By Sam Molitor ’27, journalism major
More than 300 middle school, high school, and college students across Los Angeles learned the essentials of budgeting, saving, credit, and investing this past summer through Save It Forward, a free financial literacy initiative led almost entirely by LMU undergraduates.
Sponsored by the Fred Kiesner Center for Entrepreneurship, the program’s goal is simple yet ambitious: to equip young people with the tools to make informed financial decisions today and spark a ripple effect of knowledge shared with families, friends, and peers. As of 2025, the program has educated tens of thousands of “savers” – not students – since its inception in 2015.
Co-founded by Jason D’Mello, Ph.D., associate professor of entrepreneurship, the program began as a summer camp and has steadily expanded over the years, now offering multiple weeklong sessions each summer. “The idea was, let’s teach college students, but let’s have them learn about financial literacy so that they can teach high school and middle schoolers,” D’Mello said. “There’s something about someone who’s just a bit older, who’s going through this in real time, sharing it with you. You’re getting an insight into their lives and a preview of what your life is going to be like.”
This peer-to-peer format is what sets Save It Forward apart. Arely Cano ’26, a finance and entrepreneurship double major, began as a student mentor in 2024 and has since transitioned to a leadership role as the program’s communications director. “Peer mentoring really sets the program apart from others because you don’t have an old professor lecturing at you, reading off slides as you wait for class to end,” Cano said. “Having a teacher that’s really close in age helps students understand and relate to the material.”
Each week-long session mixes dynamic workshops with real-world applications, from creating budgets and understanding credit to collectively opening savings accounts. “We discuss our own mistakes in investing and budgeting, offering real-life examples that our students will face in the future,” Cano explained. “Working with younger students has definitely changed my way of thinking. If I’m talking about money and how to build good habits, I should also live up to it.”
The program’s growth is a testament to its demand and impact: this year, Save It Forward doubled its curriculum output, added advanced financial literacy tracks, hired and trained seven LMU student mentors, and partnered with LMU’s Upward Bound program to expand access for first-generation and low-income students.
D’Mello hopes Save It Forward can serve as a model as California prepares to roll out new financial literacy high school graduation requirements. “If we continue to build the program, I’d love for LMU to be a thought leader in the financial literacy education space,” he said. “It’s not about making the most money – it’s about having a healthy relationship with it, gaining financial freedom, and the ability to pursue your passions.”
Special thanks to LMU’s talented and dedicated Save It Forward team, including Andrew Murtaugh, Arely Cano, Conner Bartels, Giulia Calabrese, Liam Goodfellow, Alexander Choi, Gisele Galaz, and Tyler Steele.
