Financial Wellness - iiilabs.org

Financial Capability Systems

Designing behavioral, trauma-informed approaches to improve financial decision-making, financial literacy, and economic resilience.

Organizations Continue to Face Three Persistent Challenges

Financial literacy alone is not enough

Participants often gain knowledge but struggle to translate it into sustained financial behavior under conditions of stress, scarcity, or instability.

Economic education is not embedded in programs

Financial learning is frequently treated as a standalone workshop rather than integrated into workforce development, youth programs, or community services.

Financial stress and shame remain unaddressed

Traditional financial education often overlooks the emotional and psychological dimensions of money, including financial trauma, avoidance, and shame, which can limit engagement and behavior change.

Despite decades of investment in financial literacy, outcomes remain uneven. Research across behavioral economics, public policy, and financial capability shows that knowledge alone is not sufficient to consistently change financial behavior or improve long-term financial stability.

Financial decisions are shaped by cognitive load, financial stress, behavioral biases, income volatility, institutional design, and lived experience. Effective financial education must therefore go beyond information delivery to address how decisions are made in real-world conditions.

III Labs helps organizations design integrated financial capability systems that combine financial literacy, behavioral insight, trauma-informed practice, and organizational design.

would recommend our workshops to others

feel confident integrating personal finance into their programs or classrooms

Schools and organizations reached

report gaining high-quality, ready-to-use curriculum materials

Our Model

III Labs designs financial capability systems across three interconnected levels:

Individual capability (Financial + behavioral literacy)

01

We combine financial literacy with behavioral and trauma-informed approaches to strengthen real-world financial decision-making under conditions of stress, scarcity, and instability.

Organizational systems (Embedding economic education into programs)

02

We help institutions embed economic education directly into existing programs—rather than treating financial learning as a standalone workshop—across workforce development, education, and community services.

Measurement and learning

03

We design programs around clear definitions of success from the start, focusing on whether financial education leads to real changes in behavior and long-term financial stability—not just participation or attendance.

Burhan’s approach emphasizes creating safe spaces for financial healing and literacy, combining innovative educational pedagogy with storytelling and digital media. Participants responded strongly to both the content and the facilitation: evaluation data from the program were overwhelmingly positive, showing strong gains in educator confidence and highly favorable feedback about the training’s impact on classroom practice.

Erin V. Heald
Senior Manager, Advocacy
Council for Economic Education

This is the best and most relevant Professional Development I have been to in 20 years.

K-12 Educator

We are a city school that draws from the entire city, so most of our population has at least some level of financial trauma.

K-12 Educator

Financial instability impacts students’ access to food, clothing, and shelter. Those areas significantly impact a student’s physical and emotional ability to attend to academics.

K-12 Educator

Please continue reaching out to schools and communities and begin to grow your footprint because
this was one of the best PDs I have attended in the state. It is so valuable and needed.

K-12 Educator

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes this different?

Most financial education focuses on knowledge transfer. III Labs focuses instead on system performance and behavior change. We help organizations understand why financial literacy does not consistently translate into action, how stress, scarcity, and shame shape financial decision-making, and how programs can embed economic education rather than treat it as a standalone intervention.

Our work also examines the design conditions that produce sustained financial capability rather than short-term learning gains.

What does “trauma-informed financial education” mean?

It means recognizing that financial behavior is influenced by lived experience, stress, and past exposure to financial instability or harm. Our approach focuses on creating learning environments that reduce shame, build confidence, and support engagement rather than relying on fear- or deficit-based models of financial education.

Can financial literacy programs really improve outcomes for underserved communities?

Yes—but research shows their impact is strongest when combined with structural supports and behavioral design. In underserved communities, financial literacy can improve day-to-day decision-making and financial confidence, especially when programs are accessible, culturally responsive, and integrated into broader support systems.

Who we work with?

We partner with institutions responsible for improving financial outcomes, including foundations, government agencies, school systems and higher education institutions, employers and workforce programs, nonprofit organizations, and community-based organizations.

Do you only provide workshops?

No. Workshops are one part of our work. We also provide program design, curriculum development, organizational consulting, and evaluation support to help institutions build integrated financial capability systems.

All work is tailored to institutional goals, populations served, and implementation context.

What is integrated financial capability

Our goal is integrated financial capability: the ability to understand, apply, and sustain financial decisions under real-world conditions of stress, scarcity, and opportunity.

What does “trauma-informed financial education” mean?

Whether you’re a school, nonprofit, funder, or institution—we help you build financial wellness that actually sticks.

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