Mar 9, 2015

The Nasdaq Educational Foundation Awards a Multi-Year Grant to the SIFMA Foundation

Four-Year Grant to Support Teacher Professional Development in Capital Markets

Will Benefit 60,000 Teachers and 2.5 Million Students

New York, March 9, 2015- The SIFMA Foundation, a national leader in capital markets and investor education, has secured a four-year grant from The Nasdaq Educational Foundation . The grant will advance theNasdaq - SIFMA Foundation Teacher Professional Development Initiative to expand adult financial education and capital markets literacy through teacher professional development. The initiative exposes classroom teachers and after-school providers with knowledge and tools for promoting financial education and capital markets literacy to their students. The Nasdaq Educational Foundation is underwriting the program.

For more than 37 years, the SIFMA Foundation has expanded financial preparedness through hands-on investor education programs that are innovative, rigorous, relevant and practical. As a strategic partner, Nasdaq is teaming up with the SIFMA Foundation to extend its educational reach to tens of thousands of teachers each year. The program, implemented by the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education, was created to address a deficit in teacher professional development on capital markets and investor education.


"We are extremely grateful to The Nasdaq Educational Foundation for enabling us to reach more than 60,000 teachers nationwide over the next four years with educational materials and professional development opportunities," said Melanie Mortimer, President of the SIFMA Foundation. "The grant support ensures an educational pipeline for teachers to provide practical knowledge about investing and the capital markets to 2.5 million students." 

The SIFMA Foundation offers the nation's most powerful, widely used and validated in-school investor education programs, educating individuals about the global economy and the role of the financial markets in increasing prosperity and opportunity. Programming enables teachers to simulate the real world of investing, incorporate hands-on learning, and facilitate the application and practice of newly acquired knowledge. As a result, teachers extend the benefits of financial capability and capital markets literacy to millions of students they collectively reach. They also take a more active role in their own personal financial lives.

"In addition to fostering capital market literacy and financial capability broadly, Nasdaq recognizes the pivotal role we can play in ensuring educators have effective teaching tools and the experience needed to teach this subject matter," said Joan Conley, Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary at Nasdaq and Managing Director of The Nasdaq Educational Foundation. "It is our pleasure to support the SIFMA Foundation as they expand their program, equipping teachers and students to become financially prepared for life."

SIFMA Foundation programs are proven time and again to have a significant impact on investor knowledge and behavior. A random, double-blind national study by Learning Point Associates determined that teachers' investment practices improved as a result of their use of SIFMA Foundation programs, leading them to research and invests in their own retirement. Moreover, SIFMA Foundation programs have a direct impact on students' academic knowledge and college and career readiness, improving their scores on standardized math and personal finance tests.

The cornerstone of theNasdaq - SIFMA Foundation Teacher Professional Development Initiative is a portfolio of innovative and practical tools for teachers' and educators' use in becoming more financially capable, including The Stock Market Game program, an online simulation of the global capital markets that engages grades 4-12 students in the world of economics, investing and personal finance, and prepares them for financially independent futures. The four-year grant will also fund:

  • An annual program of educational webinars and in-person workshops covering topics that are practical, current, and relevant, and that are easily accessible. Webinars are designed to enhance teachers' business, finance and capital markets knowledge and abilities. Topics include Stock Market Research, Corporate Governance, Shareholder Rights and Proxies, Investing and the Super Bowl, and Volatility.
  • Expansion of the SIFMA Foundation's Teacher Educational Resource Center, an extensive online, searchable library of information about the capital markets and personal finance-saving, investing, asset allocation, and financial planning, curricular resources, lesson plans, assessments, and standards correlations that support financial education.
  • Support of the SIFMA Foundation's Annual Symposium, which convenes educators and nonprofit leaders from across the country. Train-the-trainer style programs immerse these leaders in capital markets educational content including global economic trends, investing best-practices, and market realities.

About the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education:

The SIFMA Foundation is dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds. Drawing on the support and expertise of the financial industry, the SIFMA Foundation provides financial education programs and tools that strengthen economic opportunities across communities and increase individuals' access to the benefits of the global marketplace. Notable Foundation programs include the Stock Market Game™, which has served more than 15 million students since it began in 1977, the InvestWrite® national essay competition, the Capitol Hill Challenge™ and Invest It Forward™. For more information on the work of the SIFMA Foundation, visitwww.sifma.org/foundation .

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About The Nasdaq Educational Foundation

The Nasdaq Educational Foundation was established in 1994 and is supported entirely by contributions from The Nasdaq Group, Inc. The mission of The Nasdaq Educational Foundation, Inc. is to promote and provide opportunities through collaborations and initiatives that support and deliver innovative educational programs and charitable activities.

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SIFMA Foundation Media Contact:

Liz Pierce

+1 (212) 313-1173

lpierce@sifma.org

Nasdaq Media Contact:

Alexa Sugrue

+1 (212) 231-5552

Alexa.Sugrue@nasdaq.com

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