When we were back with the Knicks, the fact that we did not win as much as hoped on the court gave us the ability to story tell way beyond wins and losses, maybe even more than we could have done if we had been title contenders.
A big part of that storytelling success was based on listening and working with the players and coaches to come up with narratives, and partners that were impactful to them. One of those players was Kurt Thomas, who had a solid NBA career largely spent in New York, always overachieving on teams that struggled to produce W’s. However one part of Kurt’s story was to have a bigger impact than points and rebounds, addressing an area that he had felt personally and wanted to eliminate for a new group of young people, especially those in inner cities.
Thomas, early on in his career, had lost money because an agent had mishandled his funds, and it happened because he entrusted his money with someone without ever understanding what or where the dollars were going, and he did not want it to happen to other young people on any level who just didn’t understand the issues and opportunities around finance.
The Knicks Community Relations Department worked with an elite brand partner, Merrill Lynch, to help Thomas realize his goal. Together they took “The Stock Market Game,” a platform which teaches financial literacy, to a wide group of New York City high school students with Kurt serving as the mentor for these young people, more as a person who had been a victim of the system than star athlete. Either way, the program blossomed, and while many students benefited from learning the benefits of finance in a way that was fun and easy to understand, several were given internships at Merrill Lynch and have probably gone on to careers or businesses that benefitted from the outreach.
The ability for an athlete to impact, and work with others who had a [articular area of expertise and point of view, was literally immeasurable for the time that the program ran, and it was repeated by several other NBA teams in the years to come.
Why did it work? It took gamification, simple storytelling, a little competition, and a proper mentor to make it all fit together.
So then we move ahead to today, where financial literacy tied to areas like gaming, and STEM are again becoming an area to excel in, especially if it can be tied to athletes or others of influence for inner city kids.
Meet Goalsetter, a minority woman owned business that is doing all of that and more, which was detailed in a CNBC piece last week by Jabari Young and founder Tanya Van court. You can read the piece here about their new partners like Kevin Durant, along with their infusion of dollars.
Some key points:
Goalsetter is a mobile banking app that allows peer-to-peer transactions. Users can also put funds on banking cards for purchases. Van Court, a former Nickelodeon executive, said the Goalsetter’s uniqueness centers around financial literacy, especially among Black youth.
One of Goalsetter’s features is “learn before you burn,” which allows parents to lock debit cards until their children complete weekly financial literacy quizzes.
For younger users, the “learn to earn” feature enables parents to place money in accounts for allowance and rewards for correct quiz answers on their financial tests.
With her background leading NickJr.com, Van Court developed the quizzes for children and teenagers incorporating cultural and kid-friendly content with financial education.
Goalsetter will also use a business-to-consumer model and rely on sponsorship revenue in an effort to create a profit. Transactional fees will make up a portion of income, and users can also donate with a “pay what you think is fair” system.
She said banks are also in discussions for “white-labeling” agreements with Goalsetter. The model calls for the company to sell a portion of its software to companies that then rebrand it around their app.
So there you have it. A way to tie gaming, the mobile environment, finance and youth together? The benefits will continue to multiply, just like they did with the Knicks and Kurt Thomas back in the day. Good ideas, and responsible people, keep answering the call.
