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Theres a line I heard recently from Mel Robbins thats been echoing in my head ever since: People do well if they can.Its deceptively simple. The kind of phrase you nod at, maybe even repost. But when you sit with it, really sit with it, it starts to challenge a lot of the assumptions made every day.Especially when it comes to financial health and literacy. NOT LAZY, JUST LIMITED OPTIONS Lets be honest: Its easy to judge what we dont understand. Its easy to look at people struggling with money and tell ourselves stories. Theyre reckless. They dont care. They should know better. But heres the thing: Most people actually do care. They want to pay off debt. They want to build credit. They want to save for the future, buy homes, support their families, and live with dignity. What they often dont have is access to tools, or a roadmap. Thats not laziness. Thats infrastructure failure. SKILL, NOT WILL I grew up in a community where financial literacy wasnt part of the conversation; not at school, not at home, not even at the bank. I didnt learn what a credit score was until I had already messed up mine. And let me tell you, it took time to understand what mattered and what I could do to change my situation.So, I get frustrated when financial challenges are framed simply as laziness or a lack of personal responsibility or accountability. That framing is lazy.Let me say that again: That framing is lazy. Not the people. Not the effort. The framing. Because once you believe that most people are doing the best they can with the tools they have, everything changes. You stop asking, Why dont they just fix it? and start asking, Whats missing from the toolbox? THE ILLUSION OF EQUAL ACCESS We love to talk about equal access in this country, but the truth is, financial literacy varies widely and the resources available can make a huge difference.You tell people to swim and then just throw them into the deep end without knowing how to swim or having access to a ladder to climb out. Thats what we do when we say, Just build credit. But we dont acknowledge that millions of people dont understand credit or how it works, or even where to start. Most people dont know where to go to find the right educational tools and resources.And we wonder why so many people feel stuck. LETS REDESIGN THE SYSTEM What would it look like if we actually operated from the belief that most people want to do well, and will, if given the right education and tools?In my role at FICO, Im responsible for ensuring were constantly asking that question, and reshaping how people look at the answer. We dont just talk about financial inclusion. We continue to innovate and identify the best ways to ensure our tools show up in communities, our education reaches people, and our partnerships remove friction, it doesnt create more.We continue work with community leaders and other stakeholders to launch programs that meet people where they are. Not just where some may think they should be. We partner with nonprofit organizations, elected officials, and even local credit unions and lenders to host free credit education sessions, translated into accessible plain language and made relevant to the local communities. Because financial literacy and accessibility isnt just about logging in. Its about having access to resources worth showing up for. AND WHAT ABOUT THE KIDS? This mindset shift isnt just for adults, either. Im a mom. And Ive seen firsthand how important it is to provide kids with the right education and tools.They dont always lack motivation. They often lack critical tools, resources, and programs tailored to promote successful education.Sound familiar?Adults are no different. Many are still carrying bad money habits, some going all the way back from childhood. If we werent taught how to manage money at an early age, why do we expect everyone to have it figured out as adults later in life? A BETTER WAY FORWARD So where do we go from here?We start by acknowledging that: – Financial hardship isnt necessarily a character flaw. – Credit literacy isnt a luxury, its a necessity. – Access to available educational resources and tools should not depend on what side of the city you live on. And then we build programs, products, and partnerships to make that a reality.That means working with communities, not on them. It means bringing access to the right educational resources and tools to drive financial literacy throughout all communities.Because if we believe people do well if they can, then providing access to these resources and tools can go a long way to make sure they can. A FINAL THOUGHT There are many people out there right now who wants to fix their credit, get out of debt, or open their first savings account. They may not be lazy or unmotivated. Maybe they just havent yet discovered ways to access the right educational tools and resources to have a fair shot at financial literacy.We dont need to change all people. We need to change how people can get access to the educational tools and resources they need.Because, remember, people do well if they can. And theyre counting on us to make that a reality. Rukiya Kelly is global head of corporate impact and engagement at FICO.
Category:
E-Commerce
Billionaire investor Frank McCourt, former owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium, says he is investigating the legality of the Trump administrations deal that would see TikTok purchased by a coalition that reportedly includes Oracle, Silver Lake and the Saudi-owned MGX. In an interview with CNN’s Terms of Service podcast, McCourt stopped short of saying he would challenge the deal in court or attempt to join the ownership group. But the information that has been publicly released so far is insufficient and doesn’t address whether the national security concerns with TikTok have been addressed, he said. The status of the sale of TikTok in the U.S. remains in limbo as China and the U.S. continue jockeying over trade issues and rare-earth materials. Ive asked and engaged some really smart people to analyze (the deal) the best they can, with the information available, because there are still missing pieces with what this all means, McCourt told CNN. Project Liberty, a non-profit initiative that seeks to transform how the internet works, teamed with several private equity funds, Shark Tank judge Kevin OLeary, Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian and others to, submit a bid to buy TikTok in the weeks before Donald Trump took office. That offer proposed buying TikTok without its algorithm, which China had been unwilling to allow to be sold previously. The Project Liberty offer, which called itself the Peoples Bid for TikTok, valued TikTok’s American operations (without the algorithm) at $20 billion $6 billion more than the deal brokered by the White House. The group said it planned to restructure the social media company to collect less data on users and would use a new algorithm created by the Project Liberty nonprofit instead. The White House’s proposed deal did not address which companies or investors would make up the coalition that would own and operate the U.S. version of TikTok. And there was no justification or explanation for the $14-billion valuation (ByteDance has an estimated value of $330 billion so the low figure for TikTok’s U.S. operations left investors confused). It’s also still unknown if the U.S. will take a revenue stream from the new company, though Trump said the U.S. comes out great in the deal. Perhaps most importantly, though, is where China stands on things. Trump has said Chinese President Xi Jinping gave the White House deal the go ahead. Yet no representatives of ByteDance attended the signing ceremony for the executive order. And China’s government has not commented about the deal since the EO was signed. McCourt, to be clear, isn’t objecting to the White House deal at this point, but says it’s “too early to say” what next steps hell take in response to it. One area of interest to him, though, is the privacy guards that will be put into place. Big tech platforms are scraping and accumulating our data, hyper, micro-profiling us, and now theyre not just selling us ads, but theyre manipulating us, he said. Our data is our personhood in a digital age We should share what we want to share about ourselves. If TikTok is out of his reach, McCourt says he still has plans for the Project Liberty technology that he had hoped would run the site. He plans to transform it into an AI agent that controls when and how a user’s personal information is shared as they explore the Web and interact with other AI systems.
Category:
E-Commerce
In a sign of the times, Boy Scouts can now earn merit badges in artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity as they learn tech survival skills. The Boy Scouts of America, which rebranded itself as Scouting America back in February, counts about 1 million Scouts in its ranks. The 115-year-old organization has traditionally offered badges to encourage kids to learn outdoor survival skills like first aid, hiking, and cooking, as well as soft skills like public speaking, communication, and citizenship in the world. (Here’s a look at all 141 badges.) “The introduction of the artificial intelligence and cybersecurity merit badges marks another step forward as we continue our mission of preparing for life, Roger Krone, president of Scouting America told Fast Company. As technology continues to shape every aspect of our lives . . . these merit badges empower Scouts with foundational knowledge in two of the most critical and rapidly evolving fields.” The merit badges introduce Scouts to the fundamentals of AI and automation through hands-on activities and real-world examples in daily life and school that examine ethical concerns like bias and privacy, according to the Scouting America website. To earn the new badges, Scouts learn key AI concepts (machine learning, narrow AI, superintelligent AI, tasks, triggers, workflows, and variables), investigate deepfakes, and practice how to communicate effectively with AI. The badges are designed to interact with the Scoutly chatbot. Like many older organizations, Scouting America is hoping to stay relevant in a world in which today’s younger generations are increasingly digitally savvy and dependent on technologyand the new badges are the organization’s way of doing so, CNN reported. It’s also a way for Scouting America to retain younger members at a time when the organization is losing them. It now has about half of its membership of 2 million from 2018down from its peak of 5 million in 1972, according to The Associated Press. But what the group has lost in membership, it has gained in inclusivity and diversity. Since allowing females to join in 2018, the organization today includes more than 176,000 girls and young women. It has allowed gay members since 2013.
Category:
E-Commerce
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