For over fifteen years, charitable trust SavY has been ensuring that students leave school better equipped to manage their finances.

The cost-of-living crisis. Phishing and other financial scams. The increasingly elusive goal of home ownership. In Aotearoa New Zealand’s current economic climate, financial literacy has never been more essential – and the work of SavY, a charitable trust that provides financial literacy workshops for high school students, has never been more relevant. “There is still a significant amount of work to do to improve the knowledge of many,” observes the current CEO of SavY, Bachelor of Arts and Science conjoint student Adam Wong-Toi. “Not just young people’s knowledge, but that of university students, teachers, adults – everyone.”

SavY was launched back in 2008 with the support of the Velocity student entrepreneurship programme delivered by the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE). The vision of SavY’s founders – Dipra Ray, Shiva Gopalan, Lynn Lai and Akif Malik – was to recruit university students to facilitate financial literacy workshops in schools. They hoped that a youth-led approach would prove more relevant, relatable and, therefore, more engaging for school students than conventional programmes offered by financial institutions like banks.

While today there are many more providers delivering financial education programmes to students, SavY’s motto of “For Youth, By Youth” remains the organisation’s key point of difference, says Adam. “We are entirely run by students. Because the workshops are interactive, and facilitated by peers only a couple of years older, the students are more open to listening and engaging with the content – even if they don’t initially like the idea of a workshop about finances.”

It’s proved a winning formula. The organisation celebrated its fifteenth anniversary in 2023, winning the Cause of the Year Award at the University of Auckland Clubs Awards that same year. SavY now boasts more than 80 trained facilitators based in either Auckland or Wellington, and runs workshops across the North Island. In the last six years, despite the obvious challenges presented by Covid lockdowns, at least 15,000 students have benefited from SavY’s programmes.

Part of this success is due to continuous content enhancements. This year the SavY team added a fourth core programme – Expert – to the existing core programmes of Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, as well as offering the option of additional content about studying for a Bachelor of Commerce and pursuing a career in commerce. “We are frequently updating content – for example, around tax rates, first home grants and the fees-free policy, which have all changed this year – as the current economic climate evolves,” says Adam. Interactive games and activities – previously offered only in the Basic module – are also now included in all core workshops. “Interactivity is a key part of our workshop philosophy,” he explains.

Ensuring students are aware of the ever-present danger of financial scams forms an important part of SavY’s offering. The prevalence of these scams has meant that New Zealanders are becoming more vigilant, observes Adam. “People are increasingly cautious about their finances and when we do our Online Purchases/Scams module, many students nowadays are very clued into the current trends in scams and phishing.” He’s heartened that students are beginning to understand the catastrophic impact these scams can have. “It’s good that young people are becoming more switched on – but there are still steps that we can take to stay a step ahead of the scammer. Constantly educating about how to avoid them is certainly one of these steps.”

Consistently enthusiastic feedback from teachers and students confirms that SavY continues to empower young people, enabling them to not only stay a step ahead of scammers, but also to stay on top of their finances. “Teachers love the work that we do and think that it is very valuable and insightful for students,” says Adam. Although he believes that it’s difficult to assess SavY’s impact on national financial literacy, he’s confident that the trust’s contribution is considerable. “The biggest thing is just sparking the conversation and initiating a mindset of financial literacy and talking about money. Without learning and talking about it, we can’t use the true power of money – so there’s no better time to start than while young, when there is time to maximise benefits.”

Significantly, the SavY experience often proves just as enlightening for its own facilitators. “Many facilitators join SavY to improve their own financial literacy,” notes Adam. “We also now offer them a range of professional development opportunities.” SavY is, ultimately, “a massive team effort”, he says. “My one biggest takeaway, without a doubt, is the people. I find the most enjoyable part of my role is being in an environment of students who are so passionate about our cause – putting in the hours and delivering awesome results.”