During the fall of 1997, Bank Of America and the Consumer Federation of America jointly sponsored a series of investor education activities entitled From Here To Security: Your Map To Financial Freedom.  Usable News helped design and implement every component of this outreach.  Campaign activities included:

National public opinion poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates.  This survey concluded that people with plans were likely to have twice as much in savings and investments as people without plans.  AARP President Joe Perkins, CFA Investment Advocate Barb Roper, and CFA President Stephen Brobeck participated alongside Bank Of America President Ken Lewis in a press conference unveiling these important survey results.

Media and public forum tour to sixteen cities in Bank Of America’s franchise on how to develop a plan, shop for products and services, etc.  Gerri Detweiler (formerly with the National Council of Individual Investors) and William Kent Brunette (formerly with AARP) conducted media interviews and public workshops in the following cities:  Albuquerque, Atlanta, Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas, Ft. Lauderdale/Sarasota, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Miami, Orlando, St. Louis, Richmond, Tallahassee, Tampa, Tulsa, & West Palm Beach.  350 to 400 people showed up for some of them.

Tabloid newspaper to help Americans from all walks of life plan their financial futures.  Hundreds of thousands of copies of a comprehensive, 8-page newspaper have been widely distributed in Bank Of America branches, at public forums, and through Ken McEldowney's Consumer Action Network of more than 5,000 community organizations.  A Spanish version of this tabloid is also being distributed.

In addition to the above jointly sponsored CFA/Bank Of America endeavors, Bank Of America funded the creation of the following:

From Here To Security radio program.  This two-minute, weekday news feature provided practical tips and information to help listeners with their finances.  Gerri Detweiler and William Kent Brunette hosted this program, which aired on 121 radio stations in Bank Of America’s franchise.  The FHTS radio program generated over 50 million listener impressions during its first six months on the air.

Consumer Resource Center at nationsbank.com/consumer.  This non-commercial web site was chock full of tools and information to help consumers with their finances.  It was a financial library that provided goal-oriented information, like calculators, budgeting and banking basics, to assist consumers when making financial decisions.