Collegiate Financial Management Association Started by Young Professionals, for Young Professionals

By: Marie Greenbank

The Collegiate Financial Management Association (CFMA) is the brainchild of Wynston Reed and Max Burke, two students from the University of Maryland in the spring of 2018. Wynston reached out to Max wanting to start a club on campus that focused on financial literacy for young professionals. They  realized that many of their peers were going to be starting careers with substantially higher compensation then many of them had ever received before but their peers did not have to basic knowledge to manage their new incomes. Even though Wynston and Max knew the basics of academic finance, they did not know how to apply it to the personal finances of students. Their hope was to assist students and young professionals in the early stages of their career to increase their financial literacy through events, articles, and video content, and to help them meet young professionals wherever they may be.

CFMA officially started in the Fall of 2018, hosting events on Budgets and Stock Investments. In May 2019, CFMA launched its website, New Money News. New Money News focuses on the latest financial news, stocks to watch, and teaches essential financial concepts. Max hopes that as their club takes off, there is an opportunity to host events at other colleges and community venues to help better inform new young professionals in basic financial literacy tools that meet their specific needs. During 2020, Max hopes to host more events focused on loan management, creating budgets, and saving for retirement.

Max is excited about the idea of starting other chapters of CFMA at other college campuses, but for now is focused on the growth of CFMA at University of Maryland. When asked what he liked most about CFMA, Max said, “I enjoy finance… It has been a joy to get a chance to teach other people what I have learned at UMD. It feels great to contribute to the broadening of financial knowledge in the US and assisting [young professionals] in leading a more financially stable life.”

To learn more about the Collegiate Financial Management Association (CFMA) and their upcoming events, you can reach out to the CFMA staff at collegiatefma@gmail.com. Don’t forget to subscribe and share CFMA’s New Money News newsletter to help improve financial literacy among young professionals.