Experian & HomeFree-USA Award $40,000 Scholarship to Fisk University Team for Solution to Bridging Credit Education Gap Among Young People

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 4, 2025--

A four-student team from Fisk University took the top prize in the #IYKYK Pitch Competition (If You Know, You Know) for their business idea to make financial literacy and credit education a rite of passage for young adults, sponsored by Experian and HomeFree-USA.

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Nicknamed Team FinLit, Ansana Regmi, Destiny Marshall, Remilekun Ore and Sovit Lekhak earned a $40,000 scholarship for their proposal, “FinLit HQ.” It’s a personalized gaming experience for teenagers that helps them develop good financial habits and combat money dysmorphia. As they enter their early twenties, users move onto more advanced app-based credit education via gaming missions for real-world financial scenarios, such as buying books at college, renting an apartment, financing a car, and eventually purchasing a home. Because the proposed app would be integrated with Experian SmartMoney, Experian Boost and Experian Go, users would strengthen their real-life credit score as they play in preparation for making informed financial decisions as young adults.

“We realize there’s a knowledge gap within the younger generation about credit. You don’t give someone a car and ask them to drive on the road without any practice. You shouldn’t push young people into the financial world without any education. One small mistake can impact you for years and that’s why FinLitHQ is for users starting as young as 13,” said Ansana Remi, a junior computer science major from Fisk University and captain of Team FinLit.

The #IYKYK Pitch Competition, powered by Experian’s B.A.L.L. for Life initiative, challenged students to create a solution that makes financial literacy and credit education a rite of passage to young people coming of age, including those who are not part of the credit ecosystem. Credit invisibility – meaning without a credit report or credit score – affects 40% of consumers under 25 years of age. Credit invisibility disproportionately affects people of color: 28% of Black consumers, 26% of Hispanic consumers, compared to 16% of White and Asian consumers.

The competition was the culmination of the Experian Credit Academy created for the Center for Financial Advancement® (CFA). Five hundred students from 16 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) came together in live sessions with Experian credit education experts and self-paced modules. Finalists from Bowie State University and Talladega College also presented their ideas live at Experian’s North America headquarters and each team received a $10,000 scholarship.

"We are thrilled to see students fully embrace the pitch competition challenge. Their deep connection bridging the gap in credit education knowledge, and passion for sharing what they’re learning with their communities are inspiring. At Experian, our goal is to make credit education not only informative but also fun, exciting, and culturally relevant. Seeing the enthusiasm and dedication from these students reaffirms our commitment to this mission with HomeFree-USA and the Center for Financial Advancement," said Raudy Perez, Senior Director of External Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Partnerships for Experian North America.

“Education is designed for students, yet their voices can sometimes be missing from the process. Experian’s #IYKYK Pitch Competition allows students to take what they've learned and apply it to real-life scenarios. Learning by doing is powerful, and in this experience, students deepen their understanding of credit and financial literacy by actively engaging with the material and sharing their knowledge with others,” said LuWanna Williams, University Director for the Center of Financial Advancement™.

As part of its mission of financial inclusion and empowerment for all, Experian partners with HomeFree-USA to provide continuing education for its housing counselors and resources for their clients. The company created the Home Preservation Grant, which supported homeowners at risk of losing their homes due to COVID-related hardships with credit education and mortgage relief. Inclusion Forward – Experian Empowering Opportunities™ harnesses Experian’s data, analytics and technology to help clients provide more affordable credit access to diverse communities. To learn more about Experian’s work in diverse communities: visit www.experian.com/diversity.

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About HomeFree-USA

HomeFree-USA is a nonprofit started by Marcia and Jim Griffin in 1994 with a vision to close the homeownership gap. The organization gives African Americans the guidance they need to achieve and sustain homeownership, and bridges the gap between financial strength and homeownership for people of color across America.

As a HUD-intermediary, HomeFree-USA serves the diverse interests of 6.3 million consumers through its nationwide network of over 50 affiliated community-based nonprofits that specialize in guiding people to first-time homeownership, sustainability and increased financial capacity.

For more information visit: https://homefreeusa.org/.

About Center for Financial Advancement ™

The Center for Financial Advancement™ (CFA) is a solution to the industry’s call for more diversity. HomeFree-USA partners with, recruits, trains and places students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) into internships and careers in partnering mortgage, real estate, and financial services companies. Participating CFA Scholars are exposed to credit, money management and homeownership in order to become a savvy consumer and future homeowner.

About Experian

Experian is a global data and technology company, powering opportunities for people and businesses around the world. We help to redefine lending practices, uncover and prevent fraud, simplify healthcare, deliver digital marketing solutions, and gain deeper insights into the automotive market, all using our unique combination of data, analytics and software. We also assist millions of people to realize their financial goals and help them to save time and money.

We operate across a range of markets, from financial services to healthcare, automotive, agrifinance, insurance, and many more industry segments.

We invest in talented people and new advanced technologies to unlock the power of data and innovate. As a FTSE 100 Index company listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN), we have a team of 22,500 people across 32 countries. Our corporate headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland. Learn more at experianplc.com.

The four scholar team from Fisk University celebrates after winning the 2025 #IYKYK Pitch Competition (If You Know You Know) sponsored by Experian, HomeFree-USA and the Center for Financial Advancement for their idea promoting credit education to teens and young adults. (L-R Remilekun Ore, Fisk University; Michele Bodda, Experian President of Employer Services, Verification Solutions and Housing; Destiny Marshall, Fisk University; Wil Lewis, Experian's Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging and Talent Acquisition Officer; Ansana Regmi, Fisk University; and Sovit Lekhak, Fisk University.) (Photo: Business Wire)

The four scholar team from Fisk University celebrates after winning the 2025 #IYKYK Pitch Competition (If You Know You Know) sponsored by Experian, HomeFree-USA and the Center for Financial Advancement for their idea promoting credit education to teens and young adults. (Photo: Business Wire)

BERLIN (AP) — European leaders are expected to cement support for Ukraine Monday as it faces Washington’s pressure to swiftly accept a U.S.-brokered peace deal.

After Sunday’s talks in Berlin between U.S. envoys and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian and European officials are set to continue a series of meetings in an effort to secure the continent’s peace and security in the face of an increasingly assertive Russia.

Finnish President Alexander Stubb, one of the key European interlocutors between U.S. President Donald Trump and Zelenskyy, was spotted Monday morning in downtown Berlin.

Zelenskyy sat down Sunday with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in the German federal chancellery in the hopes of bringing the nearly four-year war to a close.

Washington has tried for months to navigate the demands of each side as Trump presses for a swift end to Russia’s war and grows increasingly exasperated by delays. The search for possible compromises has run into major obstacles, including control of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, which is mostly occupied by Russian forces.

The U.S. government late Sunday said in a social media post on Witkoff’s account after the five-hour meeting that “a lot of progress was made.”

Earlier in the day, Zelenskyy voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO if the U.S. and other Western nations give Kyiv security guarantees similar to those offered to NATO members. But Ukraine continued to reject the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia.

Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw its forces from the part of the Donetsk region still under its control among the key conditions for peace.

The Russian president also has cast Ukraine’s bid to join NATO as a major threat to Moscow’s security and a reason for launching the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Kremlin has demanded that Ukraine renounce the bid for alliance membership as part of any prospective peace settlement.

Zelenskyy emphasized that any Western security assurances would need to be legally binding and supported by the U.S. Congress.

Russia fired 153 drones of various types at Ukraine overnight Sunday into Monday, according to Ukraine’s Air Force. The air force said early Monday that 133 drones were neutralized, while 17 more hit their targets.

In Russia, meanwhile, the defense ministry on Monday said forces destroyed 130 Ukrainian drones overnight. An additional 16 drones were then destroyed between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. local time Monday.

Eighteen drones were shot down over Moscow itself, the Russian defense ministry said.

Flights were temporarily halted at the city’s Domodedovo and Zhukovsky airports as part of safety measures, officials said.

Damage details and casualty figures were not immediately available.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has spearheaded European efforts to support Ukraine alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, said Saturday that “the decades of the ‘Pax Americana’ are largely over for us in Europe and for us in Germany as well.”

“Pax Americana” refers to the U.S.’s postwar dominance as a superpower that has brought relative peace to the globe.

Merz warned that Putin’s aim is “a fundamental change to the borders in Europe, the restoration of the old Soviet Union within its borders.”

“If Ukraine falls, he won’t stop,” Merz warned during a party conference in Munich.

Macron, meanwhile, vowed Sunday on social platform X that “France is, and will remain, at Ukraine’s side to build a robust and lasting peace — one that can guarantee Ukraine’s security and sovereignty, and that of Europe, over the long term.”

Putin has denied plans to attack any European allies.

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Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland. Pietro De Cristofaro in Berlin, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed to this report.

Steve Witkoff, special envoy of the United States, leaves through a hotel garage for talks between representatives of the U.S. and Ukraine in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz,stands in his office in the chancellory in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)

Steve Witkoff, special envoy of the United States, arrives for talks between representatives of the U.S. and Ukraine, at the Hotel Adlon, in Berlin, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

Jared Kushner, entrepreneur and former chief adviser to President Donald Trump, arrives for talks between representatives of the U.S. and Ukraine at the Hotel Adlon, in Berlin, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (Kay Nietfeld/dpa via AP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, right, watches Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arriving at the chancellory in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Maryam Majd)