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

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. 




USU Extension

Susan Speirs

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. 


UACPA

Brittany Griffin

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. 

Utah Treasurer’s Office

 

 



 

Kirt Slaugh

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: 
  1. Increase financial competence and confidence in high school girls. [Metric Forthcoming]
  2. Increase the percentage of Utah women who have a retirement account. [Metric Forthcoming]
  3. Increase the percentage of Utah women who have emergency savings. [Metric Forthcoming]
  4. Increase the number of women who are involved in financial decision making in the home. [Metric Forthcoming]
  5. Increase Utah women’s awareness of resources that help them achieve financial security.
  6. Increase the level of agreement that Utah women have utilized resources that have helped them achieve financial security.
  7. Increase Utah women’s belief that it is valuable for them to understand their personal finances.
  8. Increase Utah women’s level of agreement that they can manage their personal finances independently and make informed decisions to improve their financial wellness.
  9. Increase Utah’s perceptions that it is important for women to be competent and confident with money.

Partners 

my529

SheMoney

 

 

 

 

Affiliates

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
 
 
Get Engaged: Are you and/or your organization interested in being involved in the Finance spoke? If so, contact Melanie Jewkes (melanie.jewkes@usu.edu) with details about you/your entity and the current or future efforts you believe are aligned with this work. Other ways to get engaged include volunteering to participate in a sub-committee of the Utah Coalition of Financial & Economic Education (UCFEE); attending the Women in the Money Conference in the fall (womeninthemoney.org); and completing the financial literacy survey. Thank you for your interest!