PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
PETER
HOFFMAN
POCKET CHANGE
WITH HIS CHARITABLE START-UP MONEYTHINK, 24-YEAR-OLD TED GONDER AIMS TO WIPE OUT
FINANCIAL ILLITERACY IN CHICAGO AND BEYOND.
BY LISA BERTAGNOLI
Ted Gonder didn't really see poverty until he landed in Hyde Park as a
student at the University of Chicago. "You could be sitting in a coffee shop,
rubbing elbows with Nobel laureates, walk out, and be a block from a gang
shooting," says the La Crescenta, California, native who
graduated from UC in 2012 with a degree in geography.
That disparity—green grass on one block, foreclosed
houses on the next—prompted him and four classmates to
launch Moneythink, a nonprofit that aims to improve
financial literacy among underserved teens.
Established in 2009, Moneythink now tutors students at
nine high schools in Chicago and 36 nationwide. The idea,
says Gonder, the company's CEO, is to "f lip the knowledge
economy" by offering students financial basics: How to
spend money, save money, and set financial goals.
The start-up has garnered major attention for Gonder. In February, he
was named to President Obama's Council on Financial Capability for Young
Americans. He's also an in-demand speaker on the topic of financial literacy at
conferences like Emerge and this fall's innovation and design gathering Cusp.
Gonder himself has never had money worries—he was raised in a comfortable,
two-parent household—yet at 14 he suffered an existential crisis. Clarity arrived
in the form of a 19-year-old Ghanaian math tutor. "We were both young people
who believed we could have a better future if we worked and
tried our best," Gonder says. "He got me to look at my life as
an entrepreneurial venture."
Entrepreneurial indeed. In the last decade, Gonder
has launched two nonprofits. In high school there was
Project Cooldown, which aimed to raise awareness of
global climate change. But Chicago-based Moneythink is
the project that has Gonder's star on the rise. "Our goal
is to create the world's first preventive cure for consumer
financial distress and make it available to every young
adult in the United States by 2030," says Gonder.
New this fall: An app to help Moneythink volunteers and students keep in touch
24/7 via texts and Instagram-like updates. "Kids today have more power in the
palms of their hands than the King of France did in the 1400s," Gonder points out.
"I don't see us getting bored with Moneythink for quite a while." moneythink.org
MA
Ted Gonder was inspired
to cofound Moneythink
while observing financial
disparities in and around
the University of Chicago.
INSIGHT:
IT'S ALL ABOUT BALANCE
Revving up: "I love Protein Bar—it's
healthy and fast."
Chilling out: "I enjoy walking along the
lakefront in Hyde Park. Nature is calming
and helps me reflect on our work."
80 MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM
PEOPLE Inspiration Generation
