The Financial Literacy Initiative

What The Financial Literacy Initiative does

The Financial Literacy Initiative (FLI) is an international nonprofit educational organization founded in 2022 at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, California by co-founders Ian Bates and Tanish Kathir. Its mission is to equip K-12 students with financial literacy and real-world finance experience. FLI operates three interconnected programs: a flagship Financial Literacy Initiative Program in which trained high school members teach foundational financial concepts (budgeting, saving, investing) to elementary and middle school students; The Student Fund, a real investment portfolio that FLI members research, pitch, and present to financial managers at Fortune 500 companies including Charles Schwab and CSC (achieving a Beta of 2.2); and a Competitions & Recognition Program through which students compete in the Harvard International Economics Essay Competition (HIEEC), Wharton Global Youth Investment competition, and regional events (1st Place, San Diego Regional Finance Competition).

The organization is structured around a chapter-based, community-led delivery model: student leaders open and run chapters at their schools, receiving FLI's curriculum, mentorship from the co-founders, and competition resources. As of 2025, FLI operates 6 active chapters across 4 countries (California, Colorado, Texas, New Jersey, North Carolina, and London), has reached 3,150+ students across 5 San Diego-area school districts, and has earned coverage in ABC 10 News and the San Diego Union-Tribune. The underlying technology is exclusively in-person educational programming and curriculum — there is no software platform, app, or AI component.

FLI is a donation- and grant-funded nonprofit; all programs are provided free of charge to participating schools and students, and no revenue, funding rounds, or pricing model are disclosed. Growth is driven by student ambassadors, earned media, and the "Open a Chapter" application pipeline, making the GTM motion effectively community-led and zero-cost-per-acquisition.

Name

The Financial Literacy Initiative

Legal name

The Financial Literacy Initiative

Website

https://joinfli.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Financial Literacy Initiative is an international nonprofit founded in 2022 that teaches K-8 students financial literacy through student-led school chapters, operates a Student Fund investment portfolio presented to Fortune 500 firms, and competes in national finance competitions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Financial Education Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Finance & Financial Literacy for Students (EDAMAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Budgeting & Cash-Flow Management (EDAAAJAA), Student & Education Finance (Aid, Loans, Repayment Options) (EDAAAJAK), Banking & Payments (Accounts, Cards, Digital Payments) (EDAAAJAD), Financial & Consumer Literacy (Banking, Credit, Contracts) (EDAAAAAG)

Keywords

• Financial literacy education
• Youth investment programs
• Nonprofit K-12 education
• Student-led teaching
• Chapter-based education network

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Nonprofit Operations: As an international nonprofit organization, FLI operates as a donation and grant-funded entity. The organization focuses on mission delivery rather than commercial revenue generation. Specific funding sources are not detailed in available materials.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Financial Literacy Initiative is an international nonprofit that delivers financial literacy education to K-12 students through a chapter-based, student-led model. High school chapter members teach foundational money management (budgeting, saving, investing) to elementary and middle school classrooms, manage a real investment portfolio (the Student Fund) reviewed by financial managers at Fortune 500 companies, and compete in finance competitions such as Harvard HIEEC and the Wharton Global Youth Investment competition.

Product overview

The Financial Literacy Initiative operates as a nonprofit educational organization offering three interconnected programs: a flagship Financial Literacy Initiative Program that sends high school students to teach younger students foundational financial skills, The Student Fund where members research and manage a real investment portfolio with Fortune 500 pitches, and a Competitions & Recognition Program enabling students to compete in national and international finance competitions. Together, these programs bridge classroom learning with real-world financial experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Financial Literacy Initiative Program FLI's flagship program that sends trained high school chapter members into elementary and middle school classrooms to teach foundational financial aptitude, covering topics ranging from budgeting to investing with engaging, interactive lessons.
• The Student Fund A real investment portfolio managed by FLI members who research, pitch, and present holdings to financial managers at Fortune 500 companies including Charles Schwab and CSC, achieving a Beta of 2.2 and outperforming many industry professionals.
• Competitions and Recognition Program Program that enables FLI students to compete in finance competitions including the Harvard International Economics Essay Competition (HIEEC), the Wharton Global Youth Investment competition, and more, with FLI taking 1st Place at the San Diego Regional Finance Competition.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3,150+ students taught across multiple school districts
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Charles SchwabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFLI's Student Fund presented portfolio pitches to financial managers at Charles Schwab during Fortune 500 company reviews. This provides students with professional feedback and industry exposure, though no formal partnership structure is indicated.
• CSC (Corporate Technology Company)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFLI's Student Fund presented investment portfolio pitches to financial managers at CSC during Fortune 500 company reviews. Provides students professional feedback and industry exposure through pitch review sessions.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Visa Financial Education / Practical Money Skills: Visa's Practical Money Skills program offers free personal finance resources to educators and students worldwide. It competes for curriculum adoption at the same school districts and brings deep corporate-funding resources as a Fortune 100 sponsor.
• Council for Economic Education (CEE): CEE is a national nonprofit that promotes economic and financial literacy in K-12 schools via curriculum, teacher training, and competitions. It competes for the same school district and educator mindshare and operates the National Personal Finance Challenge.
• EVERFI: EVERFI (now part of Intentional Futures/Blackbaud-adjacent) delivers digital financial literacy and life-skills curricula to K-12 and higher-education institutions. It serves overlapping school-district customers with broader topic coverage than FLI but a fundamentally similar mission.
• Junior Achievement USA: Junior Achievement is the largest K-12 financial literacy, work-readiness, and entrepreneurship education nonprofit in the U.S. It operates through a chapter-based volunteer model that closely mirrors FLI's student-led delivery approach and serves the same school-district customers.
• National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE): NEFE is a national nonprofit foundation that funds research and public education on personal finance. It overlaps with FLI in mission and shares the same donor, partner, and grant-ecosystem space in K-12 financial literacy.

Direct peers

• Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF): NGPF provides free, high-quality K-12 personal finance curriculum to tens of thousands of teachers and millions of students. It is the most directly comparable digital-first financial literacy provider targeting the same school-district and student segments as FLI.
• FoolProof Foundation: FoolProof provides free, self-paced personal finance curricula to high schools and middle schools with a similar free-to-schools distribution model. It targets overlapping student personas (K-12) with comparable financial literacy content.

Others

• Federal Reserve Bank educational programs (e.g., Econ Lowdown): The Federal Reserve's Econ Lowdown and similar central-bank educational programs provide free K-12 financial and economic literacy resources. They serve the same student personas and teacher channels but as government-funded initiatives rather than nonprofit chapters.
• Wharton Global Youth Program: The Wharton Global Youth Investment Competition is one of the high-school finance competitions FLI explicitly participates in. As an organizer of the competition format FLI uses to build credibility, it is a comparable competitor for elite student finance-program participation.

Emerging players

• Khan Academy (Personal Finance content): Khan Academy's free personal finance videos and exercises target the same K-12 student audience for self-directed financial literacy. It is a free, scalable substitute for FLI's classroom program and a key alternative for school districts adopting financial literacy curricula.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/ccaeconclub

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Financial Literacy Initiative