Fellow's Profile

Ali Zafar

Fellow's Profile

Ali Zafar

Inclusive Financial Literacy: Empowering Every Student for a Brighter Future

Fellowship

Themes

Focus

Investigating how financial literacy can be effectively taught to all young people

Countries

Fellowship year

2025

Supported by

Locality

Yorkshire and The Humber

Contact

Biography

I am the Founder of LifeSmart, a financial literacy social enterprise helping young people, especially those from underserved backgrounds, build practical money skills for life.

In the UK, 90% of students leave school without any formal financial education, contributing to widespread issues with debt, insecurity and financial exclusion. I'll explore how Singapore and Vietnam embed financial literacy across schools, governments and fintech to create national impact. The goal is to bring back practical insights to inform UK policy and build more engaging, scalable tools for the next generation.

Before founding LifeSmart, I worked in wealth management at Barclays Private Bank and completed all three levels of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams. As a first-generation immigrant who grew up on free school meals, I've seen first-hand how money knowledge can shape life chances. That experience drives my mission to make financial literacy more engaging, inclusive and empowering for all.

Activity

editorial

Redefining financial literacy and shaping policy

We spoke to Ali Zafar about how his Fellowship is shaping new approaches to financial education in the UK. After already founding LifeSmart, Ali used his Fellowship to explore why financial literacy remains low, learning from systems in Singapore, Vietnam, and Bali. His research has led to a new framework for understanding how financial capability develops, and has already informed updates to his work and contributions to UK policy discussions. Ali is now finalising his report and developing resources to share his findings across government, charities, and the private sector.

By Ali Zafar, 23 April 2026

editorial

January 2026 Fellows' update: Ali Zafar

Ali Zafar (CF 2025) presented his Churchill Fellowship research on international financial literacy at the Financial Education Forum.

By Ali Zafar, 28 January 2026

editorial

October 2025 Fellows' update: Ali Zafar

Ali Zafar (CF 2025) was a guest on Singapore’s leading financial podcast, The Financial Coconut, where he discussed financial systems in the UK and Singapore, building on insights from his Churchill Fellowship research.

By Ali Zafar, 16 October 2025

Disclaimer

All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.