For this final episode, Dj Villian sat down with Kanye, a junior at Rooted School in New Orleans.  They talked about how much Kanye grew over this last year, learning how to better manage his money and use the weekly stipends to help the people around him. This is the last episode of season 2 and we have a big announcement! The $50 Study received a grant from the City of New Orleans to scale this project even bigger next school year. What started out as only 20 initial students will become a city wide project that includes 800 high school seniors from all over New Orleans.  Big shout out to Rooted School for making this all possible and thanks to YOU for listening to these stories. Remember to follow us on IG @the50dollarstudy to catch up on what happens next.

This episode, DJ Villian interviewed Freddie, an ambitious Senior from Rooted New Orleans who learned everything possible about 3D design and printing. This last year, Freddie used the money from the $50 Study to prototype a top secret design for his own product. With the help of the $50 Dollar Study, he used that prototype to test his idea and continue to develop it over his Senior year. Thanks again for listening and don't forget to follow @the50dollarstudy on Instagram

We went to Rooted New Orleans to sit down (in person!) with students about their experience so far with the $50 Study. Peyton is a recent graduate at Rooted New Orleans with a passion for environmental justice and journalism. Peyton and Vernell cover a wide range of positive  topics, reflecting on how Peyton has used the $50 to double down on self-care, invest in black-owned businesses, and even save up for her driver's license. Peyton graduated in the spring and it was awesome to reconnect to hear about her big plans for the next year.Don't forget to follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There, we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the Rooted Community.

We went to Rooted New Orleans to sit down (in person!) with students about their experience so far with the $50 Study. Ethan is a senior at Rooted that loves video game design. He talks about how this study has helped him better understand "impulse spending" and how he is learning how to better save to reach his larger goals. Don't forget to follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There, we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the Rooted Community.

To better understand how the $50 study is impacting the Rooted community in Indianapolis, we interviewed Nyarian. Nyarian is an aspiring pediatricians that loves to work with kids. She shared with how the money helped support her family and pay for her long list of extracurriculars and sports.Don't forget to follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There, we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the Rooted Community.

For the next few episodes, we will interview students from Indianapolis Rooted. This episode, we talked to Caleb, a senior from Rooted Indy and an aspiring film maker. Although initially skeptical of the study, he shares how the money has changed his impacted his life and relationship to money.If you want to follow us on social media, follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There, we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the Rooted Community.

We talked with La'Nyah, an impressive junior from Rooted Indianapolis. La'Nyah is a creative entrepreneur starting her own photography business while also juggling a ton of different hobbies and hustles.  We talked about how this study has given her he opportunity to launch her business and support her siblings at home.

For the next few episodes, we will interview students from Indianapolis Rooted.  First up, we talked with Dwayne, an impressive junior from Indianapolis or what he called, “the land of cold and corn”.  He is an aspiring track runner, future software developer, and just an overall amazing young person.  We talked about how this study has given him everything from more money to hang out with friends to a different outlook on financial discipline.

Back in December, we sat down with Rooted students on the first day of the “$50 Study”. They had JUST learned that they were chosen to participate and were still wrapping their head around this research, its mission, and why it exists. For this episode,  we wanted to share with you their individual goals for the year ahead and their bigger dreams around “financial freedom”.Lastly, Rooted started this study with the fundamental belief young adults can be trusted with money AND that access to cash at this earlier age might disrupt income inequality. We believe that money is a necessary tool that many students simply don’t have and we wanted to ask Rooted students why youth should be trusted with money. Listen to students explain how this study could impact their lives in big and small waysFollow us on social media, follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There, we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the Rooted Community.

AND we are back!Rooted Schools is conducting the  “$50 Study”- providing 83 Rooted students with $50 a week unconditionally, no strings attached for 40 weeks. Why? The goal see what happens when youth are given unconditional cash transfers. How will this money improve their academic performance? Social-emotional wellbeing? Professional prospects? There will be a team of scientists from University of Pennsylvania measuring their academic performance as well as conducting interviews that will explore the impact on students’ lives including: mental, physical and financial health, family relationships, personal fulfillment.And the Rooted Cash Podcast will follow along- to record, capture, and amplify the voices and experiences behind the data points. We know that each student has an important story that reflects not only the need that drives this groundbreak study, but the potential that lies ahead.Follow us all season as we interview students about their experience and ask them to reflect on their financial goals.And if you want to follow us on social media, follow us @the50dollarstudy on Instagram. There we will be sharing pictures, videos, and reflections on this study from the Rooted Community.

Welcome to Rooted Cash Podcast. What is it? Why are we doing this? Listen to Rooted senior Vernell Cheneau break down their vision and purpose behind this podcast.

For their very first interviews, DJ Villian And DJ Bio interview Kaitlin Karpinski- the founding principle of The Rooted School in New Orleans. Their conversation covers everything from the main motivation behind the school's design to the real need for the Cash Transfer Pilot. Big shout out to "Ms. Karp" for her time to connect and reflect with us.

DJ Villian breaks down what the term "Universal Basic Income" means and the potential impact that similar policies would have for the New Orleans community and beyond.

We “sat down” over Zoom with Dr. Amy Baker and Dr. Stacia West- the founders of The Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania. They explained the current movement behind basic income policies and how a similar study conducted in Stockton, CA influenced the design of the cash transfer pilot at Rooted.

Grateful to Denzell Caldwell of the Nashville Economic Justice Alliance (or NEJA) for making the time to share his experience organizing and advocating for fair income in Tennessee. In this interview, we talk about the many different challenges in this work and the potential impact it could have on local community.

An amazing conversation with 4.0 CEO Hassan Hassan about his own personal journey and how that drives his leadership behind the cash transfer pilot. We also talked about the legend of 2pac, what it means to be financially literate, and our own dreams for the future.

We close our interviews with Jonathan Johnson- founder and CEO of Rooted School. We look back on the early days of Rooted, our upcoming graduation, and what the cash transfer pilot means for the future of our community.

One year later, we sit down (in person!) with DJ Villian, Hassan Hassan, and Jonathan Johnson. What were the major learnings from the study? How has this pilot shaped their perspective on money? What is next for the cash transfer pilot? This conversation is the perfect ending to an incredible year of growth and learning.