About FoolProof
The Organizations Behind FoolProof:
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FoolProof is owned by FoolProof Financial Education Systems, Inc. We are responsible for all editorial content in the FoolProof programs.
The not-for-profit Education Credit Union Council and Mountain West Credit Union Association have partnered with FoolProof to offer FoolProof to credit unions and other not-for-profit educational institutions.
Partners & Endorsers:
- FoolProof is endorsed by the Consumer Federation of America. Watch this video.
- The National Association of Consumer Advocates endorses FoolProof and offers our programs to all its member groups. NACA's Executive Director sits on the FoolProof Advisory Board.
- The CAREprogram.us, with over 15,000 bankruptcy judges and their advocates, is a FoolProof Partner. CARE presents financial literacy programs in thousands of schools and colleges across America. The Hon. Judge John C. Ninfo II, founder and Director of CARE, sits on the FoolProof Advisory Board.
- NY Wise, a major national program promoting financial literacy in schools, has endorsed FoolProof and promotes FoolProof to its members.
- These credit union leagues and associations have partnered with FoolProof to provide FoolProof programs to their member credit unions:
- Connecticut Credit Union League
- District of Columbia Credit Union League
- Georgia Credit Union League
- Hawaii Credit Union Association
- Illinois Credit Union System
- Maine Credit Union League
- Maryland Credit Union Association
- Mountain West Credit Union Assoctaion (AZ, CO & WY)
- Credit Union Association of the Dakotas
- New York Credit Union League
- Ohio Credit Union League
- Tennessee Credit Union League
- Virginia Credit Union League
FoolProof Financial Education Systems
| Executive Officers | Board of Directors | |
| Key Team Members | ||
Executive Officers
Will deHoo
President & CEO
Watch his video introduction.
Will deHoo—known as Will from Holland by students—developed the idea of using highly interactive modules to teach young people financial literacy. Will has been working with FoolProof for over 7 years, and has done the key design on all modules.
Will also works in other consumer areas, and has developed and managed several consumer education projects.
A key project under Will’s supervision was the development of the StopBMA coalition (www.stopbma.com). As supervisor of the StopBMA coalition, Will worked directly with Peter Jennings. Mr. Jennings produced his final ABC news series on this project.
Will has also worked regularly with Former CBS Anchor Walter Cronkite, a personal advisor to Remar Sutton on consumer issues.
Will also serves as one of the spokespersons on all the FoolProof websites.
In the past year alone Will has given over 100 talks in 6 states on financial literacy and the importance of student financial education. He has spoken at high schools, regional conferences, and credit unions in eight states.
E-mail: Will@foolproofhq.com
Nicholas Buettner
Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer
As an Adventure Learning veteran and MayaQuest co-creater Nick Buettner has provided innovative, cross-media learning experiences that inspire a lifelong passion for learning, discovery, and understanding.
Some of his accomplishes include:
- Nick co-created MayaQuest, a first-of-its-kind internet-based education program successfully used in classrooms in all 50 states and 122 countries · Helped secure major corporate sponsors, bringing in over $700,000 in equipment and funding.
- Nick conceived, developed and implemented two global educational projects for Minnesota Governors which reached over 1000 schools throughout the state.
- Nick collaborated with ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, AOL, WCCO and the National Geographic Channel to produce live satellite feeds from remote locations throughout the world.
Now, as Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer, Nick brings a mission to FoolProof to inspire in students a lifelong passion for learning, discovery, and understanding, while allowing teachers to make the broader world their classroom when it comes to Financial Education.
E-mail: Nick@foolproofhq.com
Renier Dijkhuis
Vice-President and Creative Director
Renier Dijkhuis holds a degree in outdoor sports from The University of Groningen in Holland. He is a snowboard instructor, canyon guide, and wild-water rafting and kayaking guide, along with his duties as FoolProof's creative director.
E-mail: Renier@foolproofhq.com
Niels Postma
Vice-President & Director of the Tech Team
Niels has been responsible for developing the proprietary software which gives FoolProof programs great interactivity and provides FoolProof users unique tools. Niels also oversees FoolProof’s technical team that monitors and maintains our programs.
Niels holds a bachelor degree in Communication from the NHL, a University of Applied Sciences in Holland. After graduating, Niels became an instructor in Multimedia Development at the University.
Niels is also President & CEO of Perpetual Media, a web design and programming company founded by him in 2006.
E-mail: Niels@foolproofhq.com
Key Team Members
Martin Krusbaek
Business Manager
Martin Krusbaek holds a bachelor of arts in International Business Communication from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark.
He has also served as a specialist intern in public administration at the Danish Patent & Trademark Office.
Martin also helped form skating and climbing clubs in Nykoebing Falster in the south of Denmark.
FoolProof’s Business Manager was also the president of the student body at his high school for two years. In that capacity Martin attended several national conferences and school board meetings and provided a voice for high school students all over Denmark.
E-mail: Martin@foolproofhq.com
Tyler Thournir
Videographer
Watch his video introduction.
Tyler is FoolProof’s Chief Videographer and is responsible for all FoolProof’s videos. Every video, in every program or module is work from Tyler’s portfolio.
Tyler holds a bachelor degree in video editing & business from Chico College. Tyler graduated in 2005. He’s been a valuable member of the FoolProof Team for over 3 years.
Matt Moss
Marketing Director
Matthew Moss holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Marketing from the University of Portsmouth in the South England.
Matthew was born and raised in Holland. Whilst living there Matt attended an International School where he picked up a number of languages including English, Dutch, French and German.
At the age of 16 Matt moved to the UK to finish of his studying. While at University Matt boxed for his University and captained his University's football team. More recently Matt has got into coaching. He coached under 14's football just before leaving the UK.
E-mail: Matt@foolproofhq.com
Emily Driscoll
Consumer Writer
Emily Driscoll holds a double Bachelors degree in French and journalism from Miami University in Oxford, OH. After interning for the Fox News Channel Washington D.C. bureau as a senior in college and working for a private investment and banking group at Merrill Lynch after graduation, Emily began writing for the personal finance and small business sections on FoxBusiness.com.
Emily's weekly column, "Money 101", features financial and college advice to high school students, college students, and their parents. Having written over 100 articles on FoxBusiness.com, she has interviewed authors, certified financial planners, professors, company CEOs, and personal finance experts.
Emily recently served as a pro-bono business consultant and advisor for a start-up business in Kampala, Uganda with Grow Volunteer Consulting. She is currently awaiting an assignment to assist another Ugandan business.
In April 2011, Emily began writing articles concerning consumer protection and assisting with research on company projects for FoolProof Financial Education Systems Inc. She is contributing a monthly column on breaking news in technology for young consumers this summer.
E-mail: Emily@foolproofhq.com
Board of Directors
Remar Sutton
Chairman of the Board
Remar is a former columnist for The Washington Post, an author, and a nationally-known consumer advocate.
Dateline NBC, Twenty-Twenty, Sixty Minutes, Ted Koppel's Nightline, CNN, ABC Primetime, Good Morning America, TODAY, CBS Morning News, Newsweek, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, PBS television's News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and PEOPLE magazine have all used Sutton as either a consultant, on-air authority, author, or subject.
Sutton is a pro bono consultant to many national consumer organizations and to FoolProof. He is a pro bono expert for many state attorneys general on consumer issues, and has been a faculty member of the Practicing Law Institute.
Sutton's columns in Credit Union Magazine ran monthly for over ten years.
In 1992 Sutton was the national spokesperson for CUNA's automotive consumer education efforts, and was the author of its "AutoFax" manual for credit unions. His articles on consumer issues regularly appear in hundreds of credit union publications.
Remar is President and co-founder of the Consumer Task Force For Automotive Issues. He co-founded the Privacy Rights Now coalition, and founded the Give Me Back My Rights coalition.
E-mail: Remar@foolproofhq.com
Malcolm Kirschenbaum, Esq.
Cocoa Beach, Florida
Watch his video introduction.
Mr. Kirschenbaum is director and Chairman of the Finance and Investment Committee of the Washington, D.C. based Freedom Forum, a billion dollar public service corporation dedicated to free speech and free press. He also serves on the Board of the Freedom Forum’s Newseum and the board of the Diversity Institute.
Mr. Kirschenbaum is a business lawyer with extensive experience and expertise in banking and real estate law, as well as transportation issues. He previously served as Chairman for both the Florida High Speed Rail Commission and Florida Transportation Commission.
Mr. Kirschenbaum is Of Counsel to Gray Robinson. The 37 year old, full service firm provides legal services for Fortune 500 companies, emerging businesses, lending institutions, local governments, developers, entrepreneurs and individuals across Florida, the nation and the world. The firm has offices in Tampa, Tallahassee, Orlando, Naples, Melbourne, Miami, Lakeland, Key West, Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale.
Mary Cunningham
Asheville, North Carolina
Mary Cunningham is a national leader in the credit union movement.
Mary served for four years on the Board of Directors of CUNA (The Credit Union National Association), which represents over 6500 credit unions.
She served for four years as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Credit Union Foundation, and served on the board for eleven years.
Mary served on the Board of Directors of CUES (Credit Union Executive Society) for seven years, and served as chairman for one year.
She served on the Board of Trustees and as Chairman of CUNA's Western Management School, the organization deeply involved in developing credit union policies and directions.
Cunningham was President and CEO for nine years of USA Federal Credit Union in San Diego, California, a $700 million credit union.
Patricia Brownell Sterner
Boulder, Colorado
Watch her video introduction.
Pat Brownell Sterner is founder and CEO of JFB & Associates, LLC, a national management consulting firm with expertise in non-profit organizational development and governance. Sterner’s client base includes The Aspen Institute, the National Credit Union Foundation, the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, the National Park Trust, and multiple clients in the credit union industry.
Sterner also provides Interim CEO management services for foundations, most recently with the Denver Public Schools Foundation and the Credit Union Foundation of Colorado and Wyoming.
Previous to establishing JFB & Associates, Sterner was Executive Director of the National Credit Union Foundation which is responsible for underwriting community economic development and financial education programs in the national and international credit union systems.
During her tenure at NCUF, Sterner took the lead role in establishing the Community Investment Fund, which currently has a $400+ million investment fund of which NCUF receives 2% of the earnings. These funds support aggressive financial education and alternative financial service programs through credit unions. In 2002 Sterner received the Economic Freedom Award from the National Cooperative Business Association for her work in community economic development.
Sterner’s board service includes the Cooperative Development Foundation, the International Services Agencies, and the Furies Foundation.
Dan Buettner
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Watch his video introduction.
New York Times best-selling author Dan Buettner is an internationally-known explorer and authority on aging and happiness. Dan Buettner is also the founder of Quest Network, Inc. and has produced more than a dozen interactive education expeditions. Dan is also the recipient of an Emmy for his documentary on Africa.
His Quests are real-time expeditions designed to enlist an online school audience's participation in solving some of science's biggest questions. The Quests have generated more than two billion media impressions and garnered an online educational audience of 12 million students in 80,000 classrooms.
Buettner has biked more than 120,000 miles around the globe, holds three Guinness World Records in long distance cycling and has been accepted into the Explorer's Club. He is considered the father of the interactive education, and the Washington Post has called his Quests "the most successful experiment in interactive education to date."
Info: DanBuettner.com
Roberta Baskin
Washington, D.C.
Watch her video introduction.
In her distinguished journalism career, Veteran investigative journalist Roberta Baskin has served as the Executive Director of the Center for Public Integrity, the senior Washington correspondent for "NOW with Bill Moyers," senior investigative producer for the ABC News magazine 20/20, chief investigative correspondent for the CBS News magazine 48 Hours, and contributed special reports to the CBS Evening News. Roberta began her career as an investigative reporter in Chicago and Washington D.C.
Roberta has won more than 75 journalism prizes, including two duPont-Columbia University Awards, two George Foster Peabody Awards, the Investigative Reporters and Editors Award, the Radio-Television News Directors Edward R. Murrow Award, and numerous Emmy awards.
In the fall of 2008, Roberta was elected to the Board of Directors of the Journalism and Women's Symposium. She also began teaching a graduate school course on "Broadcast Investigative Reporting" at Georgetown University.
Roberta has been honored with a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, and an Ethics Fellowship at the Poynter Institute. She's active in journalism organizations and has been a popular guest lecturer internationally.
She has served on the Board of Directors of the Fund for Investigative Journalism for thirteen years, was elected to a term on the Board of Directors for Investigative Reporters and Editors, and has served on the Nieman Fellows Selection Committee. Roberta now serves on the Executive Committee of the Nieman Foundation's Advisory Board.
Roberta also serves as a judge for the duPont-Columbia Awards and Chairs the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Committee.
Ms. Baskin now serves as a Senior Communications Advisor to the Department of Health and Human Service’s Office of Inspector General.
Harm-Jan deHoo, LLM.
Sneek, The Netherlands
Attorney Harm-Jan deHoo is a member of the juridical board of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment for the city of Bolsward, the Netherlands.
Mr. deHoo graduated with a law degree from the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen in 2003, with a specialty in Administrative and Public Administration Law.
He has been a member of the juridical board of the Department of Construction at the county of “Gaasterlân-Sleat,” and has worked as a staff member for Pro-Facto, a well known juridical and business administration research company in the Netherlands.
Mr. DeHoo also serves as a member or chair of several voluntary and public boards in the Netherlands.
Mike Sheffer
Corning, New York
Mike Sheffer, board member and FoolProof's Director of Education, is an International Baccalaureate Teacher of IB Business and Management at Corning East High School in Corning, New York.
Mike is responsible for coordinating all the testing of FoolProof modules in schools.
Mike is also Business Department Chairperson at Corning East, and is adjunct Professor of Business at Corning Community College. Mike is the Varsity Golf Coach at his school and has been the Varsity Girl’s Basketball Coach for years, before retiring after the '09-'10 season.
Mike has been (and still is) involved in public education for over 25 years.
Mike works closely with FoolProof credit unions and FoolProof high schools. He hosts FoolProof’s “Teacher Blog" and he has developed the teacher guides and teacher lesson plans that work with each FoolProof module.
E-mail: Mike@foolproofhq.com