X’ernona Woods is the founder and creator of Kid Millionaire, an innovative personal financial development program aimed at children.
The program is available in Chicago public schools for now, but it might expand soon enough.
Woods was inspired to learn about financial literacy when she was still in elementary school. One of her relatives asked her to switch her paper notes for what looked like a lot of copper and silver coins.
This spurred her to found Kid Millionaire and teach thousands of children and youth to kickstart their savings accounts and change their minds to follow a prosperity-conscious mindset.
With over 20 years experience as an educator, playwright, life coach, and prolific author, Woods specializes in coaching both children and adults on social, emotional intelligence development, financial prosperity, and financial personal development.
Thanks to Kid Millionaire, Woods has become even more well-known. She has been interviewed and featured about it by several media outlets from Chicago Sun-Times to ABC.
Woods hasn’t stopped at Kid Millionaire, though. She has also founded the Peaceful Resolutions Social Emotional Intelligence Development Program.
This program is available both abroad and in Chicago Public Schools.
How Projects Like Kid Millionaire Benefit The Community
Kid Millionaire is going a long way to help children, millions of whom are socially and economically disadvantaged and might not learn the importance of financial personal development.
Many of them will grow up to live from one paycheck to another.
The program stresses the importance of personal development and socio-emotional intellect, and it should bridge the gap between failure and success.
Currently, more than 70% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. 27% of them cannot cover an unexpected expense of $400.
Meanwhile, 60% of employees are experiencing financial stress, with money being the most stressful topic for them. These are the statistics that Kid Millionaire is trying to address.
And truthfully, understanding the connection between socioeconomic status and the trajectory of your future is something that both children and adults should have a firm grasp on.
That’s why it’s so important that the program delves into the underlying reasons causing one to relate differently to money than others.
It teaches personal development and the psychology of money, to give children every chance at becoming successful in the future, no matter how much—or little—they could be earning.
With Kid Millionaire and Millionaire Parent, both children and parents can start talking about wealth building as a family.
And no, it’s not too big of a concept for children to understand because this program in particular simplifies it.
Just by choosing to have wealth-conscious thoughts, they can reach their goals and aspirations, and form a financially worthwhile lifestyle.
This is particularly important for families looking to build generational wealth.
In addition to the program, Kid Millionaire also has a book along with an animation titled ‘Save That Penny for A Sunny Day’— an easy to read book that “educates, inspires and introduces youth to understanding entrepreneurship, finances, and budgeting to promote financially healthy youth for generations to come.”
The book, which is also accompanied by an animation of the same name, encourages the youth to believe that they can live a prosperous life if they adopt an entrepreneurial and financially literate mindset.
Kid Millionaire is the kind of program most of us need. And it’s not just a theory—it’s actually helping real youth.
By teaching children to use their money wisely, it is nurturing a new, financially independent generation that can, and likely will, have more opportunity than we and those before us had.
What money management tips are you teaching your kids early on? What do you think of programs like Kid Millionaire? Let us know in the comments below.
