Stand By Me | Mary Dupont | TEDxWilmington

A child of the 60’s, Mary spent much of her life working for non-profits, hoping to help lower-income people achieve financial security. But after a long time, she realized – non-profits can’t do it alone. She began working with DE Governor Jack Markell to establish a program that was public-private. The result? Stand By Me, a cooperative program of a great number of groups, both public and private. What is Stand By Me? A program that gives a personal financial coach to every DE person who wants one, to help address that person’s financial challenges. The program works with various partners to address financial insecurity at all ages and in every community. Over 10,000 families so far have worked with their coaches to send their kids to college. A hard-working immigrant couple who were living, with their kids, in a boarded up building with holes in the wall and no heat, because it was all they could afford, now live in a townhouse they own, thanks to the help of their coach. Mary Dupont, is the Director of Financial Empowerment for the state of Delaware. She joined Governor Jack Markell’s administration following a 30-year career in the non-profit sector, as a social entrepreneur designing, replicating and implementing high impact programs designed to increase economic opportunity. Since joining state government in 2009, she worked with the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services and United Way of Delaware to develop $tand By Me®, an innovative financial empowerment strategy that has served over 50,000 Delawareans through personal financial coaching, financial planning for post-secondary, free web-based tax preparation, financial workshops, and consumer-friendly financial services. $tand By Me® is a statewide community partnership which engages key stakeholders from all sectors including business, education, non-profit, and government. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx