Meet Kevon and Kamari Chisolm, the father and son founders of Junior Wallstreeters, Inc, a new nonprofit organization focusing on decreasing the wealth gap between disadvantaged groups and whites. The motto of the organization is: Empowering Youth with Financial Wellness; Today’s Investors Started Yesterday. Before the pandemic, the average net wealth for African Americans was $15,000 vs $140,000 for whites. Considering the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has had on many disadvantaged communities, one can only imagine how their net worth has drastically decreased. Kevon asserts, “We say, today’s investors started yesterday because we as a group are behind.” This non-profit is geared towards helping us catch-up.
Junior Wallstreeters will accomplish its mission to decrease the wealth gap through several programs, products and services including summer camps and after-school programs. The camps will cover the following topics: 1) Basic Financial Literacy and Investing; 2) Advanced Stock Analysis and Introduction to Real Estate Investing; and 3) Understanding Cryptocurrency.
Kevon, who is Executive Director of Junior Wallstreeters, Inc. and his son, Kamari, decided to launch the non-profit because many deserving students were not able to attend the financial literacy camps last summer.
He states: “Although we received support from several individual camp sponsors, there were several students that were interested but unable to afford the cost of the camp. We hope that by obtaining our non-profit status, we can obtain grants and sponsorships from corporations and organizations to fulfill our mission and reach more deserving families.”
The first program of the non-profit will be an online “Meet and Greet.” This will give everyone the opportunity to learn more about their mission and their services. Also, interested individuals, organizations, and corporations will have a chance to sponsor a camper and/or camp instructor. Parents will have the opportunity to register their child at last year’s rates. The program will be held on February 20th from 1pm to 3pm via Zoom.
Since Junior Wallstreeters’ Summer Camps were so successful last year, they are eager to build upon that success by reaching more families and expanding our curriculum offerings.
After attending the camp last summer, one parent commented:
Thank you!!! We can never repay you for the gift of knowledge and financial life skills that […] obtained through your camp. The camp was excellent!!! Our children are so blessed and fortunate to have you (Kevon), Isaiah, Kamari, Jason, and Shea teach them. […] was hesitant at first, but the information, teachers, speakers were engaging and inspiring. Each day […] enjoyed the class. Our daughter now has a deeper understanding of finances, investing, career planning, and African American History.
Last summer, they had over 100 campers attend their camps. This summer, they hope to reach even more. “The more campers that we are able to reach, the more likely we are able to decrease the wealth gap for future generations,” suggests Chisolm.
Register online now for the program:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtdOCorTojE9y_iDnR9EOZS1OZV6QMue1f
To learn more about Junior Wallstreeters, Inc. and/or to make a donation, please visit their official website at TheBlackWallstreeter.com/jrwallstreeters
This article was originally written by BlackNews.com.
