Money Starts at Home was created to help families build stronger financial futures by starting important conversations earlier. Through culturally relevant storytelling, family-centered learning, and practical financial lessons, the series empowers children to develop healthy money habits that can last a lifetime.
About Money Starts at Home
Money Starts at Home was created to help families build stronger financial futures by starting important conversations earlier. Through culturally relevant storytelling, family-centered learning, and practical financial lessons, the series empowers children to develop healthy money habits that can last a lifetime.
"If only we knew then what we know now."
Most parents don’t teach children concepts about money, and their experiences of it are influenced by their peers and household. When left to chance, a child’s relationship with money is based on emotional factors rather than sound practices.
Without classroom instruction in school or attention at home, we venture out into the world with wild notions about what money can or can’t do — mixed in with a cycle of consumerism that never ends.
Our goal with the Money Starts at Home book series is to plant seeds in young minds before they become seduced by consumer culture. Armed with age-old concepts about using money as a tool, children learn fundamental principles that help them make better choices as adults.
Our Mission
To make financial literacy accessible, engaging, and culturally meaningful for every child and family.
Our Vision
Why Latino Families?
Research consistently shows that many Latino households face barriers to financial education, banking access, investing knowledge, and wealth-building opportunities.
Money Starts at Home embraces the strengths of Latino family culture, community, resilience, generosity, and intergenerational learning — to create financial literacy resources that reflect real families and real experiences.
The Authors
Meet the Women Behind the Mission
Yamila Ayad
Yamila Ayad is a lifelong advocate for financial literacy and homeownership in the Latino community. A native of Colombia, she has served in both local and national leadership roles and as a mortgage originator.
She co-founded the HOME Clinic, a foreclosure prevention program that delivered one-on-one counseling to more than 10,000 distressed homeowners during the housing crisis.
She is vice chair of the Homeownership Council of America and has served on boards with the San Diego Foundation, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, and the Housing Opportunities Collaborative of San Diego.
Mary Mancera
Mary is a passionate advocate for homeownership in underserved communities.
Working in housing and real estate since 2004 as an executive advisor, she contributed to early editions of the State of Hispanic Homeownership Report and helped drive awareness of the financial barriers Latino families face.
In 2020 she co-founded the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, a nonprofit that has grown to 4,000 members and 42 chapters. She has led national campaigns and managed partnerships with some of housing’s leading brands.
Financial literacy isn't learned in a single lesson.
It is built through small conversations, repeated practice, and the everyday choices families make together. That’s why money truly starts at home.