The mission of the Center for Financial Security is to conduct applied multidisciplinary research that informs practitioners, policymakers and the general public on strategies that build financial capacity and security over the life course.

The 2011 Pathways to Financial Success conference, hosted by UW Cooperative Extension and CFS focused on recovery from the recession, recent federal legislative changes and projected effects on the financial security of individuals and families in Wisconsin.  Participants included financial educators and other professionals who are active in financial literacy, counseling, crisis intervention, or financial planning.

For Conference Materials, please visit the UW-Extension Family Living Programs Website.

The event was generously sponsored by:

CBM Credit Education Foundation, Inc.  

Summit Credit Union 

WPS Bank

CFS Researcher Spotlight:

 

Carly Urban 

Originally from Easton, Pennsylvania, Carly received her bachelor's degree in Economics and Inter- national Affairs at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. She is currently a fourth year graduate student in the Economics Department, who considers herself a broadly defined "public economist." While her interests lie at the intersection of political economy and public economics, she is predominantly interested in employing clean identification strategies in answering new and relevant policy-based questions. Specifically, her research focuses on political advertisements, campaign contri- butions, and the "political market," as well as questions regarding public program participation and financial literacy.

Her work with J. Michael Collins aims to explain the role of disclosures and policy changes in homeowner outcomes. In "Mandatory Mediation and Mortgage Contracts" they use a natural experiment in FL and PA to determine the effects of mandated mediation services on formal modifications of mortage contracts, finding that the policy change increase the probability of modification. In addition, they have investigated how disclosure can inform consumers in their decisions to accept or reject high-cost home loans. However, her largest accolade in working with Michael has been her ability to push the envelope with his technical word processing skills, i.e., helping him to learn LaTeX.

Carly is an honored recipient of the Gengler fellowship for the 2011-2012 academic year, as well as the Christensen award for Empirical Economics. When she isn't working on research papers, Carly enjoys downhill and cross country skiing in the winter, and training for and running marathons and triathlons in warmer weather.