65 Years and Still Going Strong!

During the summer of 1951, the first workshop on economic education for Illinois teachers was held with attendance by 70 teachers and funding made possible by support from the Committee on Economic Development and leading Chicago businessmen. 

On August 3, 1951, the Joint Council on Economic Education (now the Council for Economic Education) issued a formal certificate of affiliation for the Illinois Council on Economic Education. In October of that same year, twenty workshop participants met and voted to formally establish the Illinois Council on Economic Education.

In October of 1967, the Illinois Council on Economic Education (now dba Econ Illinois) was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in Illinois, and thus began a reorganization and revitalization of the Council.

Over time, the Council has grown to include up to nine staff members at times and eight Centers for Economic Education located at universities around the state. In addition to the workshops provided since the start, Econ Illinois added many statewide programs: the Teaching Economics and Financial Literacy conference; The Stock Market Game program; the Illinois Personal Finance Challenge; the Illinois Economics Challenge; the Economics Poster Contest; InvestWrite; the 3M Economic Educator Awards; and the Illinois Capitol Challenge. 

To help with funding needs, Econ Illinois first hosted the annual American Dream Dinner fundraiser in 2008. Econ Illinois also provides volunteer opportunities to companies to help them partner with schools in their communities.

Thanks to the members of Econ Illinois’ two Boards, the generous donors, educators, legislators and staff, we are over 60-years strong and continue to focus on helping Illinois teachers educate our students so they are better prepared for their financial futures.