Kindergarten to College: A Foot in the Door

A new documentary film "A Foot in the Door" tells the story of the nation's first universal college savings program, San Francisco's Kindergarten to College, through the personal experiences of participating students and parents.

The film was co-produced by Citi Community Development, San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment, and the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), to tell the story of this unique program. Kindergarten to College was launched by the City and County of San Francisco in 2010, and is now providing college savings accounts to every kindergarten student entering public school.

Last week, I was thrilled to attend the premier of "A Foot in the Door" at the Brava Theater in San Francisco along with the award-winning filmmakers at GroundSpark and Citizen Film, several of the families featured in the film, and local officials.

The opportunity to save for college is an important tool for families to secure their children's financial futures. That's why we've collaboratively designed Kindergarten to College to combine matched savings with financial education that is integrated into the public school curriculum. This approach reflects our commitment to removing barriers to higher education and to combining access to financial tools with knowledge.

All of that is conveyed in this powerful new film, and Citi has supported it and its premier both to highlight the program's success and impact and to encourage additional financial support.

A new partnership, announced last week, aims to facilitate just that. Through a collaboration with the 1 to 1 Fund, a project of CFED any individual can now contribute funds to match children's and families' Kindergarten to College savings accounts through a simple online donation.

I am so proud to be a part of the team who has taken this program from concept to reality. I encourage you to read Kindergarten to College: Save steady, dream huge, a blog post about the program by a close colleague in this endeavor, Leigh Phillips, Director of San Francisco's Office of Financial Empowerment.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mayor Edwin M. Lee, as he said in a recent press release: "Kindergarten to College represents the success that we can have by working in partnership with the private and nonprofit sectors to benefit families."

Last month, Jenny Flores was recognized by San Francisco Mayor Lee and U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi for her "enduring contributions to the Latino community and to the entire City," including work on Kindergarten to College and other programs, as a recipient of the 2012 Latino Heritage Awards.

The award-winning Kindergarten to College program was developed by the City and County of San Francisco's Office of Financial Empowerment in the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, in collaboration with Citi Community Development, which has provided funding since the program's inception. The account platform, which includes easy online account tracking and management by participants at mysavingsaccount.com, was developed by Citi Microfinance and Citibank in collaboration with the City and County of San Francisco. Child savings and financial capability have long been areas of focus of the Citi Foundation as critical components of college preparation and completion.