CLIMB USA will host a virtual open house as it prepares to open registration for its summer 2026 Stock Market Experience to foster skills in investing and financial literacy.
The nonprofit organization is focused on improving the financial capability of historically underserved teens and young adults through education and engagement with capital markets. Its eight-week summer program offers a chance to get familiar with investing in the stock market through a simulation and courses. CLIMB USA uses a proprietary platform called the “CLIMB Stock Exchange” with real-time updates on stock prices on the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
Investing is often intimidating for first-timers and leads many to avoid it, said Robert Wynn, president of CLIMB USA. The program will work to remove some of the conceptual barriers to accessing information on how to invest.
“People who have learned to invest learned that it’s not overly complicated. Whereas, if you’ve never invested before, or never learned how to buy and sell stocks, it can be mysterious,” Wynn said.
On the platform, participants will get $100,000 of fictitious money to invest and manage their portfolios. Participants have the chance to win up to $7,500 in prizes based on the performance of their simulated portfolios.
The experience, coupled with real-time updates, will give them a chance to understand strategies.
In addition to the investing platform, a learning platform with videos on topics like financial literacy basics, stock analysis techniques and wealth-building skills will be available for viewing. Finance experts will also come via Zoom every Tuesday throughout the eight weeks to discuss topics central to investing.
The Stock Market Experience is one of the central ways CLIMB USA hopes to help under-resourced communities get started on their own investing journeys. After the program completes, CLIMB USA will invite those who finish to take the next step in creating their own investment clubs — or investment enterprises, as CLIMB USA likes to call them.
“It’s through that model where individuals will have the opportunity to put real money into a portfolio that their defined group decides what they want to invest in, with the idea that these groups will stay together for multiple years and build portfolios,” Wynn said.
Wynn has used investment enterprises before, like the one he started with Dr. Floyd Rose — president of 100 Black Men of Madison, Inc. — in 1987, which has over $1.1 million today. He also has an investment club with his family that has grown to over a quarter of a million dollars.
Understanding investments is key to building “initial wealth,” Wynn calls it, to be used as seed capital for future ventures, from buying homes, starting a business, financing education or securing a better place for themselves for retirement.
The Stock Market Experience will take place between June 15-Aug. 4. It is open for individuals or as teams of four to eight people. It operates on a pay-what-you-can model ranging between $0-$100.
Registration will open soon, but it will host an open house virtual session for further information on how the program works, its curriculum, and answer any other questions.
The virtual open will be held on Tuesday, April 14, at noon. Registration is required.
