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For Your Small Business July 13, 2023

Providing financial empowerment education within communities

Old National Bank dedicates resources to advance financial education and empowerment programs throughout the bank’s entire footprint. ONB’s Communications Outreach & Financial Empowerment Officers provide and support this financial education with the goal of strengthening individuals, families and communities.

Financial Empowerment Officers provide personal financial education, partnering with schools, colleges, universities, businesses, non-profits, and government agencies to support community organizations and businesses with advanced financial assistance in all areas.

“This will help employees, schools, and students to be financially empowered to make better choices so that they can live better lives, making our communities stronger in general,” says Ben Joergens, Old National’s Director of Financial Empowerment.

Joergens personally assists more than 5,000 individuals a year, while his team of Financial Empowerment Officers annually teach more than 1,000 education sessions and reach more than 20,000 individuals.

Empowering low-income, minority populations financially

Old National’s Community Outreach team works within each community it serves to identify and address community needs.
“It is important for this team to be involved in the community and to partner with organizations who will give their team insight into the community’s needs,” said Lesly Flores, Community Outreach and Financial Empowerment Officer in Illinois. “Our team will identify if the banks’ products need to be restructured to be able to better support some of our low-income, minority individuals or clients within our community.”

After needs are identified, Joergens will oversee the development and implementation of financial education programs tailored to deliver financial empowerment to various age levels of community members.

ONB Real-Life Finance

More than 100 Old National associates are trained and licensed on the Real-Life Finance curriculum, a branded, in-house curriculum delivered in-person that delivers a financial empowerment curriculum in partnership with the National Financial Educators Council.

These workshops and programs are designed to educate individuals from Pre-K through adults in Old National markets throughout the Midwest. Workshop and program topics include Financial Psychology, Budgeting, Account Management, Credit, Loans and Debt, Jobs and Careers, Entrepreneurship, Taxes, Risk Management, Insurance, Retirement, Investments, Home Ownership and more.

The result in the community are workshops influencing individuals’ financial behavior, spending and saving. Many of these workshops provide assistance and support to underserved communities, including individuals from low-to-moderate income backgrounds and minority communities.

“When someone takes what they learned to better empower them financially, they can change their life,” Joergens says. “I am driven by a strong passion for teaching, which is why I find great fulfillment in my job.”

To learn more about ONB Real-Life Finance click here.

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