Founder of The Stocks and Stilettos Society Teaches Young Black Girls How to Invest

In a bid to contribute to building the black community, and supporting black women, Cassandra Cummings, founder of The Stocks and Stilettos Society is teaching black women the art of investing.

Following the recent happenings of black killings by armed police officers, the US government and other organizations have ensured to close the gap of racial disparity. The gap for black women has continued to increase over the years. According to the 2018 Census Bureau data, black women are paid only 61 cents for every one dollar their white male counterparts earn. With the desire to see this come to an end, Cummings and the Stocks & Stilettos Society hosted a virtual summit this month to “educate, inspire, and empower young Black girls to learn more about the endless possibilities of investing in the stock market.”

The virtual investment summit was scheduled for July 21st, and it was organized for black girls between the ages of 16-22. The summit was titled Black Girl Invest.

The racial wealth gap has been a critical issue for many years in the U.S. There has been a lot of conversations about how black people can achieve economic freedom in the United States. In 2007, Black women had only about $10,000 in wealth, compared to their counterparts who recorded more than $40,000 in wealth.

“No matter what their educational achievement is—or whether the job is low- or high-paying, where they live of what their age is—they face a wage gap,” said Maya Ragu the senior counsel and director of workplace equality at the National Women’s Law Center to CNBC. “The gap affects their ability to save money and then their economic security as they get older because they haven’t been able to save as much.”

The Stocks and Stilettos Society currently has about 50,000 black female investors, and it intends to create more space to accommodate more women who want to learn about the stock market.

In 2014, Credit Suisse with the Brandeis University’s Institute on Assets and Social Policy conducted a study. The data showed that inactivity in the stock market was a contributing factor to the lack of wealth among African American women. For this very reason, Cassandra Cummings is determined to get more black women involved in the stock market.

Cummings is a licensed financial advisor with experience, and also builds her own wealth through stock trading and investing.