Marcy Reyes
CHAMPION FOR FINANCIAL LITERACY IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
There ’ s a picture of Marcy Reyes at her kindergarten graduation , all dressed up for a performance with numbers pinned on her tiny cap and gown . Her part in the play foretold a future that would help city kids , like her , wear their finances on their sleeve — and proudly .
“ We didn ’ t talk about money at all growing up ,” says Reyes , who was raised in Providence and graduated from Central High School . “ It was an unspoken dynamic in our household .”
Reyes , who credits her father for her strong work ethic , remembers her first job , at age fourteen , working a summer program in the city for $ 4 an hour .
“ My mother would take it and give me $ 20 ,” she says of her weekly wages . “ But there was no communication about budget or anything . All that stuff was pretty absent so , as a young adult , I found myself making pretty silly financial decisions .”
Reyes , who had a daughter at age twenty , describes getting a settlement payout and blowing the money on trips and clothing and , in that moment , an idea strikes her : She should create an exercise for her FLY Initiative students to see how much money she ’ d have now if she leveraged those dollars back then .
“ I LOOK AT PERSONAL FINANCE AS A SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUE .”
In its three-year tenure , Reyes ’ s nonprofit , Finance Literacy Youth [ FLY ] Initiative , has served more than 700 students in Rhode Island ’ s urban core with workshops and seminars that take students through the basics of personal finance , including paying taxes , managing credit , saving for college and investing . Experiential learning is a major component ; for example , FLY students get gift certificates to open their own investment accounts .
“ I look at personal finance as a social justice issue . If you don ’ t have access , that ’ s an equity issue ,” says Reyes , who daylights as director of Blue Cross Blue Shield ’ s Individual Segment and teaches at Rhode Island College , her undergrad alma mater where she took her first personal finance course — the class that taught her how to save for her master ’ s . “ It ’ s unfair that East Greenwich and these other schools have personal finance magnets and they ’ re creating wealth off the bat , and we have our kids who are still figuring out how to open checking accounts .”
Reyes , who is the program ’ s sole educator , says she ’ s secured private funding to grow her nonprofit and hire more educators to lead workshops and semester-long courses in city high schools . She says she ’ s committed to employing educators who look like her students , too , so they can picture a financially savvy future for themselves .
“ It wasn ’ t until I got my hands on the right information that I had the opportunity to end that cycle ,” she says . “ The only way I can give back to the universe , if you will , for that opportunity is to make sure other people have it , too .” flyinitiative . org
60 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2021