Sarah Saleem is a recent high school graduate headed to UC Davis in the fall. She is interning with NGPF this summer, a role that came about through a chain of connections and a lot of initiative—all while building her own education company. Read her story, in her own words, of going from personal finance student to working behind the scenes at NGPF.

My journey with NGPF began in 2024 during my sophomore year of high school. I was a student reporter covering education topics across California and I was trying to decide what to write my first official article about.

That semester, I was taking a personal finance class and loving it. My teacher, Kimra Balliet, was using the NGPF curriculum and I learned about topics like credit, buying a car, and investing. She told our class California had just passed Mission 2030. I thought that this would be a great story to write my first article about.

Connecting with NGPF's Co-Founder

I researched the bill and learned more about NGPF’s mission. I began reaching out to people within NGPF for interviews, including co-founder Tim Ranzetta. I didn’t hear back from Mr. Ranzetta, so I thought about the advice my mom always gave me. She told me to “Just ask, the worst they can say is no.”

So after interviewing Ms. Balliet for my article, I asked if she happened to know NGPF co-founder Tim Ranzetta. To my surprise, she did! I met with my teacher and Mr. Ranzetta and he shared insights on why he started NGPF and how Mission 2030 came to be.

I connected with him on LinkedIn to stay in touch, and my article was published soon after. It was a wonderful experience from start to finish, but it didn’t stop there. I stayed updated with Mission 2030’s progress.

Building a Digital Safety Education Company

The summer before my senior year, I noticed an influx of confusing and sometimes deceptive AI content on social media. I thought about how hard that must be for seniors to navigate, so I started an initiative and called it ClickSafe. I gave presentations at my local retirement community about digital safety. I covered topics from how to use Siri to how to recognize scams. I loved teaching and I loved seeing the looks on their faces when they learned something new. 

As my senior year of high school came to an end, word about ClickSafe spread around my school. Teachers and faculty encouraged me to expand it. Between that encouragement, the growing conversation around children’s digital safety, and my own experiences growing up with video games and social media, the decision felt easy: I would spend my summer turning ClickSafe into an education company teaching digital safety to kids.

I knew it wouldn’t be easy, so I reached out to school faculty for advice on navigating the logistical and business side of getting started. Once I had a better sense of what that would take, I thought back to how much NGPF has done for education. I sent Mr. Ranzetta a quick email about reconnecting.

We talked about my college decisions, my extracurriculars, and ClickSafe. I shared my ideas, my questions, and how I hoped to build the company by the end of summer. Mr. Ranzetta gave me great guidance and encouraging feedback. Toward the end of our conversation, I remembered my mom’s advice once more and asked if he knew anyone who might want an intern this summer. That question turned into an offer to intern at NGPF. 

Interning at NGPF

My internship lasts all throughout this summer until I start school at UC Davis in the fall. I’m learning from the NGPF team and getting to see firsthand what it takes to run an education nonprofit. I’m helping out with projects including supporting educators in the seven states newly implementing the personal finance graduation requirement. and participating in team meetings. I’ve been enjoying applying what I learn here to building ClickSafe.  

Personal finance education is crucial and I’m so happy to spend my summer as part of the NGPF team.

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