Expanding what’s possible one conversation at a time
May 15, 2026
Expanding what’s possible one conversation at a time
Sometimes the most powerful impact isn’t just what you learn, it’s what you pass on.
When Fefe Jaber took part in Money Sense as a senior at Ronald Reagan High School in 2015/2016, she was already carrying a lot. As a first-generation student in a single-parent household with many younger siblings, money wasn’t theoretical; it was part of her everyday reality. She had been working since she was 16, helping support her family, but like many teens, saving wasn’t something she had been taught.
At the same time, she was facing one of the biggest decisions of her life: where, and whether, college was even possible.
“I didn’t know how I was going to make it work,” she shared.
Then Money Sense came into her life at exactly the right moment.
Through the program, Fefe began to understand the building blocks of financial decision-making: saving, budgeting, credit, and loans. For the first time, she could see how small choices added up to bigger possibilities. Even setting aside just a few dollars from each paycheck became part of a plan.
“I’m so thankful it came into my life at the perfect time,” she said. “There were decisions I made that I don’t think I could have made if I didn’t understand what my options could look like.”
One of the biggest shifts was her understanding of student loans. Before Money Sense, she believed that needing loans might mean college wasn’t an option. After learning how they worked, she was able to make informed choices about her future.
Those choices led her to DePaul University for undergrad and ultimately to Marquette University for law school.
But what stands out most in Fefe’s story isn’t just where she went, it’s how she got there, and how those early lessons stayed with her.
In college, she carried those habits forward in simple, tangible ways like keeping an actual piggy bank and consistently setting aside small amounts from her tips as a server. She budgeted for everything, from textbooks to everyday expenses, and built a system that worked for her.
To this day, she still relies on those same practices, regularly tracking her expenses and managing her student loans with the tools she first learned in high school.
But the impact didn’t stop with her.
As the oldest of 12 siblings, Fefe quickly realized that what she had learned wasn’t just valuable, it was something she felt a responsibility to share.
“I can’t be the only one who knows these things,” she said. “It’s important that the younger generation also have access to the same resources because it’s changed my life.”
Today, she’s guiding her younger brothers through the same decisions she once faced, helping them review financial aid packages, understand loans, build budgets, and make thoughtful choices about spending. She’s there for the day-to-day questions too, offering advice when money feels tight or decisions feel overwhelming.
She’s even helped one of her brothers see that college was possible, walking through the numbers together and turning uncertainty into relief.
And at home, she’s opened the door to new conversations about money with her mom, helping her pay off credit card debt and even start saving for retirement.
That ripple effect is exactly what the next 20 years of SecureFutures is all about, because when one student gains financial knowledge, it doesn’t stay with them; it moves outward. It reaches siblings, deciding whether college is within reach. It shows up in family conversations that didn’t happen before. It builds confidence in moments that once felt uncertain.
And now, Fefe is taking that impact one step further. After years of carrying these lessons into her own life and her family, she recently signed up to become a SecureFutures volunteer, ready to step into classrooms and help the next student experience that same moment of clarity.
From student to supporter, from learning to leading, Fefe’s story is a glimpse of what’s possible when teens get access to financial education.