MATT J.

GOREN
Phone: 706.202.5566 | Email: mjgoren@gmail.com | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mjgoren
PROFILE SUMMARY

FINANCIAL PLANNING & LITERACY PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Versatile financial analysis, planning and advisement leader with a deep-rooted passion for educating others and
9+ years of experience delivering superior organizational development, cost savings, and revenue maximizing
solutions. Equally skilled in research and analysis, strategic planning, and program management. Outstanding
communicator with keen attention to detail and a natural ability to forge collaborative relationships with students,
clients and executive leadership. FINRA Series 63 & 65. CFP Candidate. PhD in Psychology. Active volunteer.
Financial Planning & Analysis | Program Development | Leadership & Team Building | Change Management | Research
Design | Market Research | Statistical Analysis | Strategic Business Planning | Operations Management | Consulting &
Mentorship | B2B Presentations | Recommendations & Proposals | Project Management | Process Improvement |
Performance Optimization | Recruitment, Training & Development | Sales & Marketing | Business Development |
Account Management | Customer Service | Fundraising | Budgeting & Forecasting | P&L Management

SELECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS

FINANCIAL PLANNING & PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Record high tuition and housing prices led to increased student loan debt. Designed financial mentoring program,
consulted student and faculty administration, hosted seminars, developed online courses and advised students.
Educated 12K+ students over a 30-month period; increased cumulative net worth of participants by $1.9M.

RESEARCH DESIGN & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Fortune 5 company faced potential lawsuit for discriminatory hiring and promotion practices. Surveyed employees
and management, conducted literature review, performed meta-analysis, analyzed statistical data and educated
60 diversity trainers. Curriculum was circulated to 22K+ employees; avoided up to $60M in pending litigation.

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT & CUSTOMER SERVICE

Inefficient business processes led to dismal customer experience. Interviewed leadership, shadowed operations,
identified bottlenecks, re-ordered tasks, developed budgeting tool, integrated technology and simplified service
offerings. Reduced client intake time (33%) and technology overhead (25%); achieved YOY costs savings of $17K.

LEADERSHIP & PROJECT MANAGEMENT

University challenged faculty to examine impact of $12B diversity training industry on employee behavior.
Assembled 27-person team, authored strategic roadmap, assigned roles/responsibilities, supervised performance
and mentored staff. Analyzed 10K studies in 4 years; engineered database that yielded 2 consulting projects.

STRATEGIC PLANNING & BUSINESS CONSULTATION

Startup lacked product data to initiate go-to-market phase. Designed and funded research program, hired/trained
staff, solicited participants, observed behavior, conducted statistical analysis and documented best practices.
Insights fueled subsequent marketing campaign; boosted lead generation (80%) and customer retention (6X).
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Co-Founder & Financial Literacy Consultant

Beyond Berkeley Consulting & Independent Contractor | Oakland, CA | February 2015 - Present
Independent consultancy serving small businesses, non-profits and students; 5 employees.

Oversaw business and program development. Responsible for market research, business planning, recruitment,
training, website design, sales, marketing, account management, customer service and curriculum development.

Developed strategic partnerships with 12 clients; grew startup profitability from $0 to $10K in 9 months.
Implemented social media campaign; generated 17K visits and 3 new contracts valued at $8K in revenue.
Optimized financial literacy training program; boosted student engagement (100%) and retention (40%).
Managed 6-month analytics project; increased client lead generation (80%) and customer retention (6X).

MATT J. GOREN
PAGE 2 | Phone: 706.202.5566 | Email: mjgoren@gmail.com | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mjgoren

Financial Planning Associate

Arete Wealth Strategists | Berkeley, CA & Minneapolis, MN | January 2016 - Present
$100K personal finance and investment advisory serving small business owners; 2 employees.

Led concurrent business growth initiatives. Responsible for technology development, process improvement,
performance management, financial planning and analysis, client service and marketing/white papers.

Automated client onboarding process; reduced from 60 to 40 hours, yielding $15K in annual savings.
Secured blog partnership; attracted 273 YouTube views and generated 3 client leads, valued at $40K.
Cultivated relationships with and contracted 2 new clients; netted $2,300 revenue in 2 months.

Financial Planning Associate

NerdWallet | San Francisco, CA | May 2015 - August 2015
$70M personal finance blog and product recommendation publication; 250 employees.

Oversaw various client engagement initiatives. Responsible for research program design, new feature testing,
project management, content curating, selection and review, quality control and policy development.

Launched on-demand advisory service; boosted conversion by 0.8% while cutting costs by 50%.
Designed protocol for assessing and maintaining content accuracy; reduced error rate by 80%.
Provided in-house financial guidance to 12 employees; decreased collective $250K debt by $20K.

Graduate Student Instructor/Tutor | Student Government Executive | Social Psychology Researcher

University of California & University of Georgia | Berkeley, CA & Athens, GA | July 2007 - May 2016

Developed course materials, exams and lectures for 1,500 students; generated $1.8M in tuition revenue.
Earned 6.3 rating (out of 7) on Rate My Professor website; 2nd highest faculty member at UC Berkeley.
Facilitated 3 doctoral dissertations and a masters thesis; achieved 5-star rating on Wyzant website.
Redesigned scholarship application process; leveraged Federal subsidies to raise YOY funding by $140K.
Spearheaded 1st mandated financial literacy education program in U.S.; grew student wealth by $1.9M.
Organized 12 various social and professional events; decreased 5-year student dropout rate by 80%.
Expanded faculty membership from 1 to 5 campuses; obtained $2K grant to fund regional conference.
Published 5 articles and 2 book chapters; received 200+ citations and an annual student audience of 500K.
Recognized by Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post and Psychology Today; collective readership of 116M.
Assisted 24 students with graduate admission; 83% success rate exceeded national average by 40X.
Presented findings to 6K+ academia, students and business professionals across multiple events.

EDUCATION

Doctor of Psychology (PhD), University of California, Berkeley, CA.

Master of Science, Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA.
Bachelor of Science, Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.

CERTIFICATIONS

Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Candidate; projected 2018.

Series 63 & 65; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Certificate in Personal Financial Planning, University of California, Berkeley, CA.

PROFICIENCIES

Technology: Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Google Drive/Docs, SPSS, Redtail CRM, eMoney.
Statistics: General Linear Modeling (Regression, ANOVA, t-testing), Research Design, Data Collection, Data
Presentation, Data Management, A/B Testing.
Psychology: Social, Organizational, Cultural, Behavioral Finance.
Education: Personal Banking & Investment, Credit Cards, Checking & Savings, Roth IRA, Traditional IRA,
Simple IRA, Index Funds, ETFs, Asset Allocation, Budgeting, Planning, Student Loans, Debt Management.