Y-Fi (Youth Finance)

Y-Fi (Youth Finance) is a game making company where six 15 year olds make financial literacy games for teens. We are looking for a business strategy adviser, a head of marketing, an outreach person, and programmers able to translate our flash based games into applications on Facebook and Open Social.

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Mission Statement: Y-Fi prepares the next generation of youth for financial responsibilities of daily life. Problem: The cycle of indebtedness in the United States, developed countries and the developing world. Research shows that the average credit card debt in the US is $ 9,200. Significant contributors to indebtedness are poor financial habits ingrained into youth in late adolescence. Poor habits end up costing real money. For example the credit score of an average American is 650, the credit score of someone who acquired a poor credit scored during late adolescence is 450; this difference of 200 point translates to $150,000 EXTRA interest paid on an average house. Yet the penalty for a poor understanding of the financial nexus is paid not only by individuals but affects the national economies and societies of all countries tied into the global financial system.

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Poor habits of financial responsibility arise from a lack of effective education about the basic principles of money management and the financial system in general. Solution: Y-Fi (Youth Finance) creates mobile games that teach the essential principles of money management to youth via interactive games on mobile phones and in social networks such as MySpace, Facebook, etc. Our games are conceptualized, designed, and marketed by teenagers for their peers. The teenage co-designers also own equity in the company, adding extra motivation and incentive for them to design hip and engaging educational games. Audience: High school students who are entering the financial nexus for the first time. Outcome: Measurable improvement in credit scores assessed via longitudinal studies. Success Thus Far: Working on Sunday mornings, over the course of the past year, our team of 6 high school students from Redwood City and East Palo Alto have created four mobile games:

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1. Fine$Ball: teaches the twin concepts of risk/reward and compound interest 2. Race out of Debt: introduces players to the intricacies of automobile finance 3. M-Jams: instills entrepreneurship via a mobile ring-tone mixing game 4. Dance on Up: educates youth on investment in education and human resources Next Step: Have 30 high schools or after school programs in the Bay Area choose to disseminate our games by end of 2008; Have over 10,000 youth play our games by the end of 2008

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