Black History Month: Finance Edition with Claressa Lesley

Posted by Nailah Herbert in Black EconomicsFebruary 27, 2020(Last Updated December 29, 2022)•2 min read
Key Takeaways
  • Financial educator Claressa Lesley, MBA, is the founder and CEO of Financial 411 Academy LLC.
  • Check out Claressa Lesley's answers to our Black History Month finance questions below. 
Are you ready to make some real money moves?

Black History Month is a celebration for African-Americans who have paved or are paving the way for future generations. We collaborated with several finance influencers who are making a difference throughout their community and beyond. We asked those same influencers to share their thoughts about generational wealth, legacy building, the Black dollar, and more. 

 

Financial educator Claressa Lesley, MBA, is the founder and CEO of Financial 411 Academy LLC, a company that promotes interactive financial literacy education among youth and young adults. Financial 411 Academy educates the youth on finances so that they can avoid future money mistakes and create generational wealth.

 

Check out Claressa Lesley's answers to our Black History Month finance questions below. 

 

Q1: What is the significance of the Black dollar to you?

 

The black dollar is the most powerful tool, not only for Black people, but also for the world economy as the black dollar is spent the most, and the buying power is approximately $1 trillion. Seamlessly, the black dollar influences society's culture and how Americans spend their money after that.

 

Q2: What does a financial legacy look like for you?

 

Financial legacy building is being so financially secure that you are not worried about a paycheck for any circumstance and can leave a foundation for generations to come. Whether through life insurance, having a will, a family business, or a college fund.

 

Q3: Is there a historical story or fact that made you look at wealth-building differently?

 

The Black WallStreet Massacres

 

Q4: How are you working toward building generational wealth for your family?

 

I work towards building generational wealth for my family in several ways, with the main strategy being staying abreast of financial news and learning about different strategies for building wealth. From there, I continue to use the knowledge that I read and know to teach those around me & have a conversation. Now, strategically, I have built up my credit score, on the road to investing in my first property, contributing to an IRA account, investing in the stock market and foreign exchange, in addition to having my own business.

 

Q5: Share lyrics that speak to your financial philosophy.

 

"Diversify your millions, you can live off the interest, make every revenue stream flood, see where it took me" - Xzibit, "Everything"

 

Q6: What is the biggest financial lesson that you have learned?

 

1. Pay Yourself First

2. Don't give away money that you can't afford to get back!

 

To learn more about Claressa Lesley, visit her website or follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

Was this content helpful?
Comments (0)

Sign In to leave a comment.

Download the CapWay App

Access more features to your Money Account

  • Money Goals
  • Request Money
  • Categorize Spending
  • Money Talk

The CapWay, Inc Debit Visa Card is issued by Metropolitan Commercial Bank (Member FDIC) pursuant to a license from Visa U.S.A. Inc. “Metropolitan Commercial Bank” and “Metropolitan” are registered trademarks of Metropolitan Commercial Bank ©2014.

1. For Money Account holders with a negative balance, the CapWay debit card will go into freeze until funds are deposited to bring account back to current. See terms and conditions

2. Sending or receiving money from other CapWay account holders will be instant. Transfers from other accounts could take up to 48 hours, depending on the financial institution.

3. Early access to funds requires direct deposit. Early payment is not guaranteed and is dependent on the timing of payer's submission of deposits. We generally post such deposits on the day they are received which may be up to 2 days earlier than the payer's scheduled payment date.

4. Money Goals allows account holders to save money towards financial goals created within the CapWay platform. Funds can be transferred from your Money Account or saved through the rounding up of your transactions from purchases.

5. CapWay offers financial content through Learn Money free of charge, but may include advertisements through affiliates. Phunds, CapWay's literacy program and session, is paid content or co-branded content.

© 2019-2023 CapWay Inc. All Rights Reserved.