Washington student Siddhi Tandon's financial literacy initiative reaches 22,000 people across 6 states

Siddhi Tandon was 15 when she earned her first paycheck, about $500 from working as a camp counselor. She went to the bank to deposit it, only to learn that she could not use the account she already had under her parents’ names. That moment of confusion became the starting point for Cubs of Wall Street, a youth-led financial literacy nonprofit that has now reached more than 22,000 people and expanded into six states, according to Points of Light and Northwest Asian Weekly.Tandon’s story is not just about learning how to manage money. It is about recognising a gap, filling it with practical knowledge, and then inviting other young people to do the same. Her initiative now includes free workshops, a published book, trained chapter leaders, and partnerships with libraries and credit unions across Washington and beyond. Read more about her initiatives, as per the reports, here:The paycheck that changed everythingTandon, a student at Lakeside School in Seattle, opened her first paycheck during the summer before her sophomore year. She had earned the money as a camp counselor, but when she tried to deposit it, the bank teller told her she could not use the account under her parents’ names.Instead, she opened a teen checking account.