A brief review of our accomplishments:
• International – Over the last 15 years we have worked in 37 states in the US and have focused our international efforts on India, China, Sri Lanka and Mexico. In total, these projects will have, by the end of 2019, influenced the lives of more than two million employees, plus their family members.
• Tax Free Preparation – Since 2008, our free tax preparation programs, all in Wisconsin, have helped over 8,000 individuals receive over $14,000,000 in tax refunds.
• Helping Start and Grow Companies – assisting 44 firms to start up and grow in U.S. inner cities and different parts of India, creating approximately 410 jobs.
• Helping Students – establishing internships for 21 students, and service opportunities for another 52 from various universities, helping them to learn and grow by writing and working on projects at large and small employers.
• Offering Online Financial Literacy Courses – helping leverage technology to improve financial well-being through ongoing financial literacy training. We have assisted more than a million employees and others from over 850 employers and through several newspapers. Working with employers, more than 300,000 employees have completed in excess of 800,000 hours of training. The research shows up to a 70% improvement in financial knowledge, attitudes and behavior – creating fewer late fees paid related to their credit cards, decreased debt, and less stress.
• Training Managers – continuing a process of training managers of employee-owned companies. To date we have helped train over 670 managers in three-day classes at the University of California – San Diego.
• Convening Leaders – organizing conferences in Oxford for over 600 participants each year who are interested in the types of themes we address.
Looking to the next 10 years:
• Our past work and future initiatives will continue to make the Center on Business and Poverty a leader in sustainable business and financial wellness. We will grow dramatically as we expand in Sri Lanka.
• We have come to believe that our non-profit 501(c)(3) organization is one of the best at effectively producing positive change while spending relatively small amounts of resources. For instance, the Center on Business and Poverty creates 20 times more value for low-income individuals than is spent on all other parts of the organization combined.