Program Spotlight: Money Sense
February 17, 2026
Where It All Began
In 2006, long before personal finance became a graduation requirement in Wisconsin, there was a clear and pressing need: teens in our community and across the state were entering adulthood without the financial knowledge to navigate banking, credit, savings, and budgeting with confidence.
Money Sense was our first response to that need.
Designed as a financial fundamentals program, Money Sense introduces teens to the basics of money management, and its success from the very beginning was rooted in strong partnerships.
Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) Superintendent Bill Andrekopoulos was instrumental in opening the doors to MPS high schools. Lauren Baker, head of Career and Technical Education, was Lloyd Levin’s first connection at MPS. She made the initial introduction, including connecting Lloyd with Brenda Campbell, and later joined SecureFutures’ very first board of directors.
The initial Money Sense curriculum was based on the FDIC’s Money Smart program, a well-established financial education framework. Eight MPS teachers worked alongside Lloyd and economist Ammar Askari (then at M&I Bank) to revise and adapt the content to ensure it resonated with urban students. What began as a PowerPoint presentation copied onto CDs and carried into classrooms by volunteers along with printed materials quickly became an engaging, community-powered learning experience.
The pilot launched in fall 2006. Brenda Campbell, whose title quickly evolved from COO to Executive Director, and later to President & CEO, personally delivered a “test program” at one MPS school, gathering feedback and refining the approach. That first fall, 40 volunteers from eight companies stepped into classrooms. By the end of that school year, the growth was remarkable:
- 136 active volunteers
- 300 lessons delivered
- 2,202 students reached
In the early years, Ammar led all volunteer trainings. While volunteers were encouraged to attend in person, the session was recorded and distributed on DVD to those who joined later, ensuring every volunteer felt prepared and supported before entering the classroom.
For the first three years, SecureFutures operated with just two staff members. Kathie Yaeger, a retired MPS business teacher, handled administration and volunteer matching. Brenda led school outreach, volunteer recruitment, program coordination, and fundraising. Lloyd served as Board President for the first four years, followed by Murray Friedman.
In those early days, the organization operated under the name Make a Difference – Wisconsin with an annual budget of $150,000, funded by donations from participating businesses that believed financial education belonged in high school classrooms. Today, the 2025–26 Money Sense budget is $185,000. While the program has grown and evolved, the model remains the same: community investment making direct impact possible for teens.
What began with CDs, DVDs, and a small but deeply committed team has grown into a program that has now served 74,590 students, with 540 volunteers completing 23,273 hours over the past 20 years.
Money Sense laid the foundation, not only for teens learning how to open a bank account or build credit, but for SecureFutures itself. It proved that when schools, volunteers, and community leaders come together, financial education becomes accessible, practical, and life-changing.
And it all started with one program, a handful of partners, and the belief that teens deserve to understand money before they’re expected to manage it.