Invested in Students

In the complex world of finance — as in life in general — there really are not that many ’sure bets’: ‘Buy low; sell high.’ ‘Follow established trends.’ But the closest thing to ‘infinite awards with no downside’ is when Sound Credit Union invests in the University of Washington Tacoma; its students and their financial well-being; and, by extension, the broader community and our shared future.

“We've had a partnership for several years, and over the past decade, the relationship has really flourished,” said Jennifer Reed, vice president of public relations for the credit union, which finalized a major gift to the university earlier this year, with a commitment to even more over the next five years. “As a credit union, we really believe financial education is a life skill. Our ultimate goal is to equip [students] with the tools and resources they need to be financially confident.” 

Already, Phu Quoc Huynh (’25) is about as well-equipped as the Milgard School of Business’ state-of-the-art Financial Wellness & Markets Lab where he studies and works. Since coming to UW Tacoma as a junior, he’s logged an estimated 1,000 hours in the lab — as a Finance and Business Analytics major and as a paid researcher helping other students navigate the lab’s financial tools, conduct analyses and discover their areas of interest. (The credit union gift provides sustained funding for both the lab and for Huynh’s job there.)

This immersive intersection of finance, education and community, part of the school’s Center for Financial Wellness, is the only one of its kind in the UW system and the South Puget Sound area, and it looks and acts a lot like an even more prominent financial hub — on purpose.

The lab offers students campus-wide “a full-scale simulation of a trading floor,” Huynh said — with a scrolling stock ticker, a world clock, and a large trading bell that’s rung at the beginning and end of terms. “Essentially, working here is like being stationed on Wall Street.” 

In the UW Tacoma lab, as on Wall Street, distinctively orange-on-black Bloomberg Terminals provide “real-time access to data from all around the world,” said Huynh, who’s been admitted to the Master’s Computational Finance & Risk Management program at the University of Washington Seattle en route to what he hopes is “an adventurous job” with an asset management or hedge fund firm. “When we say this lab prepares students for Wall Street or Union Street in Seattle, we mean it. But even more importantly, it helps them understand how global finance impacts Main Street: businesses, families and the everyday economy.” 

Which just happens to align precisely with the overarching mission of the gift. 

“If we talk about the goal of our campus as social justice and social upliftment, the best way to do that is conscious capitalism: giving people the tools to make money for themselves rather than be dependent on anyone else,” said Milgard School of Business Dean Altaf Merchant, Ph.D. “It’s a holistic strategy. In my opinion, that's unheard of. It's trailblazing. It's path-breaking. I have not come across any university that is doing what we are trying to do here with such a vast focus.” 

Like the celebratory peals of the lab’s emblematic bell, the holistic impacts of Sound Credit Union’s gift reverberate throughout the Center for Financial Wellness (CFW) and across campus: 

The Center for Financial Wellness: The center’s two initiatives, Financial Literacy and Wealth Creation, both supported by the gift, “build on our vision to help our students attain upward mobility, save money and create wealth,” said Sally Schwartz, M.S., the center’s assistant director. The gift funds an annual Financial Literacy Scholarship, free and practical public workshops, a personal finance class and events that impact about 1,000 students across campus every year — “all with the hope of giving students a comprehensive view of what managing money actually involves,” she said. 

One of those events, winter quarter’s inaugural UW Tacoma Investment Challenge, drew more than 80 students from a variety of majors. The three winning teams were invited to an advisory board meeting, where they received checks and plenty of applause. “This is massive,” said Merchant. “Part of it is for them to dream, dream big — not just the business students, but other students, too.” 

The Office of First Gen: “Over 50% of our campus is first-generation, and of all three UW campuses, UW Tacoma has the highest rate of Pell eligibility (low-income status), so the basics of financial wellness and literacy are fundamental for a vast majority of our students that may not have been taught these skills elsewhere,” said Dominic (DJ) Crisostomo, the office’s assistant director. The gift funds the office’s Financial Wellness Cohort program, now open to all students during autumn and spring quarters, he said. “At the completion of the program, students are able to apply their knowledge of financial wellness strategies to everyday life situations.”

The Pantry: Also outside business boundaries but connected to every thread of wellness, UW Tacoma’s Pantry logged 3,251 visits for free food, hygiene products and supplies from the beginning of the 2024 academic year through March 2025, said Mentha Hynes-Wilson, vice chancellor for Student Affairs. “We know food insecurity is a concern for many students,” she said, and the gift “has genuinely made a significant impact,” allowing for expanded support to students and more fresh-food options. 

Even in the most literal sense, then, “The gift gave us fuel,” Merchant said. “The idea is much larger than the business school. Many of them are business ideas, but the benefits can be reaped by students across campus.”

It all adds up to a lot of support, a lot of impact – and a rare sure bet.

“By bringing programs like these to the university, we're really connecting with these students and making sure they're able to develop personal and professional skills that they're going to take out into the workplace and help build stronger communities throughout this region, if not farther,” said Reed, of Sound Credit Union. “We want the university to know that we are here, and we will continue to support them.”