Gifted Savings Executive Director Josh Landay speaks to Clarke Central High School Class of 2026 students on Aug. 7 in the E.B. Mell Auditorium. Before he became Executive Director of Gifted Savings in May 2024, Landay worked in the nonprofit sector, helping to create virtual programming to expand company outreach. “In each of my prior roles, my take on it was that if you intervene earlier (and) that if you can give somebody a chance earlier on, prior to a key pivotal point in their life, then you can truly shape their trajectory in a positive way,” Landay said. Photo by Illiana Tejada
The CCSD announced a partnership with nonprofit organizations TED-Ed and Gifted Savings in which every graduating senior across the district will receive a $1,000 investment portfolio on Aug. 7.
All graduating seniors in the Clarke County School District will receive $1,000 investment portfolios as a part of a new financial literacy initiative. More than 800 seniors at Clarke Central, Cedar Shoals and Classic City High Schools are participating.
The initiative is a collaboration between the CCSD, TED-Ed and Gifted Savings, a nonprofit that provides students with investment portfolios paired with a computer app-based financial education. The portfolios for CCSD seniors have been funded by a $1.2 million anonymous donation, making Athens the first city in the United States in which all seniors graduate as investors.
“We hope that we can help everybody, every teen who’s a part of this program, to be able to make plans for their future and understand how to make their money work for them. It’s key to start early, because it allows you to grow your wealth,” Gifted Savings Executive Director Josh Landay said.
The announcement was made during an assembly led by Landay and Gifted Savings Head of Product Ally Mexicotte on Aug. 7. Those in attendance received details about their portfolio, which includes a growth-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF), a bond fund, a Bitcoin ETF and a Certificate of Deposit (CD). For seniors like Noah Stewart, the opportunity was a welcome surprise.
Click on the dots to learn about each fund!
The division of Clarke County School District Gifted Savings portfolios is shown. The investment accounts were intentionally divided into four different categories, two of those allocations being much lower than the others to ensure an expansionary portfolio. “It’s created to be growth-oriented, which means best held for the long term and designed to grow at a higher rate, but for a longer period of time. So, it’ll be 45% in the stock (exchange-traded fund), 45% in the Bitcoin ETF, 5% in the bond fund and 5% in the (certificate of deposit),” Gifted Savings Executive Director Josh Landay said. Graphic by Liza Larson
Students will also complete a year-long financial education course through the Gifted Savings app, which includes lessons on saving, investing, budgeting and managing money. Once they turn 18 and complete the course, students gain full control of their accounts.
“(Being) able to start your life that way and if you are armed with the knowledge of how money can grow at the point in your life where you have years ahead of you to do that, that’s so much power and opportunity that just has never happened before,” CCHS Associate Principal of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Summer Smith said.
All local donations to Gifted Savings go directly to student portfolios, as operational costs are covered by a separate group of backers. For TED-Ed founder and CCHS Class of 2001 graduate Logan Smalley, the initiatives’ launch in Athens reflects the community’s commitment to its youth.
“Growing up in Athens is an extremely fortunate situation for anyone, in that it’s a town that’s full of large-hearted people who care a lot about where they live and the future of where they live, and it’s something you see reflected at Clarke Central, Cedar Shoals and Classic City (High Schools),” Smalley said. “There’s a real open invitation for students to think big, and a community that supports them when they do.”
““We hope that we can help everybody, every teen who’s a part of this program, to be able to make plans for their future and understand how to make their money work for them. It’s key to start early, because it allows you to grow your wealth.”
— Josh Landay,
Gifted Savings Executive Director
Beyond immediate impact, the program’s backers also hope to track long-term results through the University of Georgia’s Center for Financial Resilience and Education. According to Smalley, outside of the long-term tracking TED-Ed has plans for the initiative to culminate in an event for students to share their experiences.
“TED-Ed’s nonprofit mission is simply to spark and celebrate the ideas of teachers and students around the world. So our goal is to see this roll out effectively in Athens, and that at the end of the year, 800 seniors to not only have ideas we’re spreading, but also resources to help them execute those ideas,” Smalley said. “At the end of the year we hope Clarke County School District will be hosting a TEDx event featuring student ideas. It’d be really interesting to hear what students learned and how they intend to apply it to the future.”
The anonymous donor who funded the class of 2026 portfolios has also agreed to fund half of the Class of 2027’s portfolios. With limited funding, Gifted Savings is working with local partners, including the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce and Athens Area Community Foundation, to raise additional funds to continue the program through at least 2030.
“What we’re doing is engaging the community to raise the other half for next year, and that allows them to get to know the program throughout this school year. Then, we want the community to take ownership of it after that point,” Landay said.”So, currently, we’re trying to raise to make this a five-year program, and ultimately we want it to exist in perpetuity, in Athens.”
