By Patricia Roberts
Managing Director, AllianceBernstein
May 11, 2014

When I speak with adult children of all ages about the admiration they have for their mothers, the topic of education always seems to surface. I am regularly reminded of and inspired by the critical role women play in the educational pursuits of those they love.

At last week’s amazing CFED Children’s Savings Conference in Washington, D.C. in the opening plenary, Paula Sammons, program officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, spoke in an incredibly moving way of her mother. An immigrant from Japan finding herself divorced with three small children, Paula’s mom was determined to provide the best life she could for her family. Paula shared her discovery as a teen that her mother had been making weekly bank deposits of $1-2 a week for each of her children and thereby creating a small but valuable nest egg for college. She remarked, “I am so grateful to my mother for the incredible sacrifices and commitment she had to our future and our dreams all those years, and to all the other parents who are doing the same for their children, even when they have so little.”  The nods of affirmation and the roaring applause Paula received from the hundreds of attendees was clearly not just for her, but for her mother as well, and the countless others like her around the globe and the children they inspire.

By Lisa S. Cleveland
Director of Communications, National Association of State Treasurers
April 28, 2014

We’ve all heard the adage, “Unless you’re the lead dog, the scenery never changes.” Unfortunately, the United States may no longer claim to be the lead dog when it comes to the percentage of its population with a college degree.

By Betty Lochner, Chair of College Savings Plans Network
March 24, 2014

There are two things I really enjoy in life. One is visiting our nation’s capital. The other is watching Saturday Night Live. For years, I have been a lucky person because it seems like these two things always seem to find each other in funny satire political skits. Whether it’s Will Ferrell impersonating President George W. Bush or Jay Pharoah taking on the persona of President Barack Obama, you never have to look too hard to find humor in American politics.

By Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald
March 17, 2014

As State Treasurer of Iowa and administrator of College Savings Iowa, I frequently have the opportunity to talk to grandparents about saving for their grandchildren’s future education costs. As a grandparent, you want to help prepare the next generation to succeed. One way to accomplish this is to start saving for those future costs. Since I am still in my first year as a grandparent, this has never been more of a reality as it is now.

By:  Betty Lochner, Director of Washington’s Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program & CSPN Chair

You may or may not be aware of a young man named Robby, better known as Kid President, who has become an Internet sensation for his inspiring videos about how we can make the world a better place.  Robby reminds us of the simple truth that kids want nothing more than to leave the world better than they found it. In Robby’s most famous video titled “Pep Talk” he says, “If there are two paths, I want to be on the one that leads to awesome.”