When a federal law created investment accounts for every American child under 18, it also created a gap: most families don’t know the accounts exist or how to claim them. Cultivar Communities is attacking that problem by training young people from the same neighborhoods to sit down with families and walk them through the process — starting with a founding class of 17 college and high school students.
College students across Texas, New Mexico, and Louisiana to train families to claim investment accounts from U.S. Treasury Department for every child under 18
We are turning public policy into an active instrument for intergenerational wealth.”— Arellana Barela Levenson, founder and CEO of Cultivar Communities
Today, Cultivar Communities announced the Founding Class of its Activator Leadership Fellows, a twelve-week, peer-led fellowship that prepares college students to bridge the gap with families in their own communities to claim and activate the 530A child investment accounts created by the U.S. Treasury, commonly known as the Trump Account. The organization also revealed its National Launch, scheduled for New Orleans from January 14 to 16, 2027, hosted by Bayou District Foundation, featuring a live activation with families at Educare New Orleans.
The Founding Class comprises 17 students: 13 Activator Leadership Fellows, ages 18 to 26, representing 8 campuses nationwide, with the largest contingent hailing from Central Texas, plus 4 High School Activators launching chapters at their schools. Fellows begin orientation on October 15, 2026, and meet weekly starting October 26 under the academic direction of Dr. Frank Arce, EdD, Cultivar’s Academic Advisor and Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. By December, Fellows will run their first live activations in their home communities, earning full program certification in February 2027.
Under federal law enacted in 2025, the Treasury has created an investment account for every American child under 18. A parent or guardian must claim the child’s account for it to function and begin compounding funds. Cultivar’s approach is peer-led, sending Activator Fellows directly into schools, early childhood centers, workplaces, and community gatherings to provide Spanish-English support that guides families through the claim process. “The account already exists for every eligible child. What does not exist is a trusted partner who sits down with the family and walks through it. That is the job we are training these twenty young leaders to do, in their own communities, with people who trust them,” said Arellana Barela Levenson, founder and CEO of Cultivar Communities. “We are turning public policy into an active instrument for intergenerational wealth.”
The National Launch in New Orleans unites the entire Founding Class for three days of training and a live activation with families at Educare New Orleans. Bayou District Foundation will host the event.
“At Bayou District Foundation, we foster holistic community development and long-term economic vitality. Hosting Cultivar’s National Launch in New Orleans allows us to connect federal wealth-building policy directly to local families, turning child investment accounts into an engine for intergenerational financial mobility,” said Jacob Peters, Executive Director, Bayou District Foundation.
“We are preparing these Fellows to lead in the communities they know and care about. By connecting financial education with trusted relationships, they can help families build their children’s financial futures,” said Dr. Frank Arce, EdD, Cultivar’s Academic Advisor and Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Following the New Orleans launch, Cultivar plans to expand the Activator model to additional cities in partnership with local community partners.
###
About Cultivar Communities. Cultivar Communities is a peer-led, peer-informed organization that helps working families participate in their children’s financial futures. Cultivar trains Activators, young adults from the communities they serve, to help families claim and activate child investment accounts and to keep those accounts growing. Founded by Arellana Barela Levenson, a former bank CFO and nonprofit CEO with more than twenty years in banking, philanthropy, and entrepreneurship. Cultivar Communities Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in formation. cultivarcommunities.com
About Bayou District Foundation. Bayou District Foundation (BDF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New Orleans, Louisiana, focused on breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty through a holistic community revitalization model.
Jessica Coronado,
Cultivar
jessicac@c4-strat.com
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Why it matters: With millions of children eligible for these federal investment accounts, the success of the program depends on families actually claiming them — a hurdle that requires trust and local knowledge, not just policy. Cultivar’s peer-led model could become a template for how community-based organizations turn federal benefits into tangible family wealth, especially in underserved regions.
