Empowering Black Voices in Finance: 6 Names You Should Know

Do you have someone you can count on when it comes to financial advice? When talking about money–how we spend it, save it, and in this era of inflation, worry about it—it literally pays to have personal money management guidance.

In celebration of Black history, we’re turning the spotlight on five gamechangers who are simplifying finance and dispelling the taboo around money talk. Read, listen, watch, and learn something new!

1. The Budgetnista

Tiffany Aliche is a former teacher and the author of the New York Times Bestseller Get Good with Money. Combining her passion for both finance and education, Tiffany Aliche partnered with lawmakers in integrating financial education into New Jersey’s middle schools (The Budgetnista Law.) Through her Live Richer Movement, she has empowered women to save more than $350 million dollars and pay down more than $200 million in debt.

2. My Fab Finance

Tonya Rapley is an internationally recognized speaker, best-selling author, and professor at the City University of New York- Guttman Center, leading the development of their financial literacy certificate program. She focuses on helping people make informed financial decisions and started My Fab Finance in 2013 when she realized that “it was time to stop acting like I had it all together and start getting it together.” Tonya was named the “New Face of Wealth Building” by Black Enterprise magazine and selected as a modern History Maker by TV One.

“Create financial plans based on how you want your life to look versus how you think it should look, social media included. We have so much more satisfaction when we live according to our values.”

Tonya Rapley via My Fab Finance

3. Popcorn Finance

Chris Browning wants to teach you something about finance in the time it takes you to make popcorn. His podcast tackles stocks, making your career recession-proof, asking your boss for a raise, and more. Formerly an art major, Chris realized he had a talent and passion for money management and went on to work in the finance industry, as an analyst, bookkeeper, content creator, and producer. His down to earth money tips have been applauded across major media outlets including Forbes and NerdWallet, and he’s interviewed more than 100 financial experts.

4. Make Real Cents

Carmen Perez is the mind behind MakeRealCents, a platform committed to empowering individuals towards financial independence. Carmen specializes in educating millennials and Gen Z on effective money management and wealth-building strategies, imparting insights on topics such as investing, debt reduction, and savings. She’s also the mind behind Much, an app for budgeting and finance management. While her guidance is broad, she has addressed specific financial challenges and offered advice on side hustles relevant to the LGBTQ+ community.

5. BuildingBread

Kevin L. Matthews II, named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Financial Advisors by Investopedia, is on a mission to help individuals plan their retirement. A husband, father, and author of Starting Point: How to Build Wealth that Lasts, Kevin wants others to leave a financial legacy so wealth can be passed across generations. He leads classes and corporate events about investment planning, distilling concepts into plain English so finance feels approachable to people of all ages.

6. The Wealth Playground

Jasmine Paul is the award-winning author of A Boy, A Budget, and a Dream and Granny’s Vintage Camera. She is a certified financial education instructor, speaker, and entrepreneur whose primary focus is making wealth fun and accessible. She’s on a mission to inspire money conversations with children early and often and will be the featured guest on GreenPath’s Real $toriesReal $Stories podcast this month where she reflects on her path to homeownership.