This Couple Is Offering A Course To Help Increase Financial Literacy

After two decades of working in the finance, real estate and technology industries, Ariana and Leo Pareja moved from Washington, D.C. to Miami with a mission.

In June of 2020, the duo co-founded the Pareja Family Foundation—a non-profit organization that strives to promote equal opportunity for women and minorities working in the technology sector. 

Following three years of mentorship, boot camps and training, the foundation is extending its outreach to Miami Dade College through the School of Continuing Education. 

This fall, the Pareja Family Foundation will offer its second free online financial literacy course—The Foundations for Financial Freedom—to teach students how to create a personal budget and build wealth. 

“We are approaching an economic downturn,” Ariana said. “At times like this, financial literacy is the most important because if you’re already struggling, understanding how to create a budget, how to live within that budget, how to maximize resources, is even much more important.”

The idea for the course bloomed after Ariana and Leo met with MDC Vice President and Provost Malou C. Harrison last fall to discuss how they could share their expertise with the community.

Once they received approval from the College to create the course, the duo reached out to connections near the D.C. area to identify the scope of their efforts. They conducted a survey of 200 people between the ages of 17 and 30 in Fairfax and Arlington County in Virginia to evaluate how financially literate young adults were in that area. 

“Their vision of what they wanted to do was, to be honest with you, music to our ears,” said Dean of Continuing Education Enrique Infanzon. “We are one of the biggest ports for immigrants and our Miami community always needs financial literacy.”

Last spring semester, the first rendition of the course was offered through MDC Online. Close to 300 students registered.

Course content, which is taught in two 90-minute virtual meetings led by Ariana and Leo, is based on information the couple offered employees across the businesses they’ve co-founded and sold, such as Remine, a software database company for realtors. 

The first class dives into personal finances by teaching students how to budget, attain and maintain good credit, shop for insurance and maximize 401Ks and IRAs. 

“Most people are afraid to talk about money and financial issues,” said Carlos Muñoz, an anatomy and physiology professor at North Campus who took the spring class. “Being open about it and having someone interested in teaching you is important.”

Aldo Centeno, who is the chief of marketing and sales for the Miami branch of Doody Calls—a national pet waste management franchise, said learning about budgeting is essential to allocate the company’s resources efficiently.

“I need to be more conscious of where the money is going and how we’re going to spend it,” said Centeno, who took the course last spring. “That’s the key for any company to survive.”

The second class covers the fundamentals of generating wealth, particularly the difference between assets, liabilities and passive, residual, fixed and variable incomes.

To Ana Maria Soto, who serves as the director of the Institution for Civic Engagement and Democracy at the Medical and West campuses, the course highlights the importance of stewardship.

“It’s not the amount of money you have, [but] that you can prove you’ve been responsible with the money,” said Soto, who took the course in the spring.

Registration for the fall course will be open by mid-August, but an official launch date has not been set. 

Once available, the class will be free and open to the public. 

For more information, visit the Pareja Foundation website here.

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