Press Release  Treasurer Goldberg Discusses Financial Literacy with Worcester Tech Students

WORCESTER — Today, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg toured Worcester Technical High School and met with students trained through the school's financial literacy initiative. Following a roundtable discussion, Treasurer Goldberg announced eight new appointments to the Financial Literacy Trust Fund Board.

"I am thrilled to be visiting Worcester Technical High School, a world-class institution that has continuously captured national attention with its innovative technical training programs and classrooms,” said Treasurer Deborah Goldberg.

“Their programs recognize the importance of providing young people with the tools they need to make informed financial decisions after they graduate.  I look forward to engaging with students about their experiences, and discussing strategies to increase financial literacy across our state."

In 2013, Worcester Technical High School was one of eleven Gateway City schools awarded a three-year grant through the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education's Financial Literacy Pilot Program to develop an innovative financial literacy programming.

“I commend Worcester Technical High School for successfully implementing the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Financial Literacy Pilot Program Grant made possible by State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg’s Office of Economic Empowerment,” said Senate Majority Leader Harriette L. Chandler (D-Worcester).  “The program is essential, especially as high school students get ready to face important financial decisions in the next stage of their lives.  The opportunity to be trained through a financial literacy program like this is truly an asset in this day and age.”

“Advancing financial literacy programs such as this is essential to equip our students with the fiscal knowledge and skills to become self-supporting adults, who can make informed, responsible decisions about their personal finances,” said Representative Dan Donahue. “In that sense, this program is about providing students with the tools to empower themselves.”

“We are excited to have Treasurer Deborah Goldberg in the City of Worcester promoting the importance of financial education. With Treasurer Goldberg’s visit today to Worcester Technical High School, she is working collaboratively with leaders in the community to make sure everyone has access to financial literacy programs,” said Mayor Joe Petty.

On day one, Treasurer Goldberg created an Office of Economic Empowerment led by a deputy treasurer with the deliberate goal of vastly expanding the capacity of the Financial Literacy Trust Fund to incorporate a range of initiatives, including money management, college affordability, and programming to support wage equality.

Also in Worcester, Treasurer Goldberg announced the appointment of eight new members to the Financial Literacy Trust Fund Board. The Trust Fund is a non-profit organization with the mission to encourage financial literacy and education for residents, institutions, community organizations and entities that will promote greater awareness around budgeting choices. They will be sworn in at the Fund’s next meeting, March 30, 2015.

The following people were appointed to the Board of the Financial Literacy Trust Fund.

Barbara Anthony: Barbara Anthony is currently a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Business and Government.  She served as Massachusetts Undersecretary of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation from 2009 to 2015 where she oversaw five state agencies: Banking, Insurance, Professional Licensure, Telecommunications and Cable, and the Division of Standards. Anthony, with a background in law and economics, is a well known consumer advocate and a highly respected public interest lawyer and policy maker. Among her accomplishments, Anthony oversaw implementation of the state’s Data Security Law and regulations, kept health insurance rate increases under control, helped implement the state’s 2012 Health Care Cost Containment Law, oversaw efforts to reform the mortgage foreclosure process, initiated a financial literacy project, Project Credit Smarts, in various MA colleges, and spearheaded a campaign to empower Massachusetts healthcare consumers through price and quality transparency. She is a graduate of Suffolk University Law School, where she currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law. She holds a graduate degree in economics and a bachelor of science in business administration degree from Northeastern University.

Elizabeth Barajas-Román: Elizabeth Barajas-Román is the Chief Executive Officer of the Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts, a public foundation that invests in the lives of women and girls through strategic grantmaking and leadership development. Most recently she was a manager at The Pew Charitable Trusts in their government performance division. Barajas-Román also directed the National Latina Institute's Washington, D.C. office as the Director of Policy. Barajas-Román is a graduate of Oberlin College and received her master's degree in international policy from Harvard University.

Ellen Kennedy: Ellen Kennedy serves as President of Berkshire Community College. She is committed to college affordability, reduced college debt, and financial literacy for all residents of the Commonwealth. She has a particular interest in Gateway Cities. Involved in the Berkshires, Kennedy serves on a number of boards, including the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Berkshire Country Regional Employment Board, Berkshire Health Systems, Berkshire Compact for Education, Berkshire Visitors Bureau, Berkshire Priorities and the Berkshire Population Task Force. A native of Lynn, Kennedy lives in Williamstown with her husband, Mark Gold.

Roy E. Belson: Roy E. Belson is in his 20th year as Superintendent of the Medford Public Schools. He has been a teacher and administrator in public schools for 46 years. As superintendent, he has planned and overseen the physical reconstruction of Medford's school buildings. He currently represents the Massachusetts Superintendents Association on the Early Education Policy Committee, the Special Education Coalition, and the the Legislative Committee. Belson is a recent recipient of the Steven Cahn Award from the Children's Trust.

Evelyn Murphy: The Honorable Evelyn F. Murphy, former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, is the Founder and President of The WAGE Project, Inc., a national organization dedicated to eliminating the gender wage gap. A Ph.D. economist, she is the author of Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men and What To Do About It. Murphy is also a Director of Citizens Energy Corporation and SBLI USA Life Insurance Company, as the well as a founding Director of the Commonwealth Institute.

Hamel Husbands: Hamel Husbands has over twelve years of banking and real estate finance industry experience.  He currently works at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston within the Supervision, Regulation & Credit department as a Bank Examiner.  Husbands is responsible for evaluating the financial condition and compliance with laws and regulations of regional and community banking institutions.  Mr. Husbands holds a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Finance from Babson College and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Boston College.

Jerry Rubin is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Jewish Vocational Service is one of the largest workforce development organizations in New England serving nearly 20,000 people a year with job training and placement services.  JVS partners with 1,400 area employers to hire, develop, and retain productive staff by providing the highest quality education and career-related services and by working with employers to create and deliver needed training to their employees. JVS is also opening a Center for Economic Opportunity later this month. Prior to joining JVS, Jerry Rubin was Vice President of Building Economic Opportunities at Jobs For the Future, a national workforce development and education policy, research, and consulting organization. Jerry founded and was the Executive Director of two non-profit organizations: the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership, a training and consulting organization based at the University of Massachusetts, and the Coalition For a Better Acre, a community development corporation based in Lowell, Massachusetts. Jerry also spent ten years in the city administration of Mayor Raymond L. Flynn, leading several housing, economic development and workforce development initiatives.  Jerry holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Government from Clark University and a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Alayna Van Tassel: Alayna is currently the Deputy Treasurer and Executive Director of the Office of Economic Empowerment.  She most recently served as Chief of Staff to House Committee on Post Audit and Oversight Committee Chairman David Linsky. As Chief of Staff, Van Tassel played a key role in the passage of the historic gun violence prevention bill as well as the approval of legislation relative to organized retail crime and violent habitual offenders. Van Tassel also oversaw investigations by the Post Audit and Oversight Committee, including the Department of Children and Families, Hinton State Drug Lab and the Pharmacy Regulations at the New England Compounding Center. Prior to that, Van Tassel was the Budget and Policy Director for Senator Patricia Jehlen and handled a wide range of issues, including paid sick days, comparable work and reforming debt collection practices. Van Tassel also served as a Government Relations Fellow at Population Connection and was a legislative aide in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Van Tassel has a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy with a concentration in women’s studies from The George Washington University and is a graduate of Suffolk University. She lives in Natick with her husband Andy, son Henry and dog Oliver.

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