On the scale from least to most financially literate, Georgia placed 41st nationally, not a substantial figure compared to other areas of economics and business, according to Gold IRA. Arhan Barve, a senior at Lambert High School, wants to change Georgia’s standing and is doing so by taking significant steps toward strengthened consumer awareness. As the Economics Club president and as the National Treasurer’s Executive Council (NTEC) Financial Literacy Director for FBLA, Barve is an involved leader, exemplifying the standard at Lambert. Barve’s interest in the finance world delves deeper than just a personal understanding of this field. His interest and passion in this, motivates him to make a difference and aid others in understanding the true nuances of personal finance.
His interest in this field started in tenth grade when he competed at competitions and joined the Economics Club. He attended the World Economics Cup and was introduced to a broad range of issues and solutions that stem from finance. Now, he wants to address a growing problem across Georgia: a lack of educational resources on financial literacy.
In his service project, Fynoptic, Barve aims to achieve exactly that. Started in 2024, Fynoptic is a consumer awareness website with a built-in practice database and courses. Fynoptic hopes to allow viewers to practice and improve their understanding of financial vocabulary as a consumer and navigate through monetary concepts.
“I essentially want Georgia students and students across the country to be more familiar with financial literacy, and have a higher degree of understanding of how money works and how to manage money in their lives,” Barve expanded. “We aren’t ranked that high in the national list for financial literacy. I just want to make sure that this is something that is taught, and is widespread knowledge across all of Georgia.”
Barve, along with fellow Lambert students and founders of Fynoptic, Vishwa Rajan and Ethan Baek, intend for this to be a platform for students to gain a comprehensive knowledge of finance and the specificities of it, including banking, investment and managing transactions. They consider this to be a tool necessary for the future generations and for classrooms in Georgia.
“We’re actually working with several school boards about adding this as a resource in the curriculum, and working with a CTAE department and a resource network to try to get this integrated as a resource in CTAE classes,” Barve stated. “For popular economics and personal finance competitions, this website is already being used as a resource for teachers and students. We’re already starting to try to spread the word and get as many people to use it as possible.”
He met with Dr. Michelle Au, a Georgia representative and legislator, as well as different firms to present and illustrate the capabilities of Fynoptic. These different investment management and finance groups have given him valuable insight into how to create a viable solution, and he has used that knowledge to further understand the issue and how to implement it.
“I was able to demo this for several state legislators, and they gave us great feedback,” Barve added. “I had the chance to meet with them and learn more about educational policy in Georgia.”
With this project, Barve aims to address an often overlooked problem of financial literacy, consumer personal finance and change the direction of economic literacy education in Georgia and throughout the country. Ultimately, his project strives to empower individuals in the community with the skills they need to excel and make crucial financial decisions. Barve’s commitment to global solutions as a student of Lambert is astounding and Lambert applauds his dedication to this field.
