KiddieNomics – Best Financial Influencer – Special Commendation | The MAIAs 2022

Teaching children financial literacy needs to be fun, engaging, and easy to access. Webinars are one of the best online ways to encapsulate all these elements.

MAIAward co-founder Trudi Harris Dubon said, “The great thing about webinars is that they can target a specific audience – and be incredibly engaging for them. Children find it easier to learn if they enjoy the process, and all you need is a device and an internet connection.”

KiddieNomics scored so highly doing this in our influencer category, which was decided by public vote, that it won a special commendation.

The program was created by Stacy Brown and Mikaela Jeffery to be a fun, informative, and free weekly children’s webinar series that educates kids between 8 and 13 years old on all aspects of financial literacy.

Stacy explains, “The goal of KiddieNomics is to empower kids to become Young Financial Literacy Ambassadors. We want them to reach their full potential of financial well-being for themselves, family, friends, and the community.

“We aim to set them on the right path to developing a healthy relationship with money and build a successful financial future through easy, fun, and simple financial literacy education.”

The Canada-based KiddieNomics series began in May 2020 at the start of the pandemic with the launch of its free weekly online Zoom webinar series. Its timing was impeccable.

Mikaela says, “Learning over the internet was fairly popular before, but when Covid forced everyone to stay indoors, the benefits really became apparent. We have always promoted the importance of financial literacy, and the ideal time to learn is when you’re young.

“Thanks to advances in technology, and the fact most people were in lockdown, we realised it was the opportune time to launch a weekly financial literacy series for kids. The aim was to support the community, parents, and kids with an easy-to-access educational, fun and free program. The fact that the series features a black mother and daughter discussing finance increases the sense of inclusivity and has proven popular.”

“The program has really taken off,” Stacy says. “KiddieNomics now has over 600 kids registered on the platform. Moreover, it is a worldwide audience with children joining England, Brazil, USA, Jamaica, St.Lucia, Barbados, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nigeria, Italy, India, Australia, Germany, and of course, Canada.”

She adds, “What has been so rewarding and successful is the intergenerational learning that is happening. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other adults are watching with their kids and then having family discussions after each webinar to see how they can incorporate the lessons in their household.”

KiddieNomics is currently building a paid platform to develop digital courses that teach kids about stocks and other financial skills led by Stacy Brown.

Stacy says, “I’m building a racially diverse team with the goal of developing the premiere learning platform for kids to learn financial literacy skills. I believe financial literacy is a human rights issue because it affects every aspect of a person’s life.”

The platform also plans to launch a global version of the free webinar series that will feature parent and child duos that are financially relevant to each country and use the local language.

MAIA co-founder Trudi Harris Dubon said, “KiddieNomics is still a relatively new platform, but its inclusive, fun, and informative approach to financial literacy is already showing results. I look forward to seeing their programs spread globally and make a real difference to children’s financial well-being.”

For more information, you can visit their YouTube, or email us at michael@maiawards.org.