State Farm pledges $200,000 to support financial literacy education at FIU

Florida International University is pleased to announce a commitment of $200,000 from State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (State Farm®) in support of financial literacy education at the College of Business Administration. 

The grant will support the operation of FIU’s State Farm Financial Literacy Lab and service learning projects led by FIU students in collaboration with State Farm representatives and FIU faculty, designed to engage a diverse spectrum of South Florida residents through educational activities that promote financial literacy. In addition, the grant will support financial service learning projects during 2011-2014, a reflection of State Farm’s commitment to foster financial literacy in the region’s communities. 

The financial literacy service learning projects will facilitate access to the College of Business Administration’s State Farm Financial Literacy Lab, a 2,200 square-foot state-of-the-art trading, research, and teaching laboratory. The facility features 50 high-end, networked workstations, advanced audio-visual systems, and LCD screens with real-time data from fixed income, equity, and foreign exchange markets, utilizing Bloomberg as the marquee information source. The Lab will enable participants in the service learning projects to learn about various capital market activities, including equity and debt issuance and investment analysis, financial planning, cash management, derivatives, and investment management.

“This partnership is a win-win for students and communities in South Florida,” said Jim Thompson, State Farm Senior Vice President and head of the company’s Florida activities. “Financial literacy is critical to the future success of our young people.  Part of our mission at State Farm is to help people realize their dreams.  Much of that begins with the basic financial skills which many teens and young adults need to develop.” 

State Farm Operations Vice President and Chair of the State Farm Education Initiative in Florida, Cheryl Herrin, added, “We are very excited to be a part of the FIU family.  The sponsorship of the State Farm Financial Literacy Lab represents an investment in the lives and futures of our young adults. Florida’s future depends on the quality education provided to our students, and this partnership is just one of the ways State Farm is helping to strengthen our communities and workforce of tomorrow.”   

“Our partnership with State Farm exemplifies the corporation’s commitment to foster the skills needed to promote financial stability throughout South Florida’s multicultural communities,” said Joyce Elam, Executive Dean of the College of Business Administration. “We are honored to collaborate with State Farm and look forward to the development of engaging projects that mutually advance the College’s academic mission and State Farm’s philanthropic vision.”

In alignment with the corporation’s efforts to engage a diverse spectrum of the campus community, the financial literacy grant is one component of State Farm’s university-wide partnership. In addition to this partnership, State Farm pledged a $20,000 grant to support several initiatives that will provide mentorship, scholarship and leadership training opportunities to FIU students through various programs, including Upward Bound, the 2010-11 Young Alumni and Student Seminar Series, and the 2011 Student Leadership Summit.

For more information on these grants and the State Farm partnership, please contact:

FIU contact: Nicole Kaufman, Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations, 305-348-1925 or kaufmann@fiu.edu.

State Farm contact: Jose Soto, Public Affairs Specialist, 305-458-3935 or jose.soto.cwme@statefarm.com