When your child knows what to do with their first paycheck, our job is done.
Our mission is to help parents use real life experience to instill positive habits and financial know-how in children. Schools often do not have personal finance education and if they do, it is limited to theory. This means parents are left to teach their children the applied practice of how to spend, save and invest. But where do you start?
Guardian Savings provides a guiding hand to help you keep track of your children’s’ money (allowances, birthday money etc.) and enables you to coach your kids towards responsible behavior through incentives, subtle nudges, and informative analytics.
Our long-term vision is to expand our platform to be a place where you can go to for help with any of your children’s milestones. For example, if your child wants to save for a car, we’ll help your child with goal planning, explain how car payments work, and suggest conversations that you should be having. We want to demystify financial decision making and help you and your children make smart choices that will serve you well today and into the future.
Our future interface will evolve with the development of your child
As your child develops, the app will develop as well. Vocabulary will get harder; “Put money in” will become “Deposit”. Simple bar charts will become more complex line charts. Additional modules will be added to your child’s navigation, like taxes and investments. Interface changes will happen according to a schedule created by experts but changeable by parents so that you can accelerate, slow down, or withhold lessons as you see fit. We seek to empower parents to control what and when their children are learning, so that the lessons are developmentally appropriate and in-line with your parenting vision.
Help us get to the future!
There are several things you can do to help us achieve our vision of teaching K-12 financial literacy and habits.
Help us get more users! Share our app and website with your friends and family.
Get involved and join our team!
Share your ideas with what you think we can do better and what our future features should be - email us at support@guardiansavings.org
Meet the team
Erik Neighbour
Product and Business Lead
Experience
Product manager at a major bank
Consulting experience leading large IT transformations at financial institutions
U. of Virginia, BS Commerce; Finance and Accounting
Personal
Growing up, Erik lived in six different countries on three different continents. Through his life experiences, Erik developed a passion for design and a desire to help people. Through friends asking for his advice on personal finance topics, Erik started thinking about how we should teach children about finance differently. When he isn’t obsessing over Guardian Savings, Erik enjoys soccer and spending time with friends. Erik currently lives in Washington, DC.
Austin Fry
Technical Lead
Experience
Platform developer at HackerOne
Previously a software Engineer at the US Air Force and ManTech Int, and a technical lead for social nightlife app startup
U. of Virginia, BS Computer Science
Georgia Tech MS Computer Science
Personal
Austin grew up in Richmond, Virginia where he went to the Math and Science high school at Clover Hill. In college, he joined Air Force ROTC and earned a commission in the US Air Force. After developing his initial interest in programming at UVA, most of his life now revolves around computers and he has started several different software ventures since graduation. When he isn't in front of a computer screen, he enjoys playing soccer and cooking. Austin currently lives in Washington, DC.
Alexis Aronson
Education Lead
Experience
Elementary school teacher, pre-K through 3
U. of Dayton, Education
Personal
Alexis is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and has known that she wanted to be a teacher since she was in the second grade. She pursued her passion for education and has fulfilled her dream of having her own classroom. Alexis feels strongly about data driven teaching and enabling learning through technology, so naturally has been a proponent with Guardian Savings since day 1. In her free time, Alexis enjoys cooking and spending time with family. Alexis lives in Arlington, Virginia.
Victoria Santiago
Product Designer
Experience
Design experience with various large corporations
Ex-researcher at a child cognitive psychology research lab
Carnegie Mellon University MHCI
Personal
Victoria is from Princeton, NJ! She has always loved designing solutions that better the world around us. She has a passion for user advocacy and is making concrete designs from insights & team visions! When Victoria isn't working on Guardian Savings, she's at yoga, the climbing gym, or cuddling with her cat Lou. Victoria's currently staying in Destin, FL for a few months as she often spends different seasons in new places!
Leander Zemke
Business Development Lead
Experience
2x founder, entrepreneur-in-residence, Harvard Innovation Labs
Bachelors in Aerospace Engineering
R&D at MTU Aero Engines
Testing and Development at Mercedes AMG Petronas F1
Personal
Leander grew up in multiple cities in Europe. One of them was Vienna, Austria, where Leander and Erik met in high school and have been good friends ever since. He is passionate about solving important problems and likes to apply his engineering mindset to tackle new challenges. He started his first startup, an ed-tech platform called Piriko, with his sister, Lydia Zemke, in 2020. In 2022, after a successful exit, he transitioned to the Guardian Savings team. In his free time, he likes to exercise, draw, and host friends.
Lydia Zemke
Advisor
Experience
2x founder, entrepreneur-in-residence, Harvard Innovation Labs
PhD Candidate, Science, Technology and Policy
Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School
Ex United Nations, McKinsey
Want to Get Involved?
If you like what we are doing and would like to join the team, get in touch with us at support@guardiansavings.org. We are looking to expand our team with talented individuals and advisers that care about helping children and have experience in the following domains:
Branding and Marketing: We want to get Guardian Savings into every family home that has a smart phone. You’ll lead strategy development and execution for marketing to families.
Partner marketing: Our long-term strategy to make Guardian Savings financially sustainable is to white label / license / seek sponsorship with major banks. We’re looking for individuals that know how to score sales at large enterprise companies.
Software Development: Build new features that enhance children’s financial literacy and lead to life-long, positive financial habits. We’re built on JS React and Sails.
Fundraising: To propel Guardian Savings forward in the near term, we are exploring funding options with foundations and venture capital. If you have experience with the fundraising process or have any connections you would like yo share, we would love to hear from you!
