Counting Change, Creating Change: My Journey into Financial Literacy Advocacy
by Guest Blogger Aren Inan
In this special guest feature, Sammy Rabbit is proud to spotlight the inspiring journey and insights of Aren Inan!
Aren is a junior at Bergen County Technical High School in New Jersey, majoring in FinTech. A first-generation Armenian American, he is co-leader of Financial Futures Incorporated, co-founder of Project Finance, COO of the Financial Literacy for Youth (FLY) Initiative, and a FinMango Global Ambassador. He is driven by his parents’ immigrant story and a deep belief that financial literacy is a right, not a privilege.
Discover more about Aren, his big dreams, aspirations, and goals on LinkedIn: Aren Inan
My Financial Literacy Journey - A Burning Sense of Duty
Some of the most important lessons I've ever learned didn't come from a classroom, they came from listening to my parents talk about their lives. They immigrated from Turkey, arriving in a country where the language, culture, and financial system were all completely foreign to them. Hearing about what they endured — learning English from scratch, figuring out how credit worked, and navigating a society that didn't come with a guidebook — was hard to sit with as a kid. But more than sadness, what I felt was a quiet, burning sense of duty.
A Common Challenge for Many
Listening to their story didn't just make me grateful, it made me feel responsible. I realized the struggles my parents faced weren't unique to our family; millions of immigrant families across this country experience the same disorientation, financial vulnerability, and steep learning curve without a safety net. That realization shifted something in me. I didn't want to just make things better for my own family, I wanted to help change the circumstances for anyone who had ever felt the way my parents did when they first arrived. Financial literacy, I came to understand, wasn't just about money. It was about dignity, access, and the freedom to build a life on your own terms.
Feelings of Excitement and Overwhelm: Facing a Shared Uncertainty
When I got accepted to Bergen County Technical High School, I walked through those doors feeling a mix of excitement and overwhelm. Seeing students from all over, all of them driven, sharp, and stepping into a brand-new environment showed me there was something quietly connecting about that shared uncertainty. But the competitive atmosphere hit me harder than I expected. In a school full of people who seemed to already know exactly who they were and where they were going, I struggled at first to find my footing and purpose.
The Breakthrough
Then I went to the club fair, and everything changed. I met Danny, a fellow student who was doing something that stopped me in my tracks. He was teaching young people financial literacy, bringing workshops to libraries, and trying to reach students who didn't have access to the financial education they deserved. It was as if someone had taken the quiet mission I'd been carrying since childhood and handed it back to me in the form of a club table and a conversation. I joined immediately, and what started as a student-led initiative grew, through years of shared work, into Financial Futures Incorporated, a nonprofit that has now reached over 10,000 students across more than 30 schools and libraries nationwide, with a 95% improvement in financial understanding among participants.
The work didn't stop there. I co-founded Project Finance at Bergen Tech, a school-based financial literacy program that scaled from 9 students to more than 30 in a single semester. As COO of the FLY Initiative, I'm helping co-deploy the New Jersey Financial Student Readiness Audit and support NJ Bill S3462 alongside State Senator Vin Gopal. I do this because I believe financial literacy shouldn't be something students have to seek out on their own. It should be built into the system, waiting for them when they arrive.
I was also honored to be selected as a FinMango Global Ambassador, the youngest ever chosen from more than 400 global applicants — a reminder that youth voices belong in these conversations.
Final Thoughts
My parents came to this country with courage, resilience, and very little else. They figured things out the hard way so that I wouldn't have to, and in doing so, they gave me something more valuable than any lesson I've learned in a classroom: a reason to act. Every workshop I run, every bill I advocate for, and every student who walks away feeling more confident about their financial future is, in some small way, a tribute to what they went through. I carry their story with me into every room I walk into.
If there's one thing I want young people to take away from my journey, it's this: your background is not a barrier, it's a blueprint. The experiences that shaped you, even the painful ones, are exactly what make your voice necessary in this work. Financial literacy belongs to everyone, and together, we have the power to make sure every student, regardless of where they come from or what language their parents spoke when they arrived, has the tools to build a future they're proud of.
Discover more about our featured Guest Blogger
To learn more about Aren, connect with him on LinkedIn: Aren Inan
Attention Young Leaders
We welcome and invite you to participate in Sammy's 'Be the Change' financial literacy initiative for college and high school students.
(1) Join peers advancing awareness on the importance of early age, youth, and family financial education by having your journey into financial literacy featured as a Sammy Rabbit Guest Blogger.
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