LIFEvest Financial Literacy Residential Program | Paul Merage School of Business

Pacific Life LIFEvest Program

The Pacific Life LIFEvest program mission is to provide financial literacy education and vital life skills to help motivate & inspire high school students (Rising Freshmen, Rising Sophomores, and Rising Juniors) from underserved communities to be the first in their families to attend/graduate college (#firstgen).

This FREE, week-long summer program aims to strengthen student understanding of financial matters, provide exposure to a college campus, encourage admission to a college or university, explore various career fields, teach social etiquette skills, and inspire confidence and success in all areas of life.

We are now accepting applications for the 2022 Pacific Life LIFEvest Program. Click the link below to apply.

2022 LIFEvest dates

Week 1: Sunday June 26 - Friday July 1 (Girls Week)

Week 2: Sunday July 10 - Friday July 15 (Boys Week)

Week 3: Sunday July 17 - Friday July 22 (Girls Week)

Week 4: Sunday July 31 - Friday August 5 (Boys Week)

Final Deadline: April 22, 2022

Not sure if this program is right for you? Reach out to us at ciwm@merage.uci.edu

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Overview

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“How to Build a Meaningful Life Plan by Creating Lasting Financial and Educational Goals”

The Pacific Life LIFEvest Financial Literacy Program, hosted by the Center for Investment and Wealth Management at the UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business, is a weeklong, on-campus program dedicated to helping underserved rising 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students (current 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students) from Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties. The program is designed for high school students who have the potential to be first generation college students. The program strives to strengthen an understanding in financial matters, expose students to a college campus, encourage admission to a college or university, explore various career fields, teach social etiquette skills, and inspire confidence and success in all areas of life.

quick information

Who is eligible for the LIFEvest program?

The LIFEvest program is intended to help students gain a basic understanding of financial concepts (think Financial Literacy 101) while exposing them to the college campus experience. Current 8th grade, 9th-grade, and 10th grade students who will be 9th, 10th, and 11th graders in the next academic year are encouraged to apply as the program also seeks to support students' post-program completion through college planning.

Support Opportunities

All donations directly support the LIFEvest student scholarships. It is the Center’s goal to create an endowment or receive multiple year pledges from donors to provide LIFEvest program scholarships to at least 100 students annually. Together, we can create a brighter future – helping teens build a meaningful life plan by creating lasting financial and educational goals.

Sponsor-A-Scholar ($2,100)

Make a positive difference in the life of one student by enabling him or her to attend the week-long program free of charge. This amount includes housing, meals, transportation and materials.

Endowed UCI CIWM LIFEvest Student Scholarship ($50,000)

Support 9th and 10 grade students from underserved communities in becoming the next generation of industry leaders by endowing a student scholarship in perpetuity. The gift is payable over five years.

Endowed UCI CIWM LIFEvest Financial Literacy Program Sponsor ($5,000,000)

Name the LIFEvest Financial Literacy Program, honoring a family or corporate legacy. Your gift would allow the program to continue in perpetuity and for the Center to explore follow-up initiatives for our scholars, assisting and tracking them throughout their academic careers. This gift is payable over five years. In the unlikely event that we do not reach the minimum required to establish and endowed fund, the contributions raised will be used for the same purpose from a current-use fund.

Support Us

Volunteers and Sponsors, there are many ways to get involved!

Become a "Friendraiser"
Host a corporate event
Host a team building event
Participate during the week as a volunteer

Please contact ciwm@merage.uci.edu for more information.

Kara Duckworth, CFP ® Kara Duckworth, CFP®
Duckworth Wealth Advisors
LIFEvest Chairperson

Kara is a wealth manager and the firm’s Managing Director of Client Experience and Client Advisor. She manages client relationships, provides financial planning services and serves on the firm’s investment committee. Think of her as a friend who will tell you the truth. Kara also manages the firm’s personal office services. To Kara, seeing a client achieve a dream is the most rewarding part of her job.

Named a “5-Star Wealth Manager” by Orange Coast magazine, Kara attended UC Riverside and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. She is a Certified Financial Planner® and a member of the Financial Planning Association. Kara sits on the board of the Center for Investment and Wealth Management for the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. As if that doesn’t keep her busy enough, she also chaired the steering committee for the school’s Financial Literacy Summer Residential Program for five years.

Tere Segarra, CFP ® Tere Segarra
Pacific Life Foundation

Feroz Ansari
Compak Asset Management

Senior Principal and Portfolio Manager. He is a CFP® (Certified Financial Planner™) certificant. He holds an MIM (Masters of International Management) degree from ASU - Thunderbird, Graduate School of International Management, Arizona, and an MBA from the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan. He has completed risk management, trading, portfolio management, leadership and financial management programs at The Oxford University in England, INSEAD in France, Citibank Training Center-Singapore, Euromoney in New York and Emirates Bank Training Center in Dubai. Feroz Ansari published a research paper dealing with dual exchange rate mechanisms and has conducted training programs for treasury management and foreign exchange.

Prior to joining Compak, Feroz worked in banking and treasury management. He held positions at Banque Indosuez, Faysal Bank and Emirates Bank International. Feroz has over 22 years of experience in banking, treasury management, asset allocation and asset management. He started his career in 1993 as a Treasury Associate at Banque Indosuez and held the Position of Treasurer, Head of Treasury & Corporate Banking and Deputy General Manager at Emirates Bank.

Feroz enjoys playing golf with his two boys and he loves to read and stay informed. He likes to travel to different places to play golf with his boys. He has had one “hole in one” and his lowest score was 79, but that was 15 years ago! Now he is happy to break 90. Feroz has a passion for reading and learning. He belongs to a local book club that is mostly comprised of his close friends.

Feroz has also been selected to serve on the Client Advisory Council of Wealth Advisor Services at Fidelity Investment Institutional Service Company. He is also active in the local community. He serves on the Board of Advisors of University of California-Irvine’s Center for Investment and Wealth Management (CIWM). At CIWM he serves on numerous “Financial Literacy” sub-committees.

Chad Bollenbach
Canterbury Consulting

Chad Bollenbach is an investment consultant to families and institutions and assists clients with asset allocation, portfolio construction and wealth strategies. Prior to joining Canterbury, Mr.Bollenbach was a senior wealth advisory analyst for Capital Group Private Client Services focusing on asset allocation and investment planning. He previously worked at Trenwith Securities as an investment banking associate and at AXA Advisors as a financial consultant. Mr. Bollenbach received an MA in Latin American studies and BA in international relations from Stanford University.

Stuart Blair
Canterbury Consulting

As the director of research and a shareholder of the firm, Mr. Blair is responsible for all functions related to research on investment managers, asset classes, and capital markets. Mr. Blair oversees the activities for all five of Canterbury’s Asset Class Committees, serving as chair of the Hedge Funds and Private Equity Manager Research Committees, as well as the Capital Markets and the Canterbury Outsourced CIO Committees. Prior to joining Canterbury, Mr. Blair was the director of public equity and research at Sobrato Capital, the securities investment platform of The Sobrato Organization. There his responsibilities included broad asset class research, manager due diligence on public and private assets, and tax optimization of both taxable investment pools and a large charitable foundation. Prior to Sobrato Capital, Mr. Blair was a senior analyst at Canterbury, where he focused on asset allocation, manager research, and capital market assumptions. Mr. Blair holds a Bachelor of Science in finance from California State University, Long Beach and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Ashley Bleckner
Ellevest

Ms. Bleckner is an Financial Advisor at Ellevest. Prior to Ellevest, she joined RS Crum in 2015, Ashley spent nearly four years with a wealth management firm based in Toledo, Ohio serving as a Client Relationship Manager where she helped develop, coordinate, and implement financial plans and manage day-to-day client requests. Ashley takes great pride in her client relationships.

Actively involved in the community, Ashley is a member of ProVisors, the Orange County FPA, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), and CalCPA. Ashley has volunteered her time on a number of philanthropic projects, including the Center of Investment and Wealth Management at UCI (LIFEvest), “It’s Your Money,” Alzheimer’s Association, and is a co-founder of the Austin Kudzia Scholarship.

Ashley has previously studied in Florence, Italy and has taught several college classes in Economics. Ms. Bleckner has a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics from Miami University and a Masters of Arts in Economics from Bowling Green State University.

Ashley lives in Capistrano Beach with her two dogs, Ella & Fitzgerald, and her fiance. Her hypo-allergenic pups sometimes even grace the office with their presence. She spends her weekends with them at the beach and exploring the beautiful outdoors that California has to offer. Ashley also has a passion for travel, education and the arts.

Wendy Chen
Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management

Wendy Chen is a relationship manager in CIBC Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management's Newport Beach office, with more than 16 years of industry experience. In this role, her primary focus is to manage client relationships and implement strategies designed to help clients achieve their financial goals.

She also works closely with clients and their advisors to create and implement tailored wealth management solutions and contributes to several of the firm’s employee engagement and women’s initiatives.

Wendy earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in legal studies from the University of California, Berkeley and volunteers with the German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County. Additionally, she sits on the advisory board for the Center of Investment and Wealth Management at the University of California, Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business.

Marleny Cheshire
BNY Mellon

Chris Lum
PAAMCO Prisma

Kevin Wiest
Windes

Kevin has nearly 20 years of experience in public accounting and is a partner in the firm’s Tax & Accounting Services department. Prior to joining Windes in 2019, Kevin was a partner with an established regional public accounting firm, where he specialized in Estates & Trusts.

Kevin’s professional focus is helping high-net-worth individuals and their families minimize taxes through his extensive knowledge of individual income tax, estate and transfer taxes, fiduciary income tax, gift tax, generation skipping transfer tax, as well as postmortem planning, and estate and trust administration.

Kevin also has experience in fiduciary accountings prepared for trusts and estates and filed with courts of law supporting mediation and litigation where beneficiary disputes have arisen.

Hyun Swanson
UC Office of the President

Hyun is a seasoned benefits professional with over 20 years of experience. Early in her career, she was a consultant at Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young, helping clients design and implement competitive benefit programs. She then moved into an internal HR role as global benefits manager at AES Corporation, overseeing health and retirement plans strategy and administration.

Hyun joined the University Of California’s Office of the President in 2013 and now serves as the Director of the UC Retirement Savings Program. Among her many responsibilities is managing the systemwide program operations and communications/education initiatives, which feature robust resources to help UC faculty and staff build retirement readiness. “Success” to her means that employees understand UC’s generous retirement benefits, as well as make smart financial decisions that will ensure that their money lasts through retirement.

Hyun holds a BA in Economics from Johns Hopkins and a MPH from Yale. An East Coast native, she currently lives with her husband and two kids in beautiful Irvine, CA.

Black Tie Gala

On Saturday, June 1, 2019 Lead OC and the Center for Investment and Wealth Management combined efforts to host the gala in honor of The Pacific Life LIFEvest program. LEAD OC’s mission is to alleviate the financial burdens of these charities and raise awareness for local philanthropic causes allowing them to fully dedicate their efforts towards affecting positive change. We combined efforts to host a Gala in support of Financial Literacy.

Hearts for Children

LEAD-OC, a group of young professionals dedicated to collectively impacting the Orange County community with their philanthropic endeavors, recently made the LIFEvest Financial Literacy Program their “Charity of Choice” for 2019 which will seed an endowment fund ensuring 1000’s of deserving teens from underserved communities will be able to realize their dream of being the first in their families to graduate from college! LEAD-OC kicked off this fundraising campaign with its 7th Annual Hearts for Children “Sip and Support” on Friday, January 25, 2019, at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business. It was an amazing event with wine tasting from six different wineries, live music, LIFEvest alumni and their families, and a great program with Dean Eric Spangenberg that provided a wonderful overview of UCI, The Merage School, and the Pacific Life LIFEvest program.

LIFEvest Receives $2 Million Gift from Pacific Life Foundation

LIFEvest has received a $2 million gift from the Pacific Life Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Newport Beach-based insurance company.

"Through the partnership, we aim to instill a lifelong curiosity in personal finance and provide students the necessary financial skills and confidence to pursue a college education."

Read more here.

Capital Group teams up with UC Irvine to increase number of students by 33%

Capital Group has teamed up with UC Irvine to add a fourth week to increase the number of students through the program.

"The goal of this program is to prepare and motivate students to be the first in their families to go to college using financial literacy education."

Read more here.

Parent Testimonials

My daughter is Raquel Ornelas and she participated in LIFEvest about 4 years ago. Since then Raquel was awarded a 4-year scholarship for high school over 200k! She still remembers the program and will take about it to friends from time to time. I myself believe that this is a great course for teenagers.

– Juana O. (Racquel’s Mother) –

The UCI LIFEvest Financial Literacy “blessed” my daughter Malia with incredible and priceless information and most of all, great insight into the financial industry. We are grateful!

– Gale N. (Malia’s Mother) –

Student Testimonials

What are the top 3 things you learned from the Financial Literacy Program and how have they helped you?

I learned about stocks and bonds and how to handle a business of my own. This program has helped train me to own my own business as well as how to build a strong relationship with the people you work with. You can't just show up to work and not interact with other employees, you have to show up and treat others with respect so that you can still operate your business successfully.

I learned to develop better speaking skills during the time that I was there and now I'm able to present in front of groups without being timid. I also learned how to work better in teams. The group project that we worked on helped me get a better understanding of how to manage a group, the time, and share responsibilities to get the job done. All these things that I learned have helped me become a better developed student.

I learned many things from the Financial Literacy Program that have currently helped me in many ways. One of the biggest things I learned at this program that will always stay with me is that it doesn't matter what situation you come from, if you have the willpower and put effort into everything you do, you can accomplish almost anything. Hearing other people's stories have really encouraged me and have made me work harder towards my dreams.

I learned many things in this program, but three of the things I will never forget is increasing my confidence, learning how to handle money ,and knowing my limits.

LIFEvest Alumni are an Important Part of the UCI Paul Merage School of Business Family Network

The Center helps LIFEvest alumni stay informed and connected by hosting various annual events, such as the UCI Basketball Homecoming Game in March and bowling in October. In addition, the Center sends out a monthly newsletter, “The Legacy” to all LIFEvest alumni and has initiated a mentorship program whereby LIFEvest Alumni are matched up with a current UCI Undergraduate Students so as to assist and guide alumni to be successful in high school and the college going preparation.

Alumni Spotlight

The LIFEVest Financial Literacy Program was the very first time I was introduced to the world of profession and higher education. To have been immersed in so many new and unique experiences that demanded professional acuity created the start of a lifelong journey of self improvement for me. I learned that the business world is interconnected with every field and extremely relevant no matter your career aspirations. The material that I learned here in the program has correlated with my work and life experiences.

I hope to go into education policy in the future and even run for public office someday. I am part of the student cite council and am passionate about having the voice for students heard in government! The possibilities are endless and we are capable of anything that we strive for. Every single day of the program, our mentors and speakers made sure that we knew it too.

Consecutively to the program, I was accepted into the UCI Saturday Academy of Law and completed the program with the honor of giving the closing speech at the graduation ceremony. I interned with Congressman Lou Correa and have recently traveled to Sacramento. I am part of a coalition that is fighting to stop the sale of flavored tobacco products in Santa Ana and was part of getting the ordinance passed in City Council.

I am forever indebted to the program for being what inspired me to always shoot for a higher level of education and achievement.

-- Cecy Rivera

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