About Us

The SIFMA Foundation is an educational non-profit organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds, with a focus on youth in underserved communities and students of color. Drawing on the support and expertise of the financial services industry, the SIFMA Foundation provides high-quality financial education programming that strengthens economic opportunity across communities and increases individuals’ access to the benefits of the global marketplace.

The Stock Market Game™  is an online simulation of the global capital markets that engages students grades 4-12 in the world of economics, investing, and personal finance and prepares them for financially independent lives. More than 600,000 students take part annually, across all classroom and virtual learning environments, in all 50 states and around the globe. The Stock Market Game has reached over 20 million students since its inception and is proven to raise student standardized test scores in math and economics and positively impact teachers’ personal financial behavior.

Capitol Hill Challenge is the nation’s only financial education program supported by 100% of Congress. This special edition of The Stock Market Game, presented by the Charles Schwab Foundation and offered each spring, matches Members of Congress with public middle and high schools nationwide. The top performing teams win prizes and national recognition, plus the opportunity to engage directly with government and business leaders. Since its inception, Capitol Hill Challenge has made 6,500 Congressional matches reaching nearly 143,000 students across the country.


InvestWrite® national essay competition is a culminating activity for Stock Market Game students extending their learning with a written challenge to address real-world financial issues and situations. Students must analyze, think critically and problem solve about a long-term saving and investing scenario, with a new theme and question posed each year. Since the program began in 2004, over 250,000 student essays have been written in classrooms and more than 46,500 financial professionals have served as volunteer judges. Winners locally and nationally earn exciting prizes and recognition.


Invest It Forward™ is an industry-wide capital markets literacy and career exploration program connecting educators and classrooms, virtually and in-person, with financial industry volunteers and firms. The program features an award-winning capital markets curriculum for students, developed with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, and a variety of skills-based volunteer opportunities for industry professionals committed to helping young Americans learn about the global capital markets. Each year, Invest It Forward engages nearly 14,000 volunteers and hundreds of firms across the nation.