The Savings for Education, Entrepreneurship and Downpayment (SEED) initiative is a major policy and research project designed to test the efficacy and inform policy for a national system of asset-building accounts for children and youth. The SEED initiative currently works with non-profit community partners to establish and study accounts for low-and moderate-income children across the country and in Puerto Rico. SEED explores varying account structures and financial education across a range of

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... ages and in different demographic, geographic, and organizational contexts. The first full year of operation for SEED was 2004, and the initiative is proposed to end in 2012. This brief provides a snapshot of the demographic profile of SEED participants. 1 In general, SEED participants are people of color in working poor families with low resources. As of June, 2005, SEED participants have accumulated more than half a million dollars through a combination of initial SEED deposits, incentive deposits, participant savings, and SEED matches. On average, each child has $727 "seeded" as an investment for his or her future.