Our programs

Everything Finance Forest runs serves one mission: free financial literacy for every student and every woman, taught by young people. Here is each program in detail: who it's for, what happens, and how to join. All of them are free.

Youth Expo

The Youth Expo is the biggest thing we run. Once a year, hundreds of students come together for a day of hands-on financial literacy booths, guest speaker sessions, and career exploration.

Student volunteers design and staff every booth, so the people teaching budgeting and saving are the same age as the people learning it. The booths are interactive, so visitors try ideas out for themselves instead of sitting through a lecture.

Our first expo ran in 2024. What we learned from it shaped a bigger second expo in 2025. You can see photos from both in our gallery.

At a glance
For
Students
Format
In-person, one day, once a year
Includes
Booths, guest speakers, career exploration
Cost
Free

Summer camps

Our week-long summer day camps teach money through games, simulations, and projects instead of lectures. We run two, one for each age group, because a third grader and an eighth grader need very different lessons.

Elementary camp (grades 3–5)

Campers learn what money is, how saving works, and why budgets matter. By the end of the week, they run their own pretend businesses and manage their own play-money budgets.

Middle school camp (grades 6–8)

This camp goes further: budgeting with real numbers, how credit and interest work, and a first look at investing, taught through projects and simulations built by our student volunteers. It's the bridge between money basics and the decisions these students will face in high school.

At a glance
For
Grades 3–5 and grades 6–8
Format
Week-long day camp in the summer
Style
Games, simulations, and projects
Cost
Free

Weekly webinars

Every week we host a free, live online session on a single topic: budgeting, saving, credit, or investing basics. Our student presenters teach the topic in plain language, and every session ends with open Q&A.

Webinars are the easiest way to learn with us from anywhere. You don't need to live near a chapter, and you don't need any background. The topics line up with our written guides, so you can read ahead or review afterward.

At a glance
For
Anyone
Format
Live online, weekly
Topics
Budgeting, saving, credit, investing
Cost
Free

Women's Chapter

Women face financial problems a generic class doesn't cover: pay gaps that compound over a career, career breaks that interrupt saving, and retirements that have to stretch across longer lifespans. Our Women's Chapter builds its workshops around exactly those problems.

The chapter offers three tracks. Financial fundamentals covers navigating the pay gap, planning around career breaks, emergency funds, and retirement basics. Investment confidence is a patient, jargon-free path into investing, including risk, diversification, and sustainable investing. Mentorship and peer support pairs experienced members with newcomers and runs monthly support groups.

Past events include a four-week investing series (150+ participants), a women-in-finance career panel (180+ attendees), and a retirement planning workshop (130+ participants). Full details are on the Women's Chapter page.

At a glance
For
Women of all ages
Format
Monthly workshops, mentorship, support groups
Reach
2,000+ women
Cost
Free

Entrepreneurship workshops

Some students want to earn money, not only manage it. Our entrepreneurship workshops walk them through what it actually takes to start a business: finding an idea, pricing it, keeping simple books, and pitching it. In the single-session workshop, participants leave with a one-page plan for a business they could run themselves.

For students who want more, a multi-session series goes deeper. Each meeting covers one stage, from testing an idea to building a simple budget and launch plan, and participants develop their plans between sessions. We also run a practical workshop on monthly saving habits: tracking where money goes, choosing a savings percentage, and automating the habit so it survives busy months.

Free guides, videos, and blog

Not everyone can make a live session, so we publish free learning material that anyone can use without signing up:

  • Written guides. Plain-language guides on budgeting, savings and compound interest, credit scores, first paychecks, and investing basics, written by our student team. Each takes about five minutes to read on our Learn page.
  • Finance Bites. Three-to-five-minute videos that break down one financial concept at a time, with a new topic posted weekly on Instagram.
  • Weekly blog. Longer, practical articles on personal finance written by our student leaders and published every week.

Student leadership and chapters

Finance Forest is run by students, so learning to lead is part of the program. There are three ways in:

  • Youth Leadership Board. Board members help run the organization: they plan events, manage content, and lead outreach alongside students across North America, with mentorship from senior members. Applications for the 2026–27 board are closed; email us to hear when the next cycle opens.
  • Start a chapter. Chapter directors bring Finance Forest to their own city and run local workshops and events using our materials, with training and direct support from the board. We have six chapters today: Washington, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Kentucky, and Canada.
  • Skill workshops. Volunteers train in public speaking, event planning, and marketing, the skills it takes to teach others well.

Community outreach

We go where people already are. Our chapters set up booths at local parades, festivals, and public events, hand out free take-home materials, and talk money with anyone who stops by. At our local July 4th celebration, for example, volunteers ran a booth with free materials for families. Events like this are how many families first hear about Finance Forest.

Outreach is also how we give back. Alongside teaching, our chapters have raised more than $8,000 for causes in the communities we serve.

Find the right program.

One short form covers every program. Tell us what you're interested in and we'll email you upcoming dates. Free, with no commitment.