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News & Entertainment from the Community!

Serving the cities that make up the South Bay in Southern California ! To Advertise, Call (888) 841-7779 x111

Volume 9 Issue 4 SPMGMedia.net spmgmedia@gmail.com: FB: South Bay Community News Twitter: @CarsonSBCNews February 15, 2016

This event series is more like an ex-

perience. Like our South LA Saves

logo says "Start Small. Think Big",

we started small and this year is our

biggest yet.

“Take the Pledge” – Tell us about it.

The pledge is such an amazing tool!

It really is your own personal sup-

port system when it comes to

setting and reaching a savings goal.

Taking the pledge means you have

made a commitment to yourself to

save, if its for a Hawaiian vacation, a

new car, a home or a new laptop.

You decide what you are saving for

and approximately once a month

the app will send you a text to re-

mind you, motivate you and assess

where you are in that savings goal.

What I really love about it is that

once you reach one goal, you can

take the pledge again to start on the

next goal. I always encourage peo-

ple who are just starting out on

their financial journey to take the

pledge, its a great way to start.

How did this event start?

T his event started because of

our mission to help families

and individuals save money,

reduce debt, and build

wealth. This event falls in line with the

National Campaign of America Saves

Week, the Week is an annual oppor-

tunity for organizations to promote

good savings behavior and a chance

for individuals to assess their own sav-

ing status. Typically thousands of or-

ganizations participate in the Week,

reaching millions of people. We want-

ed to give the people of South Los An-

geles those same opportunities.

What was your vision for this event?

The vision for this event is to provide

individuals in the South Los Ange-

les community with reliable, relevant

and up-to-date information on finan-

cial awareness. We wanted to do it in

such a way that would appeal to the

people. Our events are not just, come

sit in a room and hear someone talk,

our events are extremely engag-

ing, inviting and informative in a non-

pressure environment. Participants will

definitely learn a lot but not feel like

they are sitting in a class room. We are

mixing, mingling, and learning.

You’ve hosted this event several

times. Tell us how this one is different

from the last?

This event is different this year because

we have added 3 additional days. We

wanted to appeal to more people and

provide more of a variety of topics on

top of what we have in previous

years. This year we also decided

to move around the community a little

bit, by having the events in different

locations the participants can get a

different feel each day.

South LA Saves 4-Day Financial Literacy & Education Series

Wednesday, February 24th, 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Thursday, February 25th, 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Friday, February 26th, 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Saturday, February 27th, 9:00am – 2:00pm

Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/south-la-saves-2016-tickets-20933494646

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Finances are such a personal and emotional thing. In your opinion, how do you get individuals to get honest with themselves enough to candidly look at their situation and begin the journey of financial health?

Finances are indeed personal and emotion-al and we respect where everyone is in this journey. It really begins when the individu-als commits to themselves and says they are ready. At that point we will work back-wards, asking them "what do you want", "how do you want to live"? Once we get that answer we can begin to make a plan on how they can get there. Being financially literate is a decision each individual has to make on their own, our responsibility is to be there when they say they are ready, and we provide all the tools and resources needed to succeed.

What can attendees expect to take away from the event – especially from the Conference and Resource Fair?

Attendees can expect to be comfortable first and foremost, each event has an in-viting environment. Our partners and the people we brought on to help power these events are truly centered in helping people live their best financial life, that was im-portant to us. There will be plenty of use-ful information that can be implemented right away. Some people might have "ah ha" moments, which we always love to hear about. Attendees can expect all the necessary tools AND support they need to WIN in their financial life. We will also have a good time! The conference is really unique this year. We will have ven-dors who are looking for qualified candi-dates to bring on their team and provide viable career options. We have dynam-ic speakers, one sharing with us how

to "Transition from Employee to En-trepreneur" successfully and the oth-

er providing some "Insider Se-crets" savings strategies. We also have tax professionals on hand doing taxes for free (by appointment only). Lastly, we have a great program for teens, Bite of Reality. Bite of Reality is a money management simulation for teens to give them a real experience of how life will be when they are on their own. As you can see, we have a packed 4-days of events all in an effort to make sure everyone reaches their 2016 money goals!

How can our readers learn more about your organization?

You can TAKE THE PLEDGE at: south-lasaves.org You can find us on Face-book : facebook.com/southlasaves Give us a call : 323-682-8085.

ABOUT THE EVENT This FREE 4-day Financial Literacy and Edu-cation Series will begin Wednesday, Febru-ary 24 – Saturday. February 27, 2016 at var-ious locations throughout South Los Ange-les. Register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/south-la-saves-2016-tickets-20933494646

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The event series kicks off Wednesday, February 24th featur-ing Keynote Speaker Omar McGee, Founder of Executive Prep Academy of Finance. Executive Preparatory Academy of Fi-nance is a Los Angeles based public charter high school with a focus on closing the financial literacy gap within the minority community. Their mission is to provide a high-quality and ex-tensive college-preparatory educational experience to youth that results in our students succeeding in college, and ulti-mately in their professional careers.

Omar McGee

Founder of Executive Prep Academy of Finance

Norberta Noguera

AT & T

On Thursday, February 25th, a panel

of presenters will discuss Personal

Budgeting and Financial Empower-

ment. This session, moderated by

Norberta Noguera and hosted by

Capital One, will give you the tips,

tools and resources to develop and

maintain your personal budget and

help you reach your financial goals.

Starlett Quarles

Urban X Marketing

Friday, February 26th hosts Starlett Quarles, and Atara King will present “Money, Mortgages and Mojitos Networking Mixer”. This fun and informa-tive affair will examine how we view wealth and the various ways to se-cure a mortgage in today’s financial climate… while the Mojitos flow

Atara King

Prime National Credit Repair

Saturday, February 27th will wrap with the “3rd Annual South LA Saves Conference and Resource Fair.” Luncheon Speakers include Bert Wright & Shay Olivarria, Kinecta Credit Union and other financial institutions have partnered with South LA Saves and will be offering valuable resources to the community.

Bert Wright

Social Entrepreneur

Shay Olivarria

Financial Educator