Able Works

Instant gratification is a powerful force that often drives our behavior.

This tendency is rooted in our brain's wiring, prioritizing short-term gains over long-term benefits.

Social media, fast food, online shopping, and other modern conveniences exploit this tendency, making it easier to give in to instant gratification. 📱🍔🛒

While it can lead to temporary happiness, balancing these impulses with long-term goals and self-discipline for sustained well-being is important. 🌱

💰 Do you know what kind of debt you have? 🤔

🔒 Secured Debt vs. 🚫 Unsecured Debt - Each has pros and cons.

These are some basic debt terminology that we can use to gain knowledge and empower us to make the correct decisions regarding our finances.

So now that you know this... Do you think all debt is bad?

AchieveAble Bay Area Graduation Dinner! ✨🎓

Last night was unforgettable as we celebrated the incredible achievements of our graduates! 🌟 Your hard work and dedication have paid off, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for every one of you. 🎉

Swipe to see all the highlights from the night! 📸

🎉 Exciting News! 🎓 As the new semester approaches, we want to congratulate and showcase the fantastic universities our students will attend this Fall!

If you see your Alma Mater or are currently attending, drop an emoji of your mascot in the comments! 🐴

🏫✨

Students need structured, cohesive support to succeed.

Students from under-resourced communities face hurdles in understanding mainstream economics. Financial education can break barriers and transform lives.

Challenges include:
🔸 Limited financial education access
🔸 Few banking options
🔸 Vulnerability to predatory loans
🔸 Mistrust of financial institutions
🔸 Inadequate career pathways
🔸 Systemic obstacles

Let's provide the resources and support these students need! 🌱📚💡

Meet John Lewis, who is spearheading our Los Angeles Office. He has two sons, Age 23 & 20, who he has taught important financial lessons through generations.

Many people are working to break generational barriers as well.

Here are some of our favorite Fatherly Financial Advice🙌
1. Budget Wisely: Track your income and expenses to manage your money effectively.
2. Save Early: Start saving a portion of your income as soon as possible.
3. Invest Smartly: Understand the basics of investing to grow your wealth over time.

What financial advice did your father give you? Share your stories and tips in the comments!

Happy Father’s Day to all the wise dads out there! 🏆💙

High school and college-age students from under-resourced communities often lack the tools to navigate mainstream economic systems.💡

Financial education can break barriers and change lives. Here are some common obstacles faced by these students:
• Limited access to financial education
• Limited banking options in their communities
• Vulnerability to high-cost predatory loans
• Mistrust of traditional financial institutions
• Inadequate exposure to living wage career pathways
• Systemic and generational factors

Many low-income students of color face economic derailment due to non-completion of degrees, certificates, or transfer programs. According to the CA Community College Chancellor’s Office, “Students need structured, cohesive support to reach their end goals, with support tailored to individual needs.”

Here’s how you can support financial education:
1. Donate: Contribute to programs like FutureProfits & AchieveAble
2. Volunteer: Offer your expertise to mentor students.
3. Advocate: Spread awareness about the importance of financial education and support policies that promote it.

Want to make a difference? Save this post and share it with your network! Comment below on how you think financial education can transform lives!

Together, we can build a brighter future! 🌟📚

Our FutureProfits Program Manager, Yahaira Gutierrez, was invited to attend Waterford High School’s graduation! So excited to see our FutureProfits students achieve such a great milestone. We wish all graduates luck on their new adventures.

Congrats to our Central Valley AchieveAble Year 3 Cohort! 🎓

Our AchieveAble program is making way into its fourth year in the Central Valley and its fifth in the Bay Area. If you are a first-generation community college student and are interested in the comprehensive support that this free program offers, check out the link in our bio to apply to our upcoming cohorts!

AbleWorks was honored to host a career panel yesterday in the Central Valley, led by AchieveAble Program Manager, Estefani. She was kind to share a few words of her experience, "I am excited to share the success of yesterday's career panel. I was thrilled by how engaged our students were throughout the event. Every panelist showed genuine enthusiasm and openness to the idea of having a 45-minute mentoring session with our AchieveAble students. After the formal panel ended, our students took advantage of the opportunity to network, exchanging contact information with the panelists, who were equally delighted by the interaction. The panelists spoke about their careers, including a CPA, a retired lawyer, a mental health clinician/public health worker with an MSW, the Vice President of community development at a local bank, and a sociology professor from MJC who is working with MJC students and with incarcerated youth. They expressed how much they enjoyed meeting one another and connecting with our AchieveAble community. Jose Sabala gave us a shoutout on LinkedIn!" Estefani worked for several weeks to ensure the success of this event, and it paid off! She is one to always lead with a sense of service towards AchieveAble students to end their time with us on a strong note. She adds, "I believe this event will leave a lasting impact on their lives. After the event, I received texts from students expressing their gratitude like, "This is exactly what I needed" and "I could relate so much with all of their stories and experiences." A special thank you goes out to Yahaira, Jovan, and Marisol, who were instrumental in making this event a success. I want to thank Program Strategist Sue, who provided valuable resources so I could prepare effectively. I am so grateful to have had their support throughout the event. I'm incredibly proud of the 20 students who participated. The event was a testament to the power of community and our students' dedication to their future careers. Thank you for your continued support." Thank you, Estefani for always finding innovative ways to encourage and support all AchieveAble students.

AbleWorks is thrilled to share another dedicated educator and pillar of his community, Mr. Paul Rutishauser. He has worn many hats as an educator including junior high principal, high school associate and assistant principal, junior high assistant principal, and high school English and history teacher. As Director of Secondary Education in Ceres Unified School District for the last six years, Mr. Rutishauser’s efforts on Able Works’ behalf were key to establishing our FutureProfits program in the Central Valley, and for this reason, Able Works is proud to highlight him as a Central Valley Champion Educator. When asked why he supports the program, Mr. Rutishauser said, “We know the power of purposeful financial decision making…this is especially true in an area mired in poverty, [such] as the entire Central Valley. FutureProfits provides students, their parents, and their future children with skills and foundational economic knowledge to transform their prospects. It gives them hope.” Mr. Rutishauser completed his doctorate in Education at CSU Stanislaus, studying the college readiness indicators of students in the Central Valley. His wife is a teacher and they have two teenagers of their own at home, one of whom just started college, so Mr. Rutishauser’s personal and professional lives often overlap. He cites his students as his constant motivation, whether in the classroom or as a site-level admin. Mr. Rutishauser offers the following advice to future educators: “Remember, this is a ‘people first’ business; that is, while we can love the content we teach or the way we teach it or the systems we create, the goal is always to empower individuals. If we build amazing things and get great test scores but aren’t transforming students’ sense of self or giving them hope, then we aren’t really doing much of anything.” Thank you, Mr. Rutishauser, for putting your students first for many years and for your dedication to improving lives in the Central Valley educational system and community!

Yesterday evening, Able Works’ development team was hard at work executing a wonderful event for our friends and dedicated supporters who are invaluable to the continued successful trajectory of Able Works. We were fortunate that three AchieveAble students were able to join us so that our supporters could get to know some of the gifted individuals whom they have helped empower to succeed in their college journeys. We would like to thank the Geleynse Family for opening their home and hosting the event at their beautiful, historic home,m; our dedicated staff and board who were happy to be there to share their passion for economic justice and spread the word about what we do; the incredible Chef Rashad Armstead and his team for the delicious food and white glove service; and all of our guests who came from near and far to make the evening so very special.

Today we are delighted to recognize Ms. Salinas as an Able Works Central Valley Champion Educator for all of her efforts towards the betterment of youth in her community. A Central Valley native and lifelong educational advocate, she left to pursue degrees in higher education at the University of Iowa, followed by Rice University, before returning home. For the last 25 years, she has been a dedicated educator at Ceres High School, her alma mater. Back as a Bulldog, she was eager to pass on the knowledge she had gained in college to her students, striving to send them off to the world as “well-rounded young adults”; however, she had recognized years before that an important skill set had been missing from her own high school journey towards well-roundedness: Financial education for the real world. With Ceres High School’s support and a strong program staff, Ms. Salinas has seamlessly implemented Able Works’ FutureProfits financial education program into her own classroom. Advocating for FutureProfits became an important step towards providing her students with “another area of literacy to gain,” as well as a stronger foundation as they pursue their goals. Her dedication to providing the next generation with the tools to create a better future is an inspiration to us all, and we truly appreciate the role she plays in the ongoing success of FutureProfits in the Central Valley!

Every first week in May we honor the hard work of educators across the nation. This week Able Works is also taking a deeper dive and thanking a few select educators that we see as Champion Teachers from the Central Valley - Educators who have championed and advocated for their students and provided a platform for Able Works. Able Works is proud to present its first honoree, Mr. Roberto Cruz from Waterford School District. Mr. Cruz has much to share about teaching: “Never take it personally. The students will at times try to make it personal, but always make it business. The more you love what you do, the more they will experience that in your class. Give the students room to express themselves, and guide them in their learning process.” For guiding his students towards achieving future success through his own financial education curriculum, as well as, working with Able Works to complement that curriculum with FutureProfits. He cites a particularly engaging junior college history instructor, whose energy and passion made the subject very interesting, as his inspiration for what would become a decades-long career. Mr. Cruz earned his bachelor's degree from Fresno State University, and while attending their graduate program taught as a substitute at a local high school that offered him a full-time job after earning his master’s. A father of six, he has experienced multiple profound personal losses over the years but continued to teach through it all. He says that his “journey has not been easy, but It has been very rewarding.” Able Works greatly values Mr. Cruz as our partner in providing invaluable financial education to high school seniors that, in his words, will “help prepare them for the real financial world” as well as “better prepared for the financial choices that they will have to make.”

This past weekend was full of celebrations for Able Works students and staff alike. One of the greatest highlights of this time of year is graduation ceremonies and being a part of such a special moment with each student who has been a part of the Able Works family. Central Valley Academic Advisor, Bryan Marks, said it best as he sat through the Modesto Junior College graduation ceremony, “It’s beautiful knowing we all helped get a couple of kids across that stage this year and more to come.” This is only the beginning for this cohort of AchieveAble graduates, and AbleWorks looks forward to the opportunity to help many more students cross the graduation stage.

As AbleWorks’ FutureProfit team is wrapping up its program year, the Bay Area Team takes a moment to thank the wonderful volunteer teachers with an outing to lunch. If you or anyone you know is interested in joining the AbleWorks Volunteer Team, reach out to your local region for more information!