The St. Louis Office of Financial Empowerment (“OFE”) is a public-private partnership to help citizens make better financial decisions. 

Founded in 2014 by City of St. Louis Mayor Tishaura O. Jones during her tenure as Treasurer, the City of St. Louis Treasurer’s Office is nationally recognized for developing an OFE that proudly participates with the Cities for Financial Empowerment (CFE) Coalition. Organized with the unique capacity to develop and implement financial empowerment programs to enable citizens to enhance their financial wellbeing, the St. Louis OFE is in City Hall Room 220, where the financial education and credit counseling are always free of charge. Since it’s inception, under the leadership of Treasurer Adam L. Layne, the OFE has fine-tuned their focus to ensure every City of St. Louis resident can be financially fit and access the support needed to reach their financial goals.  

The OFE works with a variety of partners including banks and non-profits to provide financial management classes on various topics, including How to Purchase a Home; Entrepreneurship; Investing; and Public Service Student Loan Forgiveness. The OFE also includes the College Kids Program, which provides all K-8 students in St. Louis public and charter schools with a savings account for post-secondary education. Research shows that children with savings for higher education are 3x more likely to attend, and 4x more likely to graduate. College Kids has helped over 23,000 St. Louis public and charter school students start educational savings accounts, with about $1.8 million saved to help more city children get a higher education.  

An involved and deeply engaged member of the community, Treasurer Layne can often be seen delivering “Storytime with the Treasurer” to share financial education with students or in attendance at neighborhood community meetings to hear firsthand the issues that impact our residents most.