BYCIG - Brooklyn Youth Charitable Investment Group

High schoolers. Real capital. Real impact.

BYCIG is an educational nonprofit where high school students manage a real investment fund, develop financial skills, and direct returns towards charitable causes.

Our Mission

The BYCIG is a modern educational organization that aims to teach both soft and technical financial skills to high schoolers of all backgrounds.

What is BYCIG?

A Real Fund — Not a Simulation.

BYCIG operates on a unique educational nonprofit model where experience is the product. Unlike traditional financial literacy programs that rely on simulations, our student members research real companies, write real equity proposals, and vote to invest real capital. This unique process creates genuine stakes and authentic learning outcomes. Every skill learned here is one that was earned.

Real Capital Experience

Members invest actual funds in live markets, not simulations. This creates genuine financial stakes and authentic learning through real consequences.

Meritocratic Structure

Investment committee selection based purely on skill and performance, fostering competitive excellence and accountability among members.

Charitable Mission

Biannual charitable donations from investment returns, combining financial education with social impact and philanthropic values.

The BYCIG Experience

Students
Join BYCIG

High schoolers apply and are admitted, regardless of prior finance experience.

Learn Financial
Analysis

Members enroll in our provided courses and study real equity research methods — how to read financials and assess markets.

Submit Equity
Proposals

Students write and present real investment theses for review by the investment advisory committee.

The Fund
Votes

The full investment advisory committee votes on each proposal. The best-argued case wins — seniority plays no role.

Returns Go to
Charitable Causes

Investment returns are distributed to student-selected charitable organizations.

OUR IMPACT

Measurable Results, Real Growth

350+

active members

140+

equity proposals submitted this quarter

$130,000+

raised for student-led investing

86%

of members report significantly improved financial skills

100%

report improved financial literacy and writing

82%

now read news more regularly

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

Why BYCIG Works when Other Programs Don't

Real Capital Experience

BYCIG members don't practice investing — they invest. Students manage a real fund, which means every analysis has consequences, every vote matters, and every lesson is earned from a real outcome rather than a hypothetical one.

Meritocratic Structure

Advancement within BYCIG is based entirely on the quality of your work. Students who submit strong equity proposals earn greater responsibility. There are no shortcuts based on seniority or social standing — the same rules that govern professional investment firms govern our student fund.

Charitable Mission

Every return our fund generates goes to charitable causes that our members select. Students don't just learn to create financial value — they learn to direct it toward the communities that need it most. Finance and social responsibility are not in tension here. They are the same lesson.

Most financial literacy programs

BYCIG

Simulated portfolios with fake money

Real capital with real stakes

Instructor-led curriculum

Student-driven proposals and voting

Individual learning

Collaborative investment committee

No community impact

Charitable distribution of returns