plan for becoming financially sustainable is centred around a combination of revenue streams. The first is through our partnerships with schools, school districts, and community organizations, where we will offer our financial literacy curriculum as a service, generating revenue through licensing and subscription fees. We are also exploring the possibility of offering paid professional development and training services to educators and community leaders.

Secondly, we plan to monetize our platform through targeted advertising and sponsorships from financial institutions and related organizations. This revenue stream will allow us to offer our platform for free to individual users while generating revenue through advertising.

Lastly, we plan to seek out grant funding and investments to support the continued development and expansion of our platform and curriculum. We believe that this combination of revenue streams will allow us to become financially sustainable over the long term, while also fulfilling our mission of providing accessible and effective financial education to all.

Seedlyng has been successful in achieving financial sustainability through a combination of grant funding and revenue generation. We have received grants from organizations such as Big Thought and Facebook, which have allowed us to develop and implement financial literacy programs in schools across the United States and Lebanon in the Middle East. In addition, we have generated revenue by selling our educational materials and services directly to schools and educational institutions.

We are proud to have worked with schools in Texas, Chicago, Idaho, and Lebanon to bring financial literacy education to students of all ages and backgrounds. By partnering with schools and educators, we have been able to reach a large audience and make a real impact in the communities we serve.

We recognize that financial sustainability is an ongoing process, and we are committed to exploring new revenue streams and funding opportunities to support our work and expand our impact.