We create financial literacy solutions that help kids make sense of money
Squirrel is a socially-minded enterprise that is pioneering self-directed, digital learning solutions that teach young people about money management. We believe this will improve the lives of young people all over the world. Why? Because, money issues are the number one cause of stress in adults. Our focus is simple – we help young people develop the knowledge, understanding and habits that will ensure they make better decisions about money throughout their lives.
What we believe in
Education first
We prioritise education above all. Instead of simply fitting products into the market, we are problem-solvers and focus on creating solutions that will positively impact lives and improve global wellbeing.
Pioneers of change
We are passionate about addressing neglected areas in the education system, creating tangible and sustainable impact and changing mindsets. We keep it simple by focusing on building effective solutions that truly serve the next generation and improve their financial stability.
Integrity
For us, integrity is about being transparent and ethical in our approach and respecting those that we partner with and serve. We lay all of our cards on the table to enable people to be the builders and owners of their financial future.
Our ambition
Our ambition is to increase well-being by giving young people the chance to develop the knowledge, understanding and habits to make good financial decisions.
Our founder story
When one of Squirrel Education’s Co-Founders, Matt O’Bryan, a former teacher in the UAE, ran a financial literacy programme with his class for a term, he witnessed how easy it was to instil a sense of financial responsibility in his students, as well as the behaviours and habits required to make sound financial decisions.
His programme simulated many of the financial decision-making tasks that we face as adults every day. Students earnt a weekly salary in fictitious currency, learnt about entrepreneurship through cake sales, budgeting through renting textbooks and investment by putting money into savings accounts that could earn a return.
The exercise also acted as a classroom rewards programme where children were rewarded with extra funds for good behaviour, and equally, had funds deducted for negative behaviour.
Matt was particularly surprised when he offered the top three earners in the class the chance to purchase his guitar with their currency, but instead, each student decided to hold onto their income to pay their ‘bills’ and strive to remain the top-ranked money earners in the class. Matt saw the pride that the students had for their hard earned money and was impressed (and a little dumbfounded) that they didn’t simply want to give it away for a prize.
The programme was a big success with the students as they battled to be the student with the most money at the end of the term. The programme concluded with a class party, where students could purchase food and toys with their currency.
Inspired by the results of this short programme, Matt started to consider whether this was something that should be taught on a larger scale. Yet, the barrier he kept facing was that schools simply didn’t have the capacity or curriculum time to adopt such a programme, however essential they thought the knowledge and learning was.
To break down this barrier, Matt began exploring the ways in which financial literacy could be rolled out to young people without encroaching on the current curriculum and in a way that was sticky enough that schools would want to adopt the programme over the long term. Whilst prototyping the merits of an online programme that didn’t require teacher involvement, COVID-19 hit. The pandemic brought two new dynamics. Firstly, it demonstrated the ease and success of online learning and popularised the term, ‘asynchronous learning.’ Secondly, it provided the space and time to meet with like-minded individuals, which cemented a partnership between Matt and the other Co-Founders, Ben Bolger and Michael Haddin.
Together, they adopted the asynchronous learning model and Squirrel Education was born.
Our team
Our biggest strength is our team, our combined skills and extensive experience across the education, finance and technology sectors. Due to our time on the ground, we have developed strong relationships across the education sector, which enables us to work closely with schools, teachers and students.
Together, we are determined to deliver a platform that meets the needs of our schools, serves the next generation, and reduces the risk that financial illiteracy causes for individuals and society as a whole.
Ben Bolger
CEO and Co-founder
After a career as a professional athlete, Ben has spent the last decade working in the wealth management sector supporting hundreds of individuals, families and businesses with their financial planning needs.
Alongside his corporate career, he is also an accredited trainer of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments and conducts seminars and technical training to the most promising financial planners in the UK. Ben has seen how basic financial literacy concepts are misunderstood by adults and therefore is passionate about changing the lives of the next generation through financial education. He holds an Executive MBA, is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM).
Matthew O’Bryan
COO and Co-founder
Matthew is the creative mind behind Squirrel Education and has been practising financial literacy in classrooms for over seven years. His understanding of a student’s educational journey and effective classroom management has been fundamental in the development of the platform.
Matthew has been a school teacher for over 20 years and has held leadership positions in numerous schools and countries. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education from Deakin university in Australia.
Cecil Cheng
CTO
Cecil brings over 20 years of technology leadership experience building highly sophisticated quantitative investing and Fin-Tech solutions in e-commerce, big data, and algorithmic trading at hedge funds, banks, and brokerage firms internationally.
Further to this, he is an experienced technical entrepreneur, and the Co-Founder of FinStart and a number of technology ventures in education and financial services.
Cecil holds a Bachelor’s degree in Systems Design Engineering specialising in machine learning from the university of Waterloo in Canada, a MBA specialising in corporate strategy, and numerous senior regulatory certifications in capital markets. In addition, he is certified in Advanced Design Thinking by IDEO and also teaches innovation at IDEO University.
Michael Haddin
Adviser
Michael Haddin is an Australian entrepreneur based in Abu Dhabi and has successfully founded numerous businesses in the fitness and healthcare sectors.
He has vast business experience from working with the world’s top sporting teams through to taking businesses from start-up stage to becoming market leaders within their sectors. Michael’s dedication to building businesses earned him the UAE’s Australian Businessman of the Year Award in 2017.
He is currently completing his MBA at the University of Wollongong.