An Eye for the Future
The Calvin University School of Business seeks to prepare students to become agents of renewal in their chosen disciplines. With its enduring foundation of faith and a pursuit of academic excellence, Calvin’s academic leadership also strategically looks ahead. What fields show growth and expansion opportunities? How are we preparing students to adapt to societal and global change? It was that kind of strategic thinking that led to the 2020 inception of the Calvin University School of Business Bachelor of Science in Financial Planning. A unique kind of divine guidance and innate drive that led student, Silvia Jeronimo-Matias, to Calvin—and its financial planning major.
In 2022, 83 percent of the nation’s Certified Financial Planners (CFP) fit the profile of a fifty-ish Caucasian-suburban male. Jeronimo-Matias is the antithesis of that profile. She was 20 years old when she earned her Calvin University degree last year. She is the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. And in an age of transformation, she represents the new face of the finance workforce. In an industry ripe for women and minorities to bring diversity and reach new demographics, Jeronimo-Matias is driven.
A Heart for Financial Planning
Growing up in both Michigan and California, Jeronimo-Matias worked so hard in school that by the time she received her high school diploma, she had also earned an associate’s degree through dual enrollment. It was returning to West Michigan where Jeronimo-Matias’s “get it done” energy landed her in the Calvin admissions office. Unlike most incoming freshmen, she was faced with a surprise: thanks to her already-earned credits, she needed to immediately choose a major—she would be jumping right in!
“I had many interests, so it was hard to decide right away. I thought of my parents’ backgrounds; they had no opportunity to plan for financial decisions, how to deal with taxes, much less what retirement would mean—those were complete unknowns. I had watched them provide for our family without any guidance. This was a huge gap – and presented a big disadvantage to them and many of our neighbors in the communities where I had lived. I saw the challenges of that missing knowledge, and I wanted to help my parents and my siblings. I learned that financial planning was a new program at Calvin and I went for it. I chose it to help my family, but I stayed because the need is great and I want to help people.”
“Silvia came to Calvin with an interest in finance, but not sure where she saw herself in terms of a career,” said Dirk Pruis, Financial Planning Program Director and Silvia’s academic advisor. “We talked about her interest in finance, desire to work with people, and make a difference. I immediately encouraged her to try financial planning. It’s been a joy to watch Silvia as she grew and developed at Calvin. She’s a talented young woman and will make a huge impact for the kingdom in her field.”
Jeronimo-Matias who had also considered going into medicine, found herself happy to be enjoying all areas of her financial planning coursework. But it was retirement planning focused courses, however, where she felt her calling emerge. “A perception exists that retirement planning is only for wealthy people. It seems out of reach, as if it doesn’t apply to everyone. Everyone should be able learn how to save and invest to retire comfortably and with dignity. Retirement and life planning touches everyday decisions families make every day.”
As part of her program, Jeronimo-Matias participated in two internships, one at Goldman Sachs in Salt Lake City and one at a Michigan financial planning firm. At both, she was encouraged to see that her managers were not only aware of the under-representation of women in financial planning, but also women of color—and wanted to see change. “One of my supervisors was on the board of directors of the CFP Board of Standards, the national body which oversees the industry through its CFP® certification and oversight of university programs which grant degrees in financial planning. He was interested in what brought me to financial planning and what areas of work within the industry interested me. I told him I want to serve Latino and other minority communities after seeing they don’t feel these resources exist for them. As a result, they don’t know how to make good financial decisions. I want to change that.”
A Spirit for Change
Jeronimo-Matias left West Michigan for San Francisco, California in April. Leveraging relationships forged during her Utah internship, she will travel to California and spread her wings with the Bay Area Goldman Sachs office. One of her goals is to help leadership overcome the obstacles that have created the unbalanced scales of CFPs across gender and ethnicity.
“The leaders I have worked with see that women and minorities are underrepresented. They want to change this, and I have had many questions about how companies can attract more diverse representation to the field. I tell them it starts with educating female students to the opportunity! As young people, we think the industry is for older white males, and that is a difficult spot right now, so make sure students are aware that the industry has great opportunities for our generation. We have been afraid of not being taken seriously or simply not getting the jobs as women in a male-dominated industry. Social barriers have drawn women away, too. But my employer is so interested in stories like mine.”
“There is significant opportunity for women in the financial planning industry as they are vastly underrepresented,” said Pruis. “Women are going to be managing most assets as we experience a large wealth transfer from the baby boomers.
Jeronimo-Matias credits her Calvin University education for preparing her to blaze a trail in financial planning. Does she fear her young age of 20 will potentially throw up another obstacle? Not at all. “As we break stereotypes, nobody focused on age at my employer—it’s all about initiative. I always ask questions and seek advice. They respect that. In fact, during my internships, nobody even realized my age until there was an event that served alcohol. That’s when I said I was 19.”
As Jeronimo-Matias embarks on her next chapter, Calvin continues its commitment to inspire each student to fulfill God’s plan for their lives. The future is bright for everyone interested in financial planning. And a lesson unfolds, respecting that some traditions hold eternal value, while others are meant as a catalyst for change.