Assistant Professor, Human Development & Relationships Educator
Washington County
Financial Security Work: Carol Bralich, Associate Professor, is the Human Development & Relationships Educator for the University of Wisconsin-Extension Washington County. Carol’s research and outreach have included focusing on building family financial capability skills with various audiences and strengthening relationships within family serving organizations in the community. Carol has been coordinating and teaching financial capability programs in Washington County for the past 7 years (and 3 years prior in Ozaukee County) for families and individuals associated with a variety of partners including Head Start, Casa Guadalupe Education Center, Workforce Development Center and Washington County Jail Administration. Financial topics discussed include spending plans, tracking expenses, setting financial goals and credit. Head Start families receive 8 monthly financial newsletters during the school year, with opportunities to attend financial programs. She also offers financial coaching sessions for individuals who would like support in reaching their financial goals. Carol has provided financial capability training for social workers and home visitors in Washington County as well as co-facilitated over 5 statewide UW-Extension financial coaching trainings with Peggy Olive, UW-Extension Financial Capability Specialist and the UW-Madison Center for Financial Security.
In addition, Carol is the current chair of the Washington County Money Smart Week Planning Committee with area financial institution representatives, consumer credit counseling services agency and community libraries. This financial literacy campaign is held every April with adult and child financial workshops which are open to the public. She provides leadership in fund development and facilitation. She also coordinates efforts to increase the number of people who access their free credit reports by promoting UW-Extension’s “2/2, 6/6, 10/10 Credit Campaign” in Washington County.
For over 5 years, Carol co-chaired the statewide UW-Extension Family Financial Security Team, providing leadership and coordination for various financial team workgroups’ programming and evaluation efforts. Carol’s Masters of Science degree is in Family & Consumer Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Financial Security 