“We had the privilege of working with Monica Da Ponte from Shift and Build Consulting to develop a comprehensive financial resiliency program and train-the-trainer curriculum for the Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment. Monica’s deep expertise in financial education and outstanding consulting skills resulted in a highly effective program that equips both young women and our staff with the tools to foster lasting financial stability.
Monica was incredibly responsive throughout the process, attentively incorporating ideas and feedback from our team as well as insights from our youth during the pilot phase. Her thoughtful adjustments ensured the program was tailored to the specific needs of our community. Monica’s ability to integrate this feedback while expertly managing the project timeline and deliverables allowed us to launch the program on schedule without compromising quality.
The train-the-trainer curriculum Monica developed has empowered our staff with the skills and confidence to lead the program independently, ensuring its long-term sustainability. Her ability to break down complex financial concepts into practical, real-world lessons that are youth-friendly and engaging has made a significant impact on both our staff and participants.
We highly recommend Monica Da Ponte and Shift and Build Consulting for their professionalism, collaborative approach, and dedication to creating meaningful, transformative solutions."
~Carrie Burd, Executive Director (Interim)
Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s Empowerment
As a leader in the engagement and empowering of young girls, the Jean Augustine Centre recognized the systemic nature of financial insecurity as well as the opportunity to build resiliency early on through capacity building and habit formation. Given this, the Centre brought on Shift & Build to design, develop, and pilot a financial resiliency program tailored to young girls. The completed program focused on building knowledge, habits, critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a gamified environment to incent the practice of money management and behaviour change. The scope of work also included the development of a Train the Trainer Manual for ongoing program delivery.
This work was very exciting given the potential impact on young women and the opportunity to build on previous research and work founding the financial resiliency program Strive. Overall, it was inspirational to work with the Jean Augustine Centre team and the young women they support.