The disparity in financial literacy is greatest among African Americans. According to the 2022 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index, African Americans answered 37% of the study’s financial literacy questions correctly, whereas White Americans answered 55% percent of questions correctly. To help change this, Tomeka Purcell created a book series and corresponding Morgan doll to help educate, entertain, and inspire children.
Morgan is an African American Doll with smooth dark skin and curly hair. She represents an image young black girls see in the mirror. By creating a doll that looks like the target audience, Tomeka has created the ideal toy to connect with children and parents. The Financial Education inside the Morgan Series books brushes up on the fundamental pillars of financial literacy and Tomeka can comment on the following hot topics:
-How youth can understand earning money, and how it works beyond working a job.
-How to teach them about saving beyond the piggy bank, discipline, and delayed gratification. With young kids, teaching them to save for short-term goals—such as a toy they really want—rather than for the future
-When are they old enough to get an allowance, and when are they old enough to make decisions about spending their money?
-Can kids borrow money from friends? If you value giving to others, you can instill that value in your children by helping make it a habit for them at an early age. Giving is just as essential as all the other key components of great financial management.
Through the Morgan College Pack and Morgan CEO Pack, children enjoy a doll, a book, a coloring book, and plush puppy while parents enjoy the assurance that this investment is as educational as it is fun. In the Morgan College Pack, Morgan teaches the importance of earning, saving to build for a college career and achieve a better life. In the CEO pack, Morgan becomes the CEO of a dog walking service and readers can learn the importance of becoming an entrepreneur and how to obtain that goal financially. It comes with dolls, crayons, coloring book and the Morgan Saves for College book for K-10 years old.
Tomeka says, “My books and dolls assist with hands-on learning with books and coloring books. The Morgan Doll teaches children to love themselves because the doll looks like them and they can relate. My company is Black-owned and promotes self-love with an emphasis on financial literacy at an early age to carry over to adulthood.”
Tomeka Purcell – Inventor of the Morgan Doll