Money! Money! Money!

Money is always a top subject among international students, no matter if they are rich or poor.

From how to move money to Canada, to how to rent an apartment, open a bank account, establish a good credit history, and apply for a credit card, there are tons of things about money they need to know.

Wenwen Wei, a third-year international student in the financial planning program, was selected by Abdullah Aumeer—a mortgage development manager from National Bank to be the project manager of the Financial Literacy Program (FLP).

The FLP is a series of lectures at George Brown College (GBC) for newcomers to Canada on how to manage their money.

Sept. 1 is the Labour Day holiday, but Wei and 10 management team members are attending their first committee meeting at a Starbucks on King Street East with their mentor Aumeer.

The sponsor ambassador Ella Wang reported her results. Unfortunately, Wang had no sponsors at that time.

“What would you say if I am the potential sponsor from National Bank?” Aumeer asked, “what benefit can I get from you?”

“We have eight events that are going to happen. A lot of our members and guests will come. We can put your name on our advertisements and our social media accounts,” Wang replied.

“Then, do you have any other banks come as sponsors?” Aumeer asked.

Wang hesitated, falling silent, but then promised she would place Aumeer as the prime sponsor.

“Prime? Don’t forget I come from National Bank. I will consider if you have other banks as the sponsors. They are my competitors,” said Aumeer. “You have to take care of sponsors’ exclusivity or you may give up some of your interest.”

“A valuable lesson,” said Wang. “That’s why we joined, to let our work help us grow.”

This program is an extension of Aumeer’s work as a mortgage development manager in marketing strategies. Aumeer modified his business program into a worthwhile educational program for students.

“It’s like an unpaid internship,” Wei said. “The whole program lasts four months. I have to organize eight events to deliver the eight modules of courses. That involves forming the management team, assigning work, launching promotions, member recruitment, and of course, to co-ordinate the events for bringing out the courses.”

Wei embarked on all this work by herself one month ago. Now, she has structured the management team and over 20 international students from GBC are serving on committees in her newly founded Financial Literacy Apprenticeship Program club at George Brown, which uses the acronym FLAG.

Aumeer said the group at George Brown is the fastest growing group among his five FLP programs, which includes the University of Toronto, York, Western and McMaster University. And since FLAG has just registered as an official student club, Aumeer said that will help him get more sponsorship for it from National Bank.

Aumeer volunteers his time to work as the group’s mentor, guiding them to achieving their goals.

“Guiding the FLP is the best part of my job. I love the students,” said Aumeer. “They are very creative, they work very hard.”

He gave out only the template, the content outlines, and his time, then let the students set up the whole program by themselves.

“I teach them to fish, I don’t give them fish,” said Aumeer.

To join FLAG and for more information you can visit https://www.facebook. com/FLAGgbc