Bodega budget
BodegaBudget™ is an educational game born out of a partnership between Syclus and Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center (ETC). The purpose of the ETC project (code name "FiPlay") was to create a web-based game with the transformational goal of equipping under-resourced Black high school students with financial skills, such as budgeting, saving, banking, credit, debt, and investing, so they can take control of their financial futures.
It is Syclus' strong belief that financial literacy changes a community by playing an important role in promoting the quality of life of individuals and families. As such, BodegaBudget™ plays into Syclus' ultimate objective of accelerating financial inclusion within urban, low-income communities of color through innovative initiatives of personal financial capability.
Problem
In BodegaBudget™, we seek to tackle the following deeply-rooted disparities that exist within the Black community:
Lack of knowledge and confidence in personal finance and investing
Large unbanked population, largely due to distrust of banks