Not far from Mischa Mallbris’ (16 | Indianapolis, Indiana) home is the city of Gary, Indiana. After steel factories in Gary shut down, the rapidly declining population led to an abandoned city and today, it is one of the poorest cities in the state. Mischa learned that one particular challenge was a lack of financial literacy programs, and that this was a common issue in many other parts of the country. Today, only 42% of high schools require the inclusion of financial education, 53% of adults feel financially anxious, and only 1 out of every 3 families has an emergency fund. To ensure all youth have access to quality financial education, Mischa founded Clear the Path in 2019.

Clear the Path focuses on two different elements of education to promote financial literacy. First and foremost, Mischa and the team at Clear the Path have developed an engaging and kid-friendly curriculum that is tailored to different age groups across a multi-grade span. Lessons, which include personal finance and entrepreneurship, support youth in elementary school as well as older middle and high school students. The other piece of education is talking with community, political, and business leaders about the importance of financial literacy and how collaboration can lead to opportunities for youth, especially for youth who live in under-resourced communities. Over the last five years, more than 1,000 youth have been educated through Clear the Path’s curriculum and an additional 6,000+ people have been reached through presentations at conferences and events! Mischa is currently looking to expand Clear the Path by building curriculum on digital literacy and translating her financial literacy curriculum for non-English speakers.