Sessions for audiences from middle school through adulthood, in English, Spanish and Arabic, that a new team member can run on day one.
Nusenda’s financial well-being team runs sessions for students, for select employer groups, and for community business partners connected to the credit union. Some rooms are harder than others.
“There’s been times when I come into a classroom at the end of the school year and even the teacher’s like, good luck, I don’t know what you’re going to get out of them today. And I’ll just bring up Cashy instead of the presentation we have planned. To see the students, their faces light up by the end of the game is amazing.” Jacqueline Florez, Financial Wellbeing Specialist, Nusenda
Cashy replaces the deck with a game that has scoring and a winner at the end. The competition buys the attention, and the financial decisions inside the game are what the session is about.
Those audiences run from middle school through college and on into adulthood. The same platform covers all of them, and the team decides where Cashy sits in a session rather than building the session around it.
“One of the fun things about Cashy is it works with adults, it works with students. We can use it at the beginning of a presentation, we can use it in lieu of a presentation, at the end of a presentation.” Amanda Reyes, AVP Financial Wellbeing, Nusenda
Different audiences get different games. A five-year life simulation suits an older group, while a shorter credit game works for students who are still building the basics.
“I really liked the credit game with a group of 11 to 16 year old newcomers and first generation immigrants from multiple countries who are not used to the US financial systems. It allowed students to engage with conversations even as they were building a base level of understanding.” Amanda Reyes, AVP Financial Wellbeing, Nusenda
The range extends past age and into language. Cashy translates into more than 20 languages, so a facilitator does not have to plan the session around who is in the room.
“So far I’ve facilitated it in English and Spanish. However, some of our students have also opted into Arabic.” Amanda Reyes, AVP Financial Wellbeing, Nusenda
A Cashy session with middle school students
Team members who join Nusenda’s financial well-being department come in with branch experience and community experience. Talking about money in front of a classroom is a different job, and Cashy gives them a structure to follow instead of a lesson to invent.
“When you have the prompts within Cashy… it not only provides feedback to the presenter, but it also helps that presenter or co-presenter who’s pretty new to follow the steps pretty quickly.” Amanda Reyes, AVP Financial Wellbeing, Nusenda
One way new employees start is as a co-facilitator. An experienced presenter opens the session and models it, then brings them up to run part of the game.
“What those employees have said most is it’s fun, it’s engaging, but also you can feel successful pretty immediately even if you don’t know all of the content and tools of the department.” Amanda Reyes, AVP Financial Wellbeing, Nusenda
Nusenda facilitators often work in pairs. One notices a financial decision a player made and highlights it, the other builds on it, and the back and forth pulls the room into the conversation.
“It makes it feel like we’re not working, like we’re here having a good time and playing the game, and then there’s a winner at the end, and everybody loves to have a winner.” Jacqueline Florez, Financial Wellbeing Specialist, Nusenda
The people running the session end up wanting a seat in it.
“I like to play Cashy myself. I love it with the student athletes especially, because I was a student athlete myself and I have that competitiveness in me that will never leave.” Jacqueline Florez, Financial Wellbeing Specialist, Nusenda
The audience reacts the same way, and after a session there are always attendees asking to facilitate Cashy themselves.
See the platform and experience the interaction.
