Capital One Announces $1.8 Million Grant To Junior Achievement Of Greater Washington

McLEAN, VA, May 21, 2014 /3BL Media/ – Capital One Financial Corporation today announced it will provide Junior Achievement of Greater Washington with a $1.8 million grant to help about 78,000 students in Greater Washington build their money management skills in the  innovative hands-on learning environment of Junior Achievement Finance Park.

This grant builds upon Capital One’s original investment of $2.5 million into the 20,000-square-foot experiential financial literacy center, which is located on the campus of Frost Middle School. The result of collaboration among Junior Achievement, Fairfax County Public Schools and Capital One, Junior Achievement Finance Park opened its doors in 2010, and has since enabled more than 53,000 middle school students from Greater Washington to learn important money management skills such as saving, budgeting, and using credit wisely. Ninety percent of Finance Park graduates reported that they felt significantly more confident in their ability to be successful in the future.

”At Junior Achievement, financial literacy isn’t just a mission. We believe it’s a movement. Junior Achievement Finance Park is helping to ensure that current and future generations are equipped to make the important financial decisions that will help to determine their success as adults,” said Junior Achievement President and CEO Edward J. Grenier III. “We’re thrilled that Capital One remains a committed partner and continues to share our vision to empower the youth of this region with the skills and resources they need to excel.”

The fifteen year agreement between Junior Achievement and Fairfax County Public Schools ensures that over 200,000 students will walk away with the tools to take the rudder, choose a direction, and control their future.

Prior to their visit to Finance Park, students participate in Junior Achievement’s unique classroom curriculum, which culminates with the Finance Park experience, where students put their newly-learned money management skills to the test. Finance Park is an innovative mock city where students experience the challenges of making real-life financial decisions that will lay the foundation for how they approach their financial responsibilities in the future and navigate success in the modern economy.

“Financial literacy should be as fundamental to a child’s education as reading, writing and arithmetic. Yet, the number of states that include personal finance in their educational standards has actually decreased in recent years,” said Carolyn Berkowitz, Managing Vice President of Community Affairs for Capital One and President of the Capital One Foundation. “Programs like Finance Park help to bridge those educational gaps, and Capital One is proud that our ongoing partnership with Junior Achievement is helping to put the young people of Greater Washington on a path to future success.” 

In addition to providing financial support for Finance Park, since 2010, more than 750 Capital One associates have volunteered at Finance Park in Fairfax County to help teach local youth financial literacy skills. Additionally, in 2013, Capital One invested $2.5 million in a second Junior Achievement Finance Park facility in Greater Washington, currently under construction on the grounds of G. James Gholson Middle School/Cora L. Rice Elementary School in Landover, Maryland. That facility, a collaboration of Junior Achievement of Greater Washington, Prince George’s County Public Schools and Capital One, is expected to open later this year and serve 9,000 students from across the region each year, as well as other members of the community interested in building their money management skills.

About Junior Achievement of Greater Washington
We all want to empower our children with the tools to live their lives to the fullest and find success. At Junior Achievement, we believe to inspire the next generation to navigate their path to the American dream, we must build a bridge from the classroom to the future—a path paved by a sound foundation of financial literacy, meaningful workplace experiences, entrepreneurial skills, and real role models who can show kids how to harness the vision to excel. The job market and economy are uncertain. What is certain is that Junior Achievement graduates will be more prepared to make the right choices and are less likely to become saddled with debt. JA graduates understand to control their future, all they must do is take the rudder and choose a direction. Last year, Junior Achievement impacted the lives of more than 52,000 young people in Greater Washington. www.myJA.org

About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is a Fortune 500 company with more than 900 branch locations primarily in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Its subsidiaries, which include Capital One, N.A., and Capital One Bank (USA), N. A., offer a broad spectrum of financial products and services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. Capital One applies the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our business. Capital One recognizes that helping to build strong and healthy communities – good places to work, good places to do business and good places to raise families – benefits us all and Capital One is proud to support this and other community initiatives. www.capitaloneinvestingforgood.com/