Yanely Espinal

Yanely Espinal is the Director of Educational Outreach at Next Gen Personal Finance (NGPF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing financial literacy among high school students. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, to Dominican immigrant parents and is a proud graduate of NYC public schools. She earned her bachelor's degree from Brown University in 2011 and later obtained a master's degree from Relay Graduate School of Education in 2013.134

Before joining NGPF in August 2018, Espinal worked as a classroom teacher through the Teach For America program, teaching third and fourth grades in Brooklyn. Her personal journey with finances began when she realized the lack of financial education despite her academic achievements. This experience motivated her to create her YouTube channel, MissBeHelpful, where she shares insights on budgeting, credit management, and investing.123

In her current role at NGPF, Espinal focuses on providing teachers with free curriculum resources for teaching essential financial concepts. She has also been instrumental in advocating for legislative changes that require financial literacy education in schools, contributing to an increase from five to 22 states mandating such courses from 2018 to 2023.125 Additionally, she has authored a book titled Mind Your Money, aimed at helping individuals navigate their financial journeys more effectively.16