Statements
Mission
Rock The Street, Wall Street brings the M in STEM to diverse high school girls with a focus on Financial & Investment fundamentals. We provide industry access and guidance to our Students & Alumnae from classrooms to careers, fostering inclusivity in the Capital Markets.
Background
RTSWS launched in Nashville in 2013 in one school and has seen tremendous growth in the past 7 years. Highlights include:
In April 2019, our CEO was honored with the Betty Cook Award by the New York City Women's Bond Club. The award is given annually to a woman who has dedicated herself to empowering and advancing other women.
RTSWS Founder was invited to The White House by The White House Council on Women and Girls to their Conference on Inclusive STEM Education. The White House Council on Women and Girls is dedicated to increasing the participation of women and girls - as well as other underrepresented groups - in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics by increasing the engagement of girls with STEM subjects in formal and informal environments, encouraging mentoring to support women throughout their academic and professional experiences, and supporting efforts to retain women in the STEM workforce.
As part of National Mentoring month in 2020, RTSWS was featured on a segment of the Today Show where our light was shed on the impact that having mentors can make in the lives of our younger generations.
In 2021, RTSWS launched our Program Mobile App and expanded to 11 new locations, reaching over 50 schools across 25 cities, including Dallas, Gallatin, Gulfport, MS, Houston, Indianapolis, Newport, RI, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Short Hills, NJ. We also launched our RTSWS Internship & Job Portal pilot program.
In 2022, our Founder presented at SXSW EDU "Changing Girls' Mindsets on Financial & Investment Literacy". RTSWS also served over 4,000 girls with more than 1,000 reached in a single year and the organization launched its first chapter in London. RTSWS is chosen for the MacroMinds 2022 Charitable Investment Symposium.
In 2023, The 2023 Distinguished Alumna Award Preston High School recognized Maura Cunningham as The Distinguished Alumna of the Year and its commencement speaker. RTSWS celebrated 10-year Anniversary with inaugural Women's Day event for students, alumnae and volunteers. RTSWS launches chapter in Toronto.
In 2024, RTSWS celebrated empowering 7,000 girls. Founder Maura Cunningham steps into the role of Executive Chair & Board Member. Ashley Leftwich appointed CEO succeeding Maura, July 1.
Impact
Accomplishments:
Our alumnae demonstrate an average 78% increase in financial literacy.
RTSWS college aged alumnae are 5 times more likely to pursue degrees in Finance, Economics or related fields than the national average according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Over 7,000 high school girls have completed our series of financial literacy workshops and/or mentoring components.
Goals:
Reach our funding goals.
Grow our relationships with schools and donors across the cities where we are already offering our programming so that we have more economies of scale. Thoughtfully expand into those cities where there is demand for our programming.
Build a stronger volunteer base across each city where programming is being offered.
Increase company infrastructure to meet demand.
Needs
Funding - Funding to keep up with demand in our existing school locations throughout those cities in which we have already planted our flag. Funding facilitates new workshops at existing schools as well as workshops at new schools; assists with recruitment of volunteers and program costs.Expand and Strengthen our Corporate Partners - Grow the number of our corporate partners who want to address their community's needs in education and financial stability.Expand and Strengthen School and Agency Partnerships - Create new and strengthen existing partnerships with schools and community centers cities where our unique brand of programming could be utilized.Increase Volunteer Base - Systemize the recruitment of female financial professional volunteers to provide instruction in our 4-5 week workshop series.Increase Capacity to Meet Demand - Given the demand of our programs across the country, additional staff is required to deliver the program at the current level of quality that exists today.
CEO Statement
RTSWS programs inspire, educate, and equip girls with the skills to succeed financially throughout their lives while exploring a career in finance. RTSWS is a financial literacy program designed to spark the interest of high school girls into careers of finance. We are making a difference. The numbers prove this. Girls who have participated in our workshops have had an average 92% percent increase in their comprehension of financial concepts. They are changing their college searches and major/minor declarations to include finance, accounting and business where before they hadn't even considered these fields.We are the M in STEM. Access to STEM education is access to power. STEM professions are tools to lift people out of poverty. Our female financial professionals, who are our classroom instructors and work in careers in the M in STEM are "in the flesh" role models for our students. Our instructors can talk the talk and walk the walk in the field of finance, where women represent only 6% of the leaders. We alert the girls about how high the return on investment is on just an undergraduate degree in finance, economics and business as compared to other undergraduate majors. This is critical to those students who do not have the financial wherewithal to attend graduate school. We also have students in our classes who are not college bound. We invite them too, to explore a career in finance as there are many entry level positions available to them in the Middle Tennessee area including FinTech, bank teller and operations positions. Forty years after the adoption of Title IX, women continue to confront barriers to full equality at all levels. Most critically of which is in their financial lives. In high school AND college finance and economics classrooms, girls are few in number. As a result, their opportunities in pay and promotion and life are unequal. Equipping girls with financial skills is a VITAL part of both ensuring equality and lifting them out of poverty. A record 40% of all households with children under the age of 18 include mothers who are either the sole or primary source of income for the family, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. The share was just 11% in 1960. Many of these families are living at or below the poverty level and with financial education, like RTSWS, young women are becoming empowered.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Secondary & High Schools |
| Secondary Category: | Education - Secondary & High Schools |
| Tertiary Category: | Youth Development - Youth Development-Business |
Areas Served
It is important to note here that while Nashville & surrounding counties is the home base and center of RTSWS, we have experienced successful launches outside of Tennessee. Our programming is currently being provided in cities across the country and Canada and London. Continued expansion into additional cities and further penetration in current cities is imminent.
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Cannon |
| TN - Wilson |
