Partners PG&E, PG&E Foundation, UC
Berkeley and Mills College at
Northeastern to Celebrate Graduates of
Program Aimed at Closing Wealth Gap
OAKLAND,
Calif., Feb. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Two dozen
high school students will receive $8,000 scholarships as they graduate from the
Economic Equity and Financial Education Program on Saturday
(Feb. 10). The program is a
two-semester advanced financial education course taught at the Haas
School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, created and funded by Pacific Gas
and Electric Company (PG&E) and The PG&E Corporation
Foundation (PG&E Foundation).
This is the second class of students to successfully complete
the rigorous academic program that accepted its first cohort in
fall 2022. Each student will be awarded a college scholarship for
completing the program.
The Economic Equity and Financial Education Program began as a
pilot program in fall 2022 to address wealth inequality and the
racial wealth gap affecting African Americans in particular.
PG&E and The PG&E Foundation partnered with the Haas School
of Business at the University of
California, Berkeley and Berkeley Executive Education,
Mills College at Northeastern University, and Amenti Capital Group
to prepare African American high school students from Oakland and the Greater Bay Area for future
financial success and academic leadership. The program supports
PG&E and The PG&E Foundation's Better Together Giving
Program dedicated to bolstering people, the planet, and
California's prosperity, and
ensuring a safe and inclusive future for all.
Erikah Washington, a 17-year-old
senior at Bishop O'Dowd High School
in Oakland with a 4.0-plus GPA, is
one of the new graduates. She said she's grateful to have been part
the program and wished that financial education was routinely
taught in school.
"Through this program I have gained so much confidence and no
longer view finances as something scary. With the knowledge
obtained from the program I know I will make good financial
decisions moving forward," said Washington.
PG&E created the program after two years of planning as a
racial justice initiative following the George Floyd tragedy to
help address economic challenges faced by African Americans, and
together with The PG&E Foundation provided more than
$500,000 in funding through its
community charitable Better Together Giving Program to the program
each year. Funding for the program comes from PG&E
shareholders, not PG&E customers. This program is one of
several funded by PG&E and The PG&E Foundation that provide
support and scholarships to students throughout PG&E's service
area as they pursue their higher education goals.
Students took courses taught by Berkeley Haas professors
Panos Patatoukas and Sunil Dutta and financial industry professionals
on topics including personal finance, capital markets and wealth
creation, financial data analysis and investments. African American
Haas undergraduates also mentored the high schoolers.
Mills College at Northeastern University TRIO Programs recruited the
student participants as part of the Upward Bound program — which
helps underserved high school students and first in their families
attending college to succeed — and the Mills Educational Talent
Search — which supports high school students achieving their higher
education goals.
The curriculum was developed in collaboration with Patatoukas
and Jason Miles, an African American
venture capitalist with more than 25 years of experience in the
financial services industry and founder of Amenti Capital
Group.
"Addressing the challenge of access inequality and the wealth
gap in the African American community is at the heart of our
collaborative initiatives with PG&E and The PG&E
Foundation," said Patatoukas of Berkeley Haas. "Our commitment to
expanding financial education is unwavering, as we strive to create
diverse, equitable, and inclusive learning environments. I look
forward to celebrating the second graduating class of students from
Oakland and the Bay Area in this
impactful program."
"There is a tremendous pool of young African Americans who
represent shining examples of future leaders. They must be
empowered with practical investing knowledge early in their lives.
We continue to be energized by the opportunity to catalyze
generational wealth creation alongside like-minded partners and
this talented class of students," said Miles of Amenti Capital
Group.
Information from the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances helped to
shape the program's intent. The survey looked at disparities in
wealth by race and ethnicity and noted that the typical white
family had eight times the wealth of a typical Black family. The
survey cites a number of complex factors across generations,
including how individual savings and investment decisions
contribute to wealth accumulation. The 2022 Survey of Consumer
Finances released last year showed ratios slightly narrowed with
white families having six times as much wealth as the typical Black
family, but that "we remain far from racial equality, reflecting
the large differences that have persisted for decades."
"We understand how the racial wealth gap contributes to
inequality in California and we
want to be part of the solution in narrowing that divide. Gaining
early access to financial education is a critical step to helping
these students create generational wealth. We also hope that these
scholarships will support their access to college and continued
academic success," said PG&E Senior Vice President of Customer
Experience Vincent Davis.
One student already charting success is Otis Ward, a graduate of last year's program who
shared his journey in the PG&E short film "Change the System:
Building Black Wealth."
The program is designed to provide wealth creation tools through
an advanced financial education curriculum for high school
students, and also to support post-secondary education achievement
through scholarships for participants, funded by PG&E. It is
hoped the program can serve as a model for future high school
education curriculum.
About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a
subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined
natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million
people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information,
visit pge.com and pge.com/news
About The PG&E Corporation Foundation
The PG&E
Corporation Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization, separate from PG&E and sponsored by PG&E
Corporation.
About the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
As
the second-oldest business school in the
United States, Berkeley Haas has been questioning the status
quo since its founding in 1898. Berkeley Haas offers outstanding
management education to about 2,500 undergraduate and graduate
students from around the world to attend one of its six
degree-granting programs and join the school's network of 41,000
alumni worldwide.
About Berkeley Executive Education
UC Berkeley
Executive Education serves leaders and organizations who aspire to
redefine the future of business, delivering over 150 programs
annually to a global audience. Its immersive learning experiences,
led by renowned UC Berkeley faculty, equip global executives and
their organizations with the vision and capabilities to thrive in
an evolving world.
About Northeastern
University
Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and
the recognized leader in experience-driven lifelong learning. Our
world-renowned experiential approach empowers our students,
faculty, alumni, and partners to create impact far beyond the
confines of discipline, degree, and campus.
Northeastern's comprehensive array
of undergraduate and graduate programs—on-campus, online, and in
hybrid formats—lead to degrees through the doctorate in nine
colleges and schools. Among these, we offer more than 140
multi-discipline majors and degrees designed to prepare students
for purposeful lives and careers.
About Amenti Capital Group
Amenti Capital Group is an
emerging merchant bank that provides independent advisory services
and venture capital to early-stage technology companies in high
growth ecosystems. We leverage deep industry knowledge, operational
expertise, and longstanding relationships to deliver attractive
returns through our end-to-end model. We serve entrepreneurs and
sophisticated investors while following our core principles of
innovation, integrity and inclusion.
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SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company