We will discuss the following:

• When life doesn’t go as planned

• Taking An L

• Setbacks are Setups

• Worst Case Scenarios

Growing up in Astoria, Mohammed Faisal moved around a lot. Originally from Bangladesh, his family arrived in Queens when he was three. Landlords kept raising the rent, and with a big family of six, they couldn’t afford to stay in the neighborhood. What made matters worse was that his father had bad credit. This hurt his family’s chances of finding a stable home. But there was a silver lining – it taught his mother about the importance of credit scores. Working as a cashier at Duane Reade, his mother saved money, built up her credit score and eventually secured enough for a down payment on a house in South Jamaica. This was his first experience with the power of financial literacy.

He kept those life lessons in mind as he went through school attending Brooklyn Technical High School and then City College of New York. He became an outspoken financial literacy advocate during his schooling and designed a project plan to teach financial literacy in a fun, interactive way. He believed regardless of how much money you make or your career path, you should have the tools necessary to live a fulfilling life without the stress of money.

After graduating in the summer of 2016, he decided to solve this problem plaguing disadvantaged neighborhoods: financial illiteracy Mohammed Faisal created The Money Hub. This start-up teaches financial literacy through the use of whiteboard media, app for gaming, and powerful anecdotes to immigrant and low-income households. Today, The Money Hub has expanded its teaching to students beyond Harlem and across New York City. We have taught over 4000 students to date and will continue to expand, enhance and innovate until financial illiteracy is a thing of the past.