A good time is guaranteed whenever the Twin Cities Road Crew pulls up. As an experiential creative marketing agency, their unparalleled work truly puts the “fun” in function.  

Sunrise Banks deploys Twin Cities Road Crew (TCRC) to promote financial literacy and wellness at schools and community events on its behalf. Promoting these skills in a fun and entertaining way is part of the “force for good” mentality both organizations share.  

A primary objective for TCRC is to encourage clients to be philanthropic in their outreach – something that Sunrise Banks has prioritized for decades. 

“Not only does Sunrise Banks see the value in our platform and how unique and impactful it is, they also believe in supporting small BIPOC [Black, Indigenous, and People of Color] female-owned businesses,” says Felica Schaefer, co-founder of TCRC. “This client/vendor relationship is so meaningful to us and for our work.” 

Making financial literacy fun 

For nearly 10 years, TCRC has focused on prosocial initiatives and community outreach through their work with all types of businesses, agencies and nonprofit organizations. For groups with limited bandwidth to meet their goals, TCRC provides a host to run the show, music to get people up and interacting, and custom interactive games to deliver a message – a concept they refer to as “edutainment.” 

The importance of financial literacy is a critical message for both groups – another reason why Sunrise Banks has regularly deployed TCRC since the group got its start in 2014. 

A top priority for this relationship is to provide financial literacy programs for low- to moderate-income youth by working with schools around the Twin Cities.  

“Sunrise Banks has allowed us to be creative in how we deliver the message of financial literacy,” Schaefer explains. “These programs are experiential, have a game-show style feel, meet Minnesota’s educational standards, and are free to the schools. They are really excellent events that both students and teachers enjoy.” 

While the programs are created to be fun and engaging, they are also intentionally designed to educate attendees on topics, including wants versus needs, the usefulness of a budget, understanding interest, and the importance of keeping money in the bank. 

Shifting Strategies during COVID-19

The relationship between Sunrise Banks and TCRC continued to flourish throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as financial education messaging can be even more critical during times of economic turmoil. Formerly in-person school assemblies quickly turned into digital experiences. This switch to virtual “edutainment” ensured that students and teachers could still benefit from TCRC’s valuable and creative financial literacy content. 

“Sunrise Banks was very open to us shifting our strategies during this time,” says Schaefer. “They underwrote one of our first digital programs, which more than 10,000 students have watched since its launch.” 

Sunrise Banks also sponsored KIDS INC, a project partnering TCRC with a local school to design a three-week program on business ownership. Through this experience, students created a business, made items for their company, participated in a sales course and then sold their items at an event. The overall focus of this unique program was to help students understand the basic economics of running a business and the foundational components that can lead to financial wellness, even at a young age. 

“Financial literacy is an initiative that is very important to us,” Schaefer says. “It assists in building money habits early, empowers kids to learn how money works, improves decision-making skills and helps break the cycle of poverty.” 

Supporting Youth in the Arts 

Another aspect of TCRC platform that sets them apart from other businesses – and that elevates their programs – is the team they have put together. 

Before founding TCRC, Schaefer and her business partner, Ben Thul, started their own “edutainment” journey at The Walt Disney Company. 

“When we worked for The Walt Disney Company, we learned how to use the power of entertainment to deliver a message,” she says. “This makes it memorable, meaningful and impactful.” 

It’s with this mindset that TCRC works toward the second part of its community-driven mission – supporting young people in the arts. Schaefer and Thul accomplish this goal by providing young artists with a great place to work where they can showcase and enhance their unique talents. 

According to Schaefer, TCRC employs an exceptional group of people to facilitate their events – a team that reflects the diversity of the markets they serve. This crew of local aspiring artists enjoys the benefits of a well-paying job along with the flexibility to continue pursuing their passions. 

“We allow them to come and go as needed based on what gigs they have going on,” Schaefer explains. “This creates a very special group of people who have synergy and talent, which makes our programs one of a kind.” 

Education in the Community 

For the past two years, Sunrise Banks has deployed TCRC to provide financial edutainment for a booth at Fiesta Latina – an event that honors and celebrates Latino culture in the Twin Cities. 

Fiesta Latina is hosted by CLUES (Comunidades Latina Unidas en Servicio) every fall. It features Latino food, dress, music, arts, entertainment, health and community resources, sports and other family-friendly activities. 

Ben Thul and other TCRC artists provided on-mic messaging in both English and Spanish for Sunrise Banks at the festival.  

“Fiesta Latina was a great event,” he says. “We customized our space to have synergy with their space and messaging – with music, customized games, dancing and prizes. It was a really fun, successful event.” 

Sunrise Banks was a primary sponsor of Fiesta Latina, which drew over 7,000 people in attendance. 

Preparing for 2025

While Sunrise Banks and Twin Cities Road Crew are eager to collaborate on a variety of initiatives to benefit the community, financial literacy will continue to be a primary focus of this relationship. The two groups are working on launching a new slate of in-person programming for local schools in 2025. 

“We are thrilled that over the last 10 years we have provided programming for close to 50,000 students and teachers,” Schaefer says. “But we still have more people to reach and more goals to accomplish with this important work.” 

Member FDIC. 

Nicole Rothstein is a freelance writer based in Cleveland, Ohio.