Selma’s Young Men Learn Money Skills at Brothers Rising Event

Foot Soldiers Park’s BUILD UP program made its second appearance among young people, joining more than 550 young men in grades 5 through 12 along with local fathers, father figures, and male community members. The “Brothers Rising” event is an annual youth empowerment summit hosted by the Selma City School District focused on violence prevention, mentorship, and positive decision-making for young men across Selma and Dallas County.

Our Director of Programs Carey Fountain and Finance Professor Josh Pierce from the University of Alabama School of Business led a breakout session at the event that introduced students to Foot Soldiers Park’s youth financial literacy program in Selma, BUILD UP. The program equips students with knowledge, practical skills, and tools to build early financial habits and secure their pathways towards stable financial futures.

To allow as many students as possible to participate throughout the morning, the BUILD UP team designed a fast-paced, highly interactive 15-minute experience centered around one core message: the financial decisions young people make today shape the opportunities they have tomorrow.

The session focused on:

• Understanding the difference between wants and needs
• How patience impacts financial success
• The long-term cost of impulsive spending
• Why responsible money management matters as students grow older

Using real-life examples and interactive discussions, students were encouraged to think critically about spending habits, peer pressure, and how financial discipline can create more choices and opportunities later in life.

The session is part of our expanding Youth Engagement and Building Wealth work to increase the financial literacy among Selma’s youth and strengthen the economic stability of the broader community through educational opportunities, tools, resources, and creating community-led initiatives designed to transform disparities into multi-generational wealth. Students were invited to join in future BUILD UP opportunities, helping Foot Soldiers Park begin building a pool of students engaged in the youth financial literacy program in Selma.

BUILD UP is Foot Soldiers Park’s signature financial literacy program for young people in Selma – focused on building students’ practical knowledge around budgeting, banking, credit, investing, and long-term wealth creation. The program was first piloted at Selma High School in October of 2025 and continues to evolve through partnerships with educators, financial professionals, and community organizations.

The Brothers Rising event represented another important step in refining BUILD UP’s model ahead of broader implementation in the 2026–2027 school year.

Foot Soldiers Park is grateful to Selma City Schools for the invitation to participate and to all of the students who engaged so thoughtfully throughout the morning.