About Us
Director
Jameel Webb-Davis is a Financial Organizer with an emphasis on training and education. She worked for sixteen years for a multi-billion dollar company managing financial data for actuaries. In 1996 she began working with a Money Management Program volunteering to help senior citizens organize their finances and maintain their independence.
In 2006 she created MJOrganizers, a company focused on helping individuals understand, manage and organize their finances. Later StartMoneySmart evolved as a resource for educating and training individuals in the area of personal finance.
Mission Statement
Start Money Smart is on a mission to help our culture understand that the accumulation of wealth does not provide money management skills. We will provide products and services to help individuals, small business owners, students, teachers, and parents in all areas related to understanding, organizing and educating themselves regarding financial literacy.
Our History
In 2006 Jameel Webb-Davis created MJOrganizers, a company focused on helping individuals understand, manage and organize their finances. One of the first MJOrganizers clients had three months of mail piled on his desk and bill collectors calling him regularly. After sorting through the mail and making a list of his bills, Jameel found his bank statement which showed a balance of more than $250,000. "Why aren't you paying your bills?" Jameel asked her client. "I'm too busy making money. I don't have time to pay my bills!" was his response.
So after a trip to the local bookstore, Jameel reviewed all the books in the Personal Finance section. There were books on "How to Invest in the Stock Market", "How to Save for Retirement", and "How to Get Rich". There were no books on the basics of personal finance - "How Checking Accounts Work", "Terms and Conditions of Credit Card Agreements", "How to Stay Organized So Bills Get Paid".
Around the same time, Jameel was being asked to speak at local events sponsored by non-profit organizations working at empowering individuals about their money. She recognized that while many financial educators were focused on topics that involved wealth accumulation, many were avoiding topics that covered basic information that involved the day to day management of money. Our culture still believes that wealth accumulation is the key. A person with a high paying job, a nice house and a fancy car should have lots of extra money, right? No! All their money probably goes to pay for the house and the car!
Jameel created Start Money Smart, Inc. and designed curriculum for teens that taught the basics of personal finance. She started working with schools, churches and other non-profit organizations that gathered teens together encouraging them to add a personal finance class into their current programs. The unusual realization was that even though the programs were designed for teens, parents and teachers would be in the back asking all the questions. This stuff was not just for kids!
Start Money Smart is continually trying to find new and creative ways to disseminate this important information as, honestly, most people find this to be a pretty intimidating topic. Now Start Money Smart offers workshops for adults, parents, and teens. They also sell books and curricula so that other organizations can teach these important topics. We would like to create spreadsheets, videos, and board games that will encourage others to get more involved in their financial life.
Start Money Smart, Inc. is working to become a non-profit organization that will focus on providing basic information to all people related to managing their finances on a day to day basis.