Announcer: What do Gordon Bethune, former CEO of Continental Airlines, Eric Elfman, founder and CEO of Data Cert, and Tara Jean Hart, founder and CEO of The Compliance Alliance have in common?

1. They are all very successful
2. They are all high school dropouts
3. And they all have been guests on The BusinessMakers Radio Show.

Check out their interviews at TheBusinessMakers.com. And now back to The BusinessMakers Show with your host Russ Capper.

Russ: This is the BusinessMakers Show heard hear and online at thebusinessmakers.com. And now it is time for the Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback, brought to you by Aflac, ask about it at work. And for this mornings Flashback, I am going to roll back a couple of weeks when I had the opportunity to visit with LaTonya Fix, the executive director of the Women's Resource of Greater Houston. This is a cool group that has been out there making a positive impact for some time. We enter the discusion where I just asked LaTanya to tell us about the Women's Resource of Greater Houston.

LaTanya: The Women's Resource of Greater Houston was established in 1990. So this year marks our 20th anniversary. We were actually founded as the Greater Houston Women's Foundation. So we're the first women's foundation ever established in Houston. When the founders gather they want it to do three things. The first was to make grants to women and girls' organizations. The second was to conduct research on issues that were critical to women, girls and families. Then the third was financial literacy. So for the past 20 years we've done each of those things. About six years ago we stopped making grants directly to organizations and channeled that money back into providing financial literacy. So today that's our main line of business, if you will, is teaching women and girls and men, even though we're the Women's Resource, we do teach men how to manage their money. Just basic personal finance; checking, banking, credit management, credit repair and investing 101. So that's what we do. We also conduct research. This year we've looked at the charitable giving patterns of women in Houston and we've also done research on health issues, girls in gangs, the glass ceiling, corporate benefits for women. So it's been a wide variety of issues over the last 20 years. We've done over 12 reports during that time. So what we do is financial literacy.

Russ: My goodness. Now, when you outlined the original three initiatives, number two was research on critical issues to women. Was it that research that made you think wait, we need to totally focus on this financial literacy?

LaTanya: A part of that research. Actually we have a high school program now and that was an outgrowth of direct research. We asked successful women in Houston, 'What made you successful? What were the factors in high school?' From that research we developed a high school program called Project Lead, which is leadership, education and development for at-risk ninth and tenth grade girls. The research also continued to point to whether it's health, whether it's education, whether it's employment. It all ties to financial literacy. You can't ever separate it. So that was a large part of the focus as well.

Russ: Real interesting. So how many students have gone through the financial literacy curriculum?

LaTanya: Great question. In our 20-year history it's been 13,000. Last year alone we taught 3,000 people, but to me the numbers are impressive, but what's more impressive is that we do it all with volunteers. We recruit volunteers from the financial services sector and other businesses throughout Houston to teach classes for us. So they come. We train them and then we do all of the administrative work. Volunteers actually go out and teach these classes on site at agencies throughout the Houston in over 44 zip codes.

Russ: Wow. That's neat. I thank you for bringing my gender into the picture, too, but -

LaTanya: Very welcome.

Russ: But apparently along the way there was this understanding or motivation where somebody had an epiphany and said my goodness, we need to teach these young women financial literacy.

LaTanya: Mhmm.

Russ: Is that what happened? How did this thing get started?

LaTanya: Early on when the founders got together and said okay, research is important and we see what's going on nationally. We don't want Houston to be left behind because things were happening in New York. There was the Ms. Foundation. There was the development of women's funds. So we wanted to do the same thing here in Houston, but the founders also - their cornerstone philosophy or belief was that women who control their finances also control their life. So they wanted to help women understand basic financial principles and also the belief that a man wasn't a financial plan. So if you don't get married, if you're widowed or ever divorced that you have the tools and resources you need to be able to make good decisions for your life. So it's always been a part of the organization's mission.

Russ: Well that was fairly progressive thinking, particularly 20 years ago it was, but definitely necessary thinking.

LaTanya: Definitely. When we look 20 years later, while much has improved, we still know that here in Harris County 3 out of 5 Harris County women are part-time workers and we know that working a part-time job you can't make a living wage. So how do you help people that are caught between not enough, but a little bit more than I had before to be able to make educated and informed decisions and financial literacy is one of the key things that helps them to do that.

Russ: Okay. I'm talking with LaTanya Fix, executive director of the Women's Resource of Greater Houston. Now LaTanya, I've gotta stress that to me financial literacy has gotten a lot more complicated in the last decade. I mean with debit cards and with multiple ways to pay things, with online banking. Is that also part of the curriculum offered here?

LaTanya: Certainly. We teach the FDIC Money Smart curriculum and the Department of Labor Wise Up curriculum and both curriculums do something that's really important. It's everything from the basics of how to open up a banking account, how to create a budget, how to manage credit, how to repair credit and then Wise Up goes a little further and talks about risk management. What kind of insurance do you need. When you go into a bank and someone says you're gonna have direct deposit, what does that mean. I think we joked earlier, what's an indirect deposit versus a direct deposit.

Russ: Right.

LaTanya: If you're an immigrant to this country and you come here for the first time and you walk into a bank and you see a lot of words or maybe you don't understand what some of the words mean, our classes help you to navigate that maze if you will. So we're providing the most basic information on topics that while they become increasingly complex, the information we provide helps people to navigate those waters.

Russ: Okay. I would also imagine the recent financial crisis that caused this recession sort of played a role in some people's thoughts and input in these classes.

LaTanya: Not only on their thoughts and input, but their results and the things that happened to them as a result of the market crash. We increasingly are seeing people come in with foreclosure issues perhaps or bad credit. Maybe someone stole their identity. Something that we didn't worry about as much 10 or 15 years ago.

Russ: Right.

LaTanya: So we're helping people to really do basic things like read their credit report and how do you write a letter to say I didn't do that.

Russ: Right. So how do students find the programs that you guy offer?

LaTanya: Certainly. We partner with agencies throughout the greater Houston area. So everywhere from the assistance ministries to Houston public libraries. Our high school program is in eight high schools throughout Houston, community organizations and Salvation Army. Any organization that contacts us that needs our service, if we can establish a timeline and a calendar and they have a location and they have people to teach, we'll find a way to get a volunteer there. So last year we taught 3,000 people in the greater Houston area, but something else we do, Russ, that I wanted to mention is actually working with employers. We'll go into the workplace and do what we call Workplace Campaigns, similar to a lunch and learn. It can be business before business in the morning. We'll come on site and teach a class that an employer has identified that they believe will be beneficial to their employees. So it's not just social service organizations, not just public libraries, but also small companies and organizations throughout greater Houston that need this assistance for employees.

Russ: Okay. And lastly, as students listening, or perspective students how much does it cost to attend?

LaTanya: These classes are absolutely free. There is no cost. We also have our public classes posted on our website, Russ. So if people wanna know what's coming up they can check there as well.

Russ: And what's your website address?

LaTanya: It is the Women's, W-O-M-E-N-S Resource.org. We're always looking for additional volunteers. So if you want to teach, you want to help someone understand the basics of personal finance you don't have to be an expert. We just ask for passion and commitment. We encourage people to call us about teaching a class.

Russ: LaTanya, I really appreciate it. I think what you're doing is very, very worthwhile.

LaTanya: Thanks a bunch, Russ. We're delighted to be here today and thanks for having us.

Russ: And that conclude our visit with LaTanya Fix, the executive director of the Women's Resource of Greater Houston. And that wraps up this mornings Aflac BusinessMakers Flashback, brought to you by Aflac, ask about it at work. Stay tuned in for our featured guests. First, Kristen Johnson, chairperson with the California Small Business Development Centers. And she will be followed by Carol Kurimsky, Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing with PCMall. You're listening to the BusinessMakers Show heard here and online at the businessmakers.com.