3rd Decade Inc
Empowerment Through Education
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
3rd Decade is on a mission to empower young adults in achieving their financial goals and breaking generational cycles of debt and financial insecurity. With statistics showing that 66% of millennials have no savings for retirement and Americans 18-29 years old owing over $1 Trillion in debt, 3rd Decade is passionate about changing these financial futures and providing quality financial education, training, and support to overcome these statistically-backed challenges. Through this program, 3rd Decade is facilitating up-and-coming generations to break their financial stress by taking their journey into their own hands and permanently re-writing the history of financial insecurity.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
3rd Decade Program
The 3rd Decade program is aimed to equip participants with the knowledge to make the right decisions at various stages of their lives through financial planning.
Through education and one-on-one mentoring participants will become empowered to build strategies around their goals needs and wants, they will establish good savings habits, and receive an easy-to-understand financial plan.
Financial security is more about good money habits and decisions rather than how much you make. At a minimum, we want participants to walk away with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to make good financial decisions.
1. Education: Four classes (10 classroom hours) educating on most relevant financial topics for young adults.
2. Financial Mentoring: Two years of unbiased support that extends the program beyond the classroom.
3. Financial Jumpstart: 3rd Decade provides a $250 Roth IRA match for graduates.
**The information presented is unbiased, 3rd Decade neither promotes nor sell products.**
Where we work
Awards
Top Rated Non Profit 2022
Great Non Profits
External reviews

Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of groups/individuals benefiting from tools/resources/education materials provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Age groups, Family relationships, Social and economic status
Related Program
3rd Decade Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
# of Newly onboarded participants for the given year (does not reflect total overall participants served each year as we have a 2-year program) Capacity based on available volunteers.
Number of program graduates
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Age groups, Social and economic status
Related Program
3rd Decade Program
Type of Metric
Other - describing something else
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Throughout the year participants complete the 2-year program when they have their final Progress Meeting with their Financial Mentor. 2021 Participants will complete the program in 2023.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
3rd Decade Program
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Shows accepted participants for the year, not accounting for program drop-off.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
3rd Decade believes that financial education and guidance should be available to all individuals, regardless of background or socioeconomic status, and should not be reserved exclusively for the financially privileged. Financial stability and security lead to greater national and community economic health. We believe those who are willing to put in the work toward achieving their financial goals, deserve unbiased, actionable financial guidance. Beyond education, we have found that two years of mentorship with a trustworthy professional to support their financial journey is an integral element for those who are motivated to establish the patterns and behavior that will lead to long-term success. Our goal is to increase trust in the financial industry and empower individuals to reach their financial goals through universally accessible education and conflict-free mentorship.
We strive to educate and support our participants so they leave the program feeling confident about their financial futures and will share their confidence with others. We envision a generation of financially empowered individuals, making sound, confident decisions.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our program has three core components: education, mentoring, and capital.
Education: 3rd Decade provides four (4) educational classes over the course of 3 months to all participants. Each class is 2.5 hours each for a total of 10 hours of training focusing on personal finance, budgeting, savings, debt management and investing. Classes are a mixture of lecture, video, hands on activities and resource presentation. All classes are held in the evenings. Our curriculum was developed using best practices from the wealth management industry and is taught by professional financial educators.
Mentoring: 3rd Decade program provides a free two-year relationship with a professional financial mentor to establish and manage your personal financial plan (a spending, saving and investing plan). This unbiased support helps extend the program beyond the classroom to ensure participants can implement their knowledge. The financial mentorship comes in the form of three 1:1 meetings for a total of 5 hours of financial mentoring over a two year period. The meetings are structured as an initial discovery meeting to uncover personal financial goals and budget followed by a 1-year and 2-year check-in to hold participants accountable to their goals.
Financial Contribution: 3rd Decade provides a $250 match to participants' Roth IRA accounts upon graduation. Graduation requires 100% participation in classes and financial mentor meetings.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
By 2025, 3rd Decade will expand its reach to serve an ever-increasing number of young adults as we become a recognized leader in financial education, mentoring, and engaging with our communities, with substantial reach throughout the southwest region while growing our presence nationally as a destination for volunteer mentors and young adults seeking financial knowledge through the following:
3rd Decade will continue to acquire a diverse set of supporters, partners, and funders from both the Southwest and nationally, while strategically developing new revenue structures to provide for our growth and sustainability.
3rd Decade will continue to ensure all organizational policies and procedures are created and implemented through an equity lens and are driven by quality data that benefits our participants and the organization.
3rd Decade will continue to grow and support a diverse Board of Directors that represents multiple industries and regions, is focused on equity, and actively participates in the strategic growth of our programming and organization with a goal of adding 8 new members by 2025.
3rd Decade will increase our organizational capacity and programmatic offerings to deliver our model of financial education to over 1,000 participants annually by 2025.
3rd Decade will continue to grow and maintain a diverse staff and ensure the proper resources are in place to support our strategic growth, operational efficiency, and participant success.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
710 Alumni
890 Active participants in 25 states
Average Change in Networth: $65,484.67
Median change in Net Worth: $52,962.50
Average Change in Households with starting Net Worth < $100,000: $53,847.87 ( 74.6% of individuals)
Demographics for participants:
Average Age: 29
61% Female
33% Male
1.5% Non-Binary
<1% Transgender
3.8% Prefer Not To Say
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
The program is offered for free to young adults age 18-35 who have an individual income of less than $75,000 or a household income of less than $120,000, are workers, students, or homemakers, are ready to manage debt and start a financial plan and have the ability to save. Many of our participants are teachers, firefighters, or service professionals.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
At the end of each class series, the team meets and reviews feedback from all participants to make changes to the curriculum to better serve those in the community. After feedback from a participant wanting more information on student loan repayment, the team implemented an additional resource tab to our curriculum so students who want a deeper dive into any of the topics covered would have them easily accessible. Our relationship with our financial mentors is also very important to the health of our program and after feedback from them, we have created a more in-depth training program and added a team member who is dedicated to supporting them during their time as mentors.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
3rd Decade Inc
Board of directorsas of 02/08/2023
Robert Swift
TCI Wealth
Term: 2019 -
Jeff Locke
AWM Capital
Keri Lopez-Howell
Consultant
Ashley Ilardo
Dimensional Fund Advisors
Desiree Cunningham
Skill Crush
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/08/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.