Student-led Be Well conference explores financial wellness

On Saturday, Oct. 3, Mount Holyoke students attended the first Be Well Money and Mindfulness financial wellness conference in Pratt Music Hall.

Developed by Cecile Horst ’28 and Lilly McGreevy ’28 with support from Be Well and Director Ju Hong, the conference was designed to provide students with access to resources that would help them grow their financial independence. Horst and McGreevy noticed a trend of financial uncertainty among their classmates and decided to organize the conference as a way to address it. Horst says that one of their goals is to “giv[e] students the confidence and agency to shape the lives they want to lead,” especially because financial conversations can be difficult.

The conference kicked off with a keynote address from Lauren Duffy ’03, CEO of UMass Five Credit Union. She spoke about her time at Mount Holyoke and how students could take advantage of their financial freedom, encouraging them to find “empowerment” within the financial system.

Following Duffy’s opening remarks, the conference split into two panel sessions, with four options available during each. Students could attend two panels, each focused on a different aspect of financial wellness and led by an expert in the field. One panel, led by UMass Five Community Outreach Manager Cait Murray, centered on the importance of taking charge of your own money. Another, led by Anastasia Morton ’12 and Lorena Souza from Girls Inc., encouraged students to save their money before spending it and took students through an interactive exercise designed to show the benefits of budgeting.

The conference also included a panel led by Mount Holyoke economics professor Rick Feldman, which focused on socially responsible investing and how to center one’s values while investing. The final panel was presented by Patrick LaFleur and Katarzyna Bernash from PeoplesBank, who taught students about budgeting basics, financial goal setting and debt repayment strategies.

After the two panel blocks concluded, conference attendees came together in the auditorium for a Community Connection chat, which gave students the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the panel leaders. McGreevy commented that having these discussions allowed students to have more “candid conversations around money, economic institutions, liberal arts education and higher ed.”

At the end of the conference, students took home practical skills to help them take charge of their finances and nurture their financial wellness.