Meet Maura Cunningham

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maura Cunningham.

Hi Maura, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Born and raised in New York City, I went to work on Wall Street directly upon college graduation. I worked in the Financial District for 8 years and in the industry for 25 years. During that time, I found that more often than not, I was the only producing female in my office. Over the course of my career, I noticed many women were quick to throw up their hands when it came to investing. In reality, finance, for the most part, is nothing more than sixth-grade math. So, I decided to investigate why women and girls were so willing to dismiss their education in financial matters.

I was fortunate to retire at an early age about thirteen years ago; I traded options for my own account for 3 years and then, thought to myself, there’s got to be more to life than this. It dawned on me, too, that it was my turn to give back. So, I went back to school to obtain a Master’s Degree in Civic Leadership to see what I could contribute. I did my thesis on girls and math and how we lose them at age nine in the U.S. We don’t have this problem in China, Russia, India, and in Eastern European countries. It became clear that this is a cultural issue, not a capability issue.

I wanted to reintroduce girls to math, specifically financial math and offer a curriculum that is relevant to their lives. In other words, not just formulas and theorems. So, I decided to create a program that empowers high school girls to take charge of their finances starting at a critical point in their lives, just before they head off to college. RTSWS exposes them to investment lexicon, concepts, and tools. We also offer them an early pathway to explore a career in finance as well as the social capital needed to fast-track them and optimize their chances of success in the professional world.

Ten years ago, I started Rock The Street, Wall Street (RTSWS), a 501(c)(3) public charity. RTSWS is a financial and investment literacy program designed to bring both gender and racial equity to the financial markets and spark the interest of a diverse population of high school girls in careers in finance. Girls enroll in our program at their high schools for a full academic year and learn the basic foundations of investing as well as an introduction to a lucrative M in a STEM career in the financial services industry. We initially offered programming at one school in Nashville. As of this year, our four-part program is in 62 high schools, secondary schools, and sixth form schools, in 34 cities across the US, UK, and Canada, including two in the Nashville area.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As with any start-up, there were multiple iterations of the RTSWS program along the way, particularly in the first 3 years. Developing a fundraising model that worked so that I could secure the funding needed to scale took a lot of time, travel, and meetings until I got the pitch just right.

Thankfully, as word spread organically among female financial professionals across the U.S., the demand for the program continued to grow, With that expansion, we needed to hire more staff and find more space. I hadn’t realized when I launched RTSWS, that I have to also become an HR specialist, a Marketing guru, and a Property Manager as well.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Rock The Street, Wall Street a 501(c)(3) public charity Rock The Street, Wall Street is a financial and investment literacy program designed to bring both gender and racial equity to the financial markets and spark the interest of a diverse population of high school girls into careers of finance. Students enroll in our program at their school for a full academic year.

In the fall, female volunteers who work in the financial services industry teach our curriculum to students over the course of 5 classroom sessions. Once the Fall Classroom Financial Project is completed, the students are then invited to visit the volunteers’ financial firms’ offices to spend a day in the life of a financier. These field trips are very impactful for the girls. It’s not uncommon that it’s the first time they are visiting a corporate office, see a number of women in power and get to ask questions of the women in front of them who are facile with numbers and have chosen to pursue a meaningful career in finance. Our students can then begin to envision themselves in these careers.

In the spring, we offer mentor pairing. Girls are paired up at a 2:1 ratio of student to female financial professionals. Mentees build their resumes, discuss career opportunities and practice interviewing skills with their mentor. Our students and alumnae can then better utilize our Vocational and Career Platform (VCP). The VCP provides a platform for our students and alumnae to look at scholarships, internships, and entry-level financial job opportunities. On the VCP, students and alumnae can also sign up for virtual and in-person networking events and training sessions.

What does success mean to you?
We’re metric people. We measure success in two ways. First, students’ increase in financial and investment literacy rates: Our students demonstrate a 71% increase in their literacy rates based on pre and post-testing. Secondly, 25% of our alumnae are either currently majoring in or are in the profession of finance, economics, or related computational fields. That is nine times the national average of a typical female college student and women who are career bound.

We are thrilled to be part of so many girls awakening to their own financial independence and to a career path in the high-paying and rewarding field of the M of STEM.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rockthestreetwallstreet.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rtsws_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/girlsrockwallst
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rock-the-street-wall-street/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/RTSWS_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUKCvfew0BGIoA1iaqmjviw