Finance
The Finance spoke focuses on empowering women of all ages to achieve financial security and sustainability. This includes helping Utah women learn how to make informed financial decisions to serve their own life goals and improve financial wellness. Spoke leaders will bring together individuals and organizations from around the state who can provide crucial financial information, are developing innovative resources, offering timely educational opportunities, increasing awareness of personal finance best-practices, and offering gatherings to meet new friends, mentors, and advocates. Important areas of focus include budgeting, managing debt, credit scores, home ownership, estate planning, investing, entrepreneurship, understanding insurance needs, protecting your money, and starting a business in this economy. To learn more, listen to the spoke leaders discuss the work on this 15-minute podcast.
Spoke Leaders
Melanie Jewkes
Extension Professor, USU
LinkedIn Profile
Melanie Jewkes is an Extension Professor at USU. An award-winning and published professional, she promotes and teaches financial wellness through USU’s Home & Community Department throughout the state.
Susan Speirs
CEO, UACPA
LinkedIn Profile
Susan Speirs, CPA is the CEO of the Utah Association of CPAs. In this role, she directs the affairs of the Association with regard to advocacy, professional education, leadership development, networking, and community service.
Brittany Griffin
Policy & Communications Deputy
LinkedIn Profile
Brittany Griffin is the Policy & Communications Deputy at the Utah Treasurer’s Office. She has a background in public administration, policy, and communications, and she has worked in local government, academia, marketing, and television news.
Kirt Slaugh
Chief Deputy State Treasurer
LinkedIn Profile
Kirt Slaugh is the Chief Deputy State Treasurer at the Utah Treasurer’s Office. He enjoys taking complex processes and finding ways to automate and add efficiency by embracing technology solutions that add real and significant impact to the bottom line.
Bold Vision & Goals
To make Utah a place where more girls and women can thrive, the Finance spoke leaders and partners have crafted the vision and goals below. Spoke leadership and UWLP team members are currently working to collect baseline data that will assist in adding numbers to the changes we want to see by 2026 and 2030.
Vision: Empower all Utah women of all ages to achieve financial security and sustainability by increasing their financial confidence and competence.
Goals:- Increase financial competence and confidence in high school girls. [Metric Forthcoming]
- Increase the percentage of Utah women who have a retirement account. [Metric Forthcoming]
- Increase the percentage of Utah women who have emergency savings. [Metric Forthcoming]
- Increase the number of women who are involved in financial decision making in the home. [Metric Forthcoming]
- Increase Utah women’s awareness of resources that help them achieve financial security.
- Increase the level of agreement that Utah women have utilized resources that have helped them achieve financial security.
- Increase Utah women’s belief that it is valuable for them to understand their personal finances.
- Increase Utah women’s level of agreement that they can manage their personal finances independently and make informed decisions to improve their financial wellness.
- Increase Utah’s perceptions that it is important for women to be competent and confident with money.
Partners
Affiliates
- American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
- BambooHR
- Cyprus Credit Union
- Empowering Financial Wellness, USU Extension
- Granite Credit Union
- Suazo Business Center
- University of Utah
- Utah Association of CPAs
- Utah Department of Commerce
- Utah Jump$tart Coalition
- Utah State University Extension
- Utah Treasurer’s Office
- Women of the World
Working Group Members
- Alayna Williamson, University of Utah
- Amanda Morton, Cyprus Credit Union
- Cassie Whitlock, Bamboo HR
- Claudia Ponce, Suazo Business Center
- Francswai Grayson, Utah Division of Securities
- Katie Ann Powell, Granite Credit Union
- KoShell Burnham-Miller, AARP
- Samira Harnish, Women of the World
- Zoe Gomez-Gonzalez, Utah Division of Securities