Summit Credit Union Names 3 Uw Student-athletes As Financial Ambassadors

March 23, 2023

Students will promote female financial education and wellness in new NIL partnership

MADISON, Wis. — Summit Credit Union, a proud partner of Wisconsin Athletics, announced the University of Wisconsin Student-Athlete Financial Wellness Ambassador program_,_ an effort to increase financial wellness education through student athletes’ social media postings.

Summit has signed Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals with three UW student athletes. The student-athletes will serve as student ambassadors for financial wellness, including Sarah Chan, a junior on the Rowing team; Kiley Robbins, a junior on the Track and Field team; and Maty Wilke, a redshirt freshman on the Women’s Basketball team.

Summit financial coaches will meet with the student-athletes in educational sessions throughout the semester. The students will post on Instagram during the semester about their personal journey in financial wellness.

Focused on women’s financial wellness since 2007, Summit initiated the ambassador program as part of its new campaign, designed to remove systemic barriers for women to build wealth, advance in their careers, buy homes, and save for a comfortable retirement.

Recent studies show Wisconsin women earn 80 cents for every $1 men earn and experts estimate that at the current rate of progress, women will not receive equal pay until 2067.

“Our goal is to help college students, especially women, become confident through financial wellness early in their lives,” said Kim Sponem, CEO & President of Summit Credit Union. “We can accelerate the closing of the gender pay gap with these elite athletes reaching out to their generation stressed by the challenges of personal finance.”

The ambassador program dovetails with Summit’s previously announced Equity in Money sponsorship of the Fifth Quarter Patio at Camp Randall Stadium.

"The NIL era has empowered our student-athletes to capitalize on their personalities and their platform as Badgers in a financially beneficial way," said Brian Mason, Director of NIL Strategy for Wisconsin Athletics. "With that, they have a fantastic opportunity to develop money management strategies and skills that can serve them for a lifetime."