When sports heads hear the term “drafted,” we typically think of the moment when amateur athletes transition from making their coaches and colleges millions of dollars to when they can finally see that kind of money themselves. But as part of its Black History Month initiative, Black-owned finance app Goalsetter is focusing on an entirely different type of “drafted.”
Goalsetter prides itself on providing teens and tweens with an “education-first” banking experience. And with its “Drafted” campaign, it has aspirations to jumpstart the financial freedom of one million Black and Brown kids by providing educational tools that will teach them how to establish effective financial habits and generate wealth over the course of their lifetimes. This also includes gifting each participant with $40 for their Goalsetter savings account as a nod to the 40 acres and a mule we’re all tired of waiting on.
Current and former NBA players such as Chris Paul, Harrison Barnes, and Baron Davis have joined forces with other Black celebrities, activists, and organizations to launch “Drafted” in order to educate youth on the importance of financial literacy. Beginning on February 1, Paul will “draft” 100 kids to participate in the campaign before “passing the ball” to a fellow professional athlete in the NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL or WNBA. Other big names involved in this campaign include This Is Us star Sterling K. Brown and activist Tamika Mallory.
“Black History Month is a reminder of the hundreds of years that Black people have been a labor force and a consumer class in America,” Paul said in a statement provided to The Root. “This partnership is about learning from our history to create a strong future that prepares the next generation of Black and Brown kids to be savers and investors. Financial education is a necessary and critical component of creating an equal America.”
“Our mission is to empower the youth of today to fulfill their dreams of tomorrow, and we couldn’t think of better partners to amplify the message of empowerment and achieving goals than these NBA players, who are leaders both on and off the court,” Goalsetter founder & CEO Tanya Van Court said in a statement provided to The Root. “Every kid in America needs financial education to achieve success. Goalsetter’s smart banking app puts financial education front and center, and the NBPA’s players are bringing that financial education to families on their home courts all across the country.”
To learn more about the “Drafted” campaign, hit up drafted.goalsetter.co.