Echo is a not-for-profit organisation that promotes economic and financial literacy in regional Australia. We deliver engaging workshops that bring basic economics and finance to life in a contemporary context. The workshops are developed by dynamic university economics and finance students passionate about their subject.
We are a registered charity with the Australia Charities and Not-for-profits Commission and are committed to raising the level of economic and financial literacy among Australian youth.
Chae is a second year student at the University of Sydney studying a Bachelor of Economics. He founded Echo with the purpose of empowering all young Australians with the basic economic and financial literacy required to make prudent decisions. With prior experiences at boarding school, he has a passionate heart for regional and rural Australia and envisions a future where all young Australians have equal opportunities to strive and thrive, regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds and circumstances.
Andre is a second year student at the University of Sydney studying a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies. He developed a passion for economics when he started seeing connections between economic concepts and his FIFA Ultimate team, his favourite video game as a child. From here, he saw economics alive and breathing in the world around him everywhere he looked. Echo provides a tangible and innovative platform for him to share his appreciation for economics amongst young Australians.
Ling is a second year student at the University of Sydney studying a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Advanced Studies. Alarmed by the socio-economic and gender disparity evident in secondary and tertiary economics education, Ling sees the impacts this has on all spheres of Australian democracy. She is excited to be a part of Echo and its capacity to address educational inequality at its root in efforts to growing a more inclusive future.
Tom is a second year Sydney University student studying a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Computing. In his final years at school he began to recognise the advantage of learning economics in helping individuals make financial choices. He believes that everyone should be given the equal opportunities to engage with this advantage. For Tom, Echo has provided this channel for him to help expand the opportunities that students are given to learn economics and improve their financial literacy.
Rob is a second year student studying a Bachelor of Acturial Studies and Bachelor of Commerce at the University of New South Wales. Rob is very passionate about economics and strongly believes in the importance of teaching economic and financial literacy due to how ubiquitous such concepts are in life regardless of one’s profession. For Rob, Echo provides a platform to make a tangible difference and enhance young Australians’ economic and financial education.
Mary is a second year student studying a Bachelor of Economics and Laws at the University of Sydney. Something she learnt in high school Economics is that we’re all connected, whether that’s on a local, national or international scale. Through her work at Echo, she wants to help more Australian students feel connected to the education and support networks that they need to excel, contribute to Australian democracy and understand the global economy better.
Moniq is a second year student studying a Bachelor of Commerce and Laws at the University of Sydney. This is her second year with Echo, which she joined after being alarmed by the rapidly dropping rates of HSC Economics subject selection, realising younger Australians were becoming disengaged and disconneced from basic economic and financial literacy. As such, Moniq looks forward to giving back to the community through Echo, empowering youth to be educated and actively involved in our globalised society.
Ishani is currently in her second year at the University of New South Wales studying a Bachelor of Economics and Bachelor of Laws. She is passionate about promoting economic and financial literacy due to its power to shape the choices and habits we make and cultivate. Ishani sees Echo as a vessel of this important change.
Natalie is currently in her second year of study at the University of New South Wales and is completing a double degree in Design and Media. She believes that organisations such as Echo are integral to facilitating the development and empowerment of young people, and that an understanding of economics enables a broader understanding of the world in which they live. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, drawing, photography and video editing.
Bianca is a second year student at the University of Sydney studying a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Advanced Studies. She recognises the importance of Echo in making a substantial contribution to the economic education and empowerment of students. She is eager to work together to bring innovation and relatability, particularly interested in the impact of media in reaching young minds.
Gigi is a Professor with the School of Economics at the University of New South Wales. She was formally educated at Yale University (BA in Ethics, Politics, and Economics) and the University of Maryland (PhD in Economics), and works in diverse fields including education, social influence, behavioural economics, and Australian policy.
Her teaching was awarded a 2017 Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.
Named 2019 Young Economist of the Year by the Economic Society of Australia, Professor Foster is one of Australia’s leading economics communicators, with her regular media appearances including co-hosting The Economists with Peter Martin AM on ABC Radio National.
Andrew is Co-Head of Goldman Sachs Australia Equity Research and co-leads the Goldman Sachs Asia Pacific Financials Business Unit. He is a member of the Diversity Leadership Group in Australia and has worked previously at the Royal Bank of Scotland as Head of Banks Research and Merrill Lynch. Andrew earned a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, with Honours, and a Bachelor’s degree in Laws, with Honours, from the University of Sydney.
Walter has 30 years of management experience in global markets and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management. An advisor to senior government officials, a venture capitalist and innovation specialist, Walter’s areas of expertise include corporate governance, performance management, strategic planning and implementation, training and development, people and change management, operational execution, sales, marketing, government relations, administration and process improvement.
Professor Lee received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012. His research area is econometric theory and applications. In particular, Professor Jay is interested in theoretical and empirical consequences of model misspecification in econometrics and bootstrap method for the instrumental variables (IV), the generalised method of moments (GMM) and the generalised empirical likelihood (GEL) estimators.
Johnathan is an Associate Director working across EY’s Valuations, Modelling and Economics Team and EY’s Oceania Office of the Chief Economist, with 6 years’ experience in the public sector and consulting. Prior to joining EY, Johnathan was a Principle Economist at the NSW Treasury, working within the Economic and Revenue forecasting division of the Treasury. He has extensive experience researching, analysing and forecasting the state and national economies in a high level of detail and delivering high-quality advice to senior members and executives of government and businesses.
Francis has over 30 years of experience as an Economics teacher at The Scots College and holds an Honours Degree in Economics and an MBA. He has previously completed multiple sabbaticals at a global investment bank and Australian start up, and now serves as the Executive Officer of the Institute of Business and Economics at The Scots College.
Gareth is the Analytics Lead within the Danone Specialised Nutrition Consumer Marketing Team. He is responsible for ensuring consistent measurement frameworks, Analytical tools and data visualisations are embedded to assist brand teams with website optimisation, digital advertising and media effectiveness.
Bo is an Assistant Product Manager at Westpac Group, specialising in Products and Partnerships within the Consumer Finance Division. She has worked at Westpac for the last 3 years and also is an accomplished cellist, having performed at the 30th Annual Ethnic Business Awards and the National Student Leadership Forum in 2018.
In the current COVID-19 situations, it can be difficult to organise out of school activities but Echo was brilliant in providing fun and engaging workshops that covered basic economic and financial concepts while linking to the NSW Commerce syllabus.”
If you want to get involved in our program, or you just have a question you need answered, we’d love to hear from you.
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