Student-Led Nonprofit and a Nationwide Push for Financial Literacy in Schools

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Sept. 7, 2026 — Financial knowledge often begins at home, passed from parents to children through conversations, personal experience, and everyday money decisions. But not every student has access to the same information. Building Financial Futures of America was created to address that gap by bringing financial education into schools and giving young people the opportunity to learn about money before they begin making major financial decisions of their own.

The nonprofit was founded in 2025 by Toby Qin, Liam Griffin and Vrund Gurjar, three North Carolina high school students. Qin and Griffin attend East Chapel Hill High School, while Gurjar attends Marvin Ridge High School in Waxhaw. Their own experiences helped shape the organization. Griffin grew up in a single-parent household after his father died. At the same time, Qin and Gurjar are children of first-generation immigrants whose families came to the United States with limited financial resources. The students' work was recently profiled by The Daily Tar Heel.

Financial Education Reaches Schools

Building Financial Futures of America now delivers financial-literacy courses at more than 100 schools and has more than 80 student-led chapters across the country. Those chapters allow students to bring financial education into their own schools and communities, with lessons covering subjects that young people are likely to encounter as they move toward adulthood.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools became the organization’s first school-district partner. The founders have since returned to schools they once attended to teach younger students. Beyond classroom instruction, the organization also conducts fundraising and collection efforts to provide educational materials. Its Financial Freedom Kits drive has collected about 25,000 items, extending the work into communities beyond regular lessons.

BFF Classroom Brings Financial Education to K-12 Students

BFF Classroom is a digital learning platform that provides financial-literacy curricula tailored to each K-12 grade level. The lessons are designed around students’ ages and stages of learning, allowing financial concepts to be introduced in ways that reflect what they are likely to encounter as they move toward adulthood.

The curriculum can introduce younger students to basic concepts such as money, saving and spending, while older students can learn about subjects that become more relevant as they approach adulthood, including banking, credit and budgeting. Gilbert Rogers, director of financial wellbeing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an adjunct assistant professor at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, told The Daily Tar Heel that a baseline understanding of financial concepts gives people a foundation for learning more.

Photo credit: AP

Closing Financial Literacy Gaps

Financial education also has implications for economic inequality. Students enter school with different levels of financial knowledge, often shaped by what they learn at home. Without instruction in school, those differences can become more pronounced over time. Melissa Hart, a clinical associate professor of finance at Kenan-Flagler, told The Daily Tar Heel that gaps in financial literacy can widen when they are not addressed early.

Building Financial Futures of America is taking its work beyond classroom instruction by pursuing changes to education policy. Its student chapters are working on proposed legislation that would place financial literacy within education standards in their respective states. In North Carolina, the organization is seeking the addition of introductory financial-literacy education to middle school social studies, where the subject could be taught alongside existing coursework. The effort reflects a wider debate over whether financial education should be an optional subject or part of the education students receive before entering adult life.

Students Lead the Financial Literacy Effort

The organization's structure is distinctive because students are leading the effort and teaching other students. Rather than waiting for financial education to enter the curriculum through established institutions, the founders have created a network in which young people can teach their peers and younger students. More than 80 chapters now give the organization a presence well beyond its North Carolina origins.

That student-led structure also connects financial education with decisions young people will eventually face. College costs, employment, banking, credit, saving and spending all require some understanding of personal finance. Introducing those subjects before students encounter them in adulthood can give them a better basis for making financial decisions. Building Financial Futures of America is bringing that education into classrooms, digital resources, and community programs while also seeking changes to state education standards. Its work reflects a growing recognition that financial literacy is part of preparing young people for economic life.