Virginia Financial Educators Council: About, Mission, Advisory Board
The Virginia Financial Educators Council℠ is committed to helping people across the state gain access to financial education programming that helps them work toward financial wellness. To this end, we provide complimentary resources, advocacy campaigns, and local personal support to build scalable financial wellness initiatives.
The mission of the Virginia Financial Educators Council℠ is to build sustainable, scalable economic empowerment programs that have a real impact on people’s lives at the community level.
Virginia & Regional Advisory Board
The Virginia Financial Educators Council Advisory Board members come from diverse backgrounds, yet share one similar goal – to help push the financial wellness movement forward. Board members serve in a variety of roles to support the Leadership Team to develop leading educational resources, expand our business, and create positive social change.
Founding Member
Ramona Jones
Financial Planner, Chesterfield County, VA
Mideast Regional Advisory Board Members
Dr. Mario DiFiore
Dr., Professor, and Senior Assistant Dean at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business
Bola Sokunbi
Keynote Speaker, Founder of Clever Girl Finance®, and author of Clever Girl Millionaire
Makeela Brathwaite
Executive Director of Grow Brooklyn
Sanjay Pani
Founder and CEO of Rally Bulls
Alison McQueen
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker, REALTOR®
David Anderson
President & CEO of W!se
Nakiea Cook
Founder and Principal Consultant of NC Accounting & Consulting Solutions
State Chapter Details & Affiliation with National Council
The Virginia Financial Educators Council℠ is a chapter of the National Financial Educators Council®. The National chapter is well-qualified to support our initiatives here across the state of Virginia. They bring:
Accreditation
As an IACET Accredited Provider, the NFEC offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard.
Social Impact
As a Certified B Corporation, the NFEC meets the highest standards for socially responsible commerce, using the power of business to build more sustainable economies.
Standards
The NFEC set industry standards for the financial education industry and materials are developed with the highest educational outcomes in mind.
Ramona Jones
Financial Planner, Chesterfield County, VA
Ramona Jones is a U.S. Navy Veteran who retired after 21 years of dedicated service. She earned a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and a Master’s in Healthcare Management from American InterContinental University; a Certificate in Financial Planning from Liberty University; and Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute. Jones is a “How Money Works” Educator through “Wealthwave”; a licensed insurance agent for the states of VA, FL, SC, and GA; and a Notary Official for the state of Virginia.
Ramona’s over two-decade career gave her a deep understanding of financial systems through business relationships with the three credit bureaus, management of million-dollar budgets, facilitating various financial consortiums, and developing financial management processes for several agencies. In 2023 she founded Jeunibe Financial Advisory, an enterprise specializing in holistic planning strategies and tailored financial solutions that guide individuals and their families toward financial independence.
Participating on the VFEC Advisory Board helps Ramona Jones advance her passion for helping others – particularly as they strive to build financial confidence, establish financial security, and achieve their financial goals. She has worked with individuals and families from all backgrounds and appreciates the unique challenges faced by underserved communities who lack appropriate financial education resources. Jones places high value on the power of financial literacy and the impact it can have to improve people’s lives.
Makeela Brathwaite
Executive Director of Grow Brooklyn
With a BA in English and Visual Arts from Hunter College in New York City and almost 20 years spent in nonprofit and community service work, Makeela Brathwaite brings a rich combination of results-oriented skills and creative solutions to her participation on the NYFEC Advisory Board. Her professional endeavors have included community youth groups, academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations. Her expertise ranges from the administrative (budgeting, contract management, data analysis, human resources) to the educational (curriculum development, youth development, proposal writing, workforce readiness programming) to the creative (spoken word performance, artistic design, poetry, musical composition).
Brathwaite began her career as a tutor and college preparation instructor for children and youth aged 6-18. She worked with the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club to support young people toward attending college and funding their higher education pathways. She was Coordinator of Continuing Education in Healthcare at Kingsborough Community College, Instructor at the Brooklyn College Community Partnership, and Visual Artist/Author/Publications Developer for Kibo Books, LLC. Throughout all her endeavors, Makeela was reminded of the ever-growing need for financial wellness education across New York.
Currently Makeela is Executive Director of Grow Brooklyn, a nonprofit that provides free tax prep, housing counseling, direct legal services, and financial coaching to low-income New York families. Grow Brooklyn was established in 2002 and incorporated in 2008. The organization serves not only Brooklyn but also Bronx, the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and other counties across New York State. This enterprise offers Makeela Brathwaite multiple opportunities to fulfill her passion – providing New Yorkers with measurable, results-driven financial empowerment education.
Nakiea Cook
Founder and Principal Consultant of NC Accounting & Consulting Solutions
Nakiea Cook, MBA, CFEI®, is a Fractional CFO, Financial Wellness Advocate and Instructor with more than a decade of experience in federal government auditing, including work supporting the Department of Defense. She earned her Master’s in Entrepreneurship from DeVry University and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration at Northcentral University. Her background includes evaluating financial systems, internal controls, compliance, and stewardship of public funds in highly regulated environments.
Cook founded her current business, NC Accounting & Consulting Solutions, in 2016. She now focuses on financial education and systems-based financial leadership for nonprofits, small businesses, and community organizations. Her approach emphasizes building strong financial foundations through cash flow clarity, governance, accountability, and education – rather than reactive or transactional solutions.
Nakiea is a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI®) who specializes in translating complex financial concepts into practical, accessible guidance. She no longer provides tax preparation services; her work centers on education, financial systems, and long-term financial wellness. Her perspective blends CFO-level expertise with a strong commitment to advocacy, prevention, and sustainable financial decision-making.
Cook has earned multiple honors including being named 2024 SBA Financial Champion of the Year and a Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Alumna. She has been featured on Nasdaq, Business Insider, the NY Stock Exchange, and in WomLEAD Magazine and the Buffalo Business Journal.
Nakiea Cook is especially committed to supporting historically under-resourced organizations that are expected to operate with complex financial requirements but limited infrastructure. She views her role to be bringing structure, strategy, and education into environments where financial ambiguity creates risk.
Alison McQueen
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker, REALTOR®
Alison McQueen is a nationally recognized leading real estate agent who owns and operates The Corcoran Group in Brooklyn, New York. With an MA in Psychology, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling from The New School for Social Research, Alison calls upon her experience as a psychologist to help clients successfully navigate the real estate market with minimal stress.
A Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker and REALTOR®, McQueen also holds credentials as an Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, a Certificate in Editing, and an AAS in Music Performance and has taught woodwinds to individuals of all skill levels. She recently completed a rigorous course at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania focused on corporate governance and healthy board functioning; and expects to earn her International Board Director Competency Designation (IBDC.D) in 2024. Alison consistently receives awards from national trade organizations and her brokerage firm based on her annual sales volume and total closed dollar amounts.
From teaching woodwinds as a classically trained musician, to supporting clients through symptom management as a mental health clinician, to building and developing three successful businesses from scratch – Alison McQueen maintains her deep commitment to transparency, honesty, advocacy, and research. As a member of the New York Financial Educators Council Advisory Board, she will translate those values into fostering greater financial wellness throughout New York communities.
Sanjay Pani
Founder and CEO of Rally Bulls
Sanjay Pani, Founder and CEO of Rally Bulls, is a technology innovation thought leader and entrepreneur working at the intersection of AI, FinTech, and EdTech. With an EMBA from Baruch College in New York City, Pani has more than two decades of experience in financial services leadership roles, including 12 years with J.P. Morgan. He was inspired to create his personal finance education platform by observing a widespread lack of financial knowledge and confidence, even among successful professionals – a gap between access and understanding that Sanjay felt could be bridged by combining traditional education with fintech innovation.
The platform resulting from this brainstorm is Rally Bulls, a hands-on learning ecosystem that guides users to explore personal finance and investing through gamification, interactive lessons, and real-world trading simulations. The system is supported by a proprietary AI-powered virtual tutor that provides coaching, feedback, and plain-language explanations of key concepts. Since its New York launch in 2023, Rally Bulls has expanded across the U.S., Canada, and multiple international markets.
Pani also has authored two books designed to complement his learning platform: The Subscription Playbook: Recurring Revenue in the App Economy published in 2024; and Reimagining Financial Education with Gamification & AI: The Future of Learning to Trade and Invest released in 2025. Both books are available on Kindle through Amazon.
Sanjay Pani’s work with Rally Bulls highlights his commitment to the financial wellness movement and his desire to create financial education tools that are standards-based, accessible, and scalable. His partnership with the NFEC and participation on the New York Council’s Advisory Board form one piece of his plan to achieve those goals. The New York Financial Educators Council is looking forward to its ongoing relationship with Sanjay as we work together on financial wellness initiatives across the Empire State.
David Anderson
President & CEO of W!se
David Anderson, President & CEO, leads the effort to achieve W!se’s mission to improve economic mobility of young Americans and at-risk adults through programs that develop financial literacy and readiness for college and careers. W!se’s success is built on five pillars: relevancy, digital leadership, real-world experiences, volunteerism, and evaluation. Anderson became President & CEO of W!se when its founder, Phyllis Perillo, retired in 2022 and before that was W!se’s Executive Vice President responsible for the Financial Literacy and MoneyW!SE programs as well as partnerships, development, and marketing.
David Anderson joined W!se in 2007 after a career at Citigroup, where he was an executive in a unit that supports the process of financial sector/capital markets reform in developing countries. Before that, he held management positions at Citigroup in business development, marketing, mergers and acquisitions, and strategy. He holds a BA from University College, London and an MBA from Columbia University. He is on the adjunct faculty in the Economics Department at Drew University and served on the Advisory Board of Teachers College, Columbia University on Fiscal Sustainability; the Domestic Violence Committee of the NY Women’s Association; and The Teacher Workshop Scholarship Committee of ICE/NYSE.
David Anderson’s vision is to create a nation of financially literate, college- and career-ready young people who can succeed personally and professionally and meet the challenges of a global economy.
Bola Sokunbi
Keynote Speaker, Founder of Clever Girl Finance®, and author of Clever Girl Millionaire
Bola’s work and community service has been honored with multiple awards, including being named one of Money’s Most Influential Women by GoBankingRates and being 2021 recipient of the NFEC’s Financial Education Instructor of the Year (FEIY) Award. The NFEC also has designated Clever Girl Finance as a Distinguished Personal Finance Content developer, indicating that the platform passed a rigorous review process that showcases its commitment to the highest quality of evidence-based financial education.
Sokunbi founded Clever Girl Finance as a mission-driven enterprise that provides women with financial guidance and support to build confidence and make smart money decisions that transform their lives. Since 2020 the company has offered resources that include personal finance courses, mentorship, daily articles, podcasts, and video content – all in a non-shaming environment and completely free.
In addition, Bola conducts community outreach and advocacy, partnering with organizations and influencers to spearhead economic empowerment through financial education on a global scale.
The NJFEC is looking forward to gaining Bola Sokunbi’s insights and contributions as we pursue our shared vision in the coming years.
Dr. Mario DiFiore
Dr., Professor, and Senior Assistant Dean at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business
Advisory Board Member Mario J. DiFiore, PhD – professor, dean, journalist, and consultant – is Senior Assistant Dean and Director at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business in New York. A member of the Finance and Business Economics faculty since 2001, Dr. DiFiore serves as Chairman of the Investment Committee of the ESG Student Management Investment Fund, an experiential learning opportunity for students in the graduate division to manage approximately 1,000,000 of the University’s Endowment.
A five-time award winner for teaching excellence and innovation, Dr. DiFiore leads the Gabelli School’s financial wellness initiatives. He also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Financial Compliance, an internationally peer-reviewed journal devoted to best practices in the field of compliance. DiFiore’s rich career and experiential background underlies his contributions to the New York Financial Educators Council’s Advisory Board.
Global Proficiency in Financial Research, Monetary Policy, and Macroeconomics: Mario J. DiFiore
Dr. DiFiore has had an extensive career on Wall Street and in the banking industry. Prior to joining Fordham, Dr. DiFiore was Global Head of Compliance Training at Deutsche Bank AG for nearly 10 years; Deputy Director of the Ten Squared LLP hedge fund in Greenwich, CT; Global Head of Continuing Education at Prudential Securities; and Assistant Director of New York University’s (NYU) Finance Division in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
Dr. DiFiore began his career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York where he worked for about a dozen years in the research and statistics, international affairs, and public information areas. In fact, as the Fed’s Senior Representative for International Relations, Dr. DiFiore regularly met with and discussed issues relating to monetary policy, macroeconomics, and Fed policy with central bankers from across the globe. Dr. DiFiore ended his Federal Reserve career as Assistant Director of Public Information, where he led the group responsible for all financial and economic data releases for the weekly Fed press conferences.
Dr. DiFiore also serves as an international consultant, providing extensive training and consulting in financial compliance, economics, financial markets, and other areas in the finance and economics sphere. He has taught in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America. He holds a BA, summa cum laude, in Economics from Fordham University; an MBA also from Fordham; and a PhD in Financial Economics from the NEOMA Business School in Paris, France.