With the shift from financial literacy to financial capabilities, there has been an emphasis to practitioners that knowledge gain alone is not sufficient for producing changes in financial behaviors. This not only means that practitioners should be measuring the extent to which participants in their programs and efforts experience behavioral change, but also that their efforts need to incorporate mechanisms for producing change. But what exactly are these mechanisms that practitioners may want to incorporate into their theories of change, and once incorporated, how would they measure progress?

This webinar featured a mix of researchers and practitioners to speak on this topic. Dr. Joyce Serido of the Take Charge America Institute shared her findings from a longitudinal study of a cohort of University of Arizona students that identified factors that influence positive financial behaviors and discussed what this might mean for programming, drawing on her personal experiences from developing and teaching a course at the university. Dr. Jing Jian Xiao from the University of Rhode Island discussed how stages of change can be used to match programs and services with clients' level of readiness to take an active role in their finances. Andy Posner, Executive Director of the Capital Good Fund in Rhode Island shared how his agency has applied some of the findings from research to the model used by CGF, including the use of motivational interviewing to help individuals overcome barriers to achieving more healthy financial lifestyles. The session was moderated by Sarah Savage of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Q&A followed each presentation.

Agenda and Presentations

Note: The views expressed by the webinar presenters are not necessarily those of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston or the Federal Reserve System.