TUSCALOOSA, AL— On October 19, representatives from Stillman College, BB&T, Wachovia/Wells Fargo and West Alabama Bank signed a historic agreement to launch the Stillman Financial Literacy Alliance. This program is the first of its kind to be launched at an HBCU. It will focus on teaching financial literacy to the west Tuscaloosa area, and the counties of Hale, Greene and Fayette.

“In June 2009, the FDIC partnered with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities to expand their missions by providing financial literacy to their students. Apart from the FDIC/White House Initiative, today, Stillman was the first HBCU to launch a financial literacy program that will eventually lead the College to realize its desire to build sustainable communities,” said Stillman President, Dr. Ernest McNealey. “The College has combined forces with community partners in order to support access for low-and moderate-income families to enter into the financial mainstream,” he explained. 

This 10-week program will be conducted on the Stillman campus, in schools, public housing communities and other venues to later be determined. The program will be taught by Stillman faculty, staff, students and members of 100 Black Men of West Alabama.

Vice President of Community Development for BB&T, Heidi Schoonover, said, “Financial literacy is something that we encourage everywhere, but it is something that we really push in low to mid-income areas.  We are excited to be a part of this new partnership and look forward to seeing how many lives we can touch.”

Learning materials for the literacy program were developed by the business and education faculty at Stillman and consist of 10 modules and accompanying lesson plans. The modules, which are 90 minutes in duration, will have components aimed at elementary and middle school students, high school students and adults, and small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Richard D. Busby, Vice President and Senior Compliance Officer for Wachovia/Wells Fargo, said, “We look forward to serving the community and working with this great institution, Stillman College.”

The official launch of the program is scheduled for the first week in November. However, the Stillman Financial Literacy Alliance Program Train the Trainer sessions will begin on Friday, October 29. During these sessions, future trainers will learn how to administer the lesson plans contained in each of the learning modules.

“This is a wonderful way for us to give back and it really is a great fit for West Alabama Bank because we have branches in all of the target areas,” said Tab Swann, Regional Executive and Senior Vice President for West Alabama Bank.