Future of the Business World Podcast · Wharton Global Youth Program

Expanding Financial Education in Latin America

September 25, 2025·26 min·1 clip

Chelsea says financial literacy is not a right in many emerging countries.

Chelsea Rojas starts with the setback. Her family tried to cover the cost of a program, but the scholarship support she needed was not available, so she had to withdraw. That loss stuck with her. When universities said their financial aid had run out because demand was so high, she began wondering how many accepted students were still shut out by money. The problem felt larger than getting admitted. Chelsea connects that experience to financial literacy, which she says is not treated as a right in many emerging countries and is often missing from school curricula, especially for young people trying to build businesses. Diana Drake keeps the conversation practical. She gives Chelsea room to explain how access, knowledge, and business survival connect without turning the story into a polished success reel. FINWISE comes from Chelsea's frustration with a pattern she sees: young people launch businesses, struggle, close them, and start again without the financial tools to do better next time. Her later scholarship changes the mood. Chelsea describes full support for Wharton Global Youth's Future of the Business World program as surprising and freeing. Without the money pressure, she could focus on learning with peers, mentors, and teaching assistants, plus simulations and team work around human centered business. The interview is warm but still orderly. Diana starts with Chelsea's background, then moves into the nonprofit and the ideas Chelsea wants to build. Chelsea sounds energetic and a little unfinished at moments, which fits. This is a young founder still standing close to the problem. Near the end, Chelsea says the interview itself is a first for her, especially in English. Asked who she would bring onto a business themed talk show, she chooses Howard Schultz and wants to ask about the boldest risk behind Starbucks becoming more than a coffee shop.

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