The Energizer Bunny has nothing on Jessica Richman ‘07, according to Sam Holtzman, a consulting associate professor in management science and engineering.

“She keeps at it,” he said. “I have never seen anybody more energetic than this woman... She will go places.”

The San Diego native with a 3.85 grade point average didn’t take a traditional path to Stanford. She owned her own business before coming here and co-founded a program providing financial education for women.

Richman, who is double majoring in economics and science, technology and society, is one of 20 college juniors and seniors named to USA Today’s 2007 All-USA College Academic First Team. She will receive a trophy and a $2,500 cash prize.

The team members, featured in yesterday’s edition of USA Today, were selected for their academics, activities and leadership from a pool of almost 600 students nominated by their schools.

The most important consideration for the award was how candidates “extended their academic skills beyond the classroom,” according to USA Today.

Richman worked with the Women’s Institute for Financial Education, based in San Diego, to co-found the organization’s Money Clubs.

Money Clubs provide financial education for women in the form of downloadable information about a variety of topics, such as stocks, bonds and whether to buy or rent a house. The Web site can match women up with others in their area and provide a curriculum and agenda for their meeting.

The group has thousands of members in the United States and around the world, including women in every state.

“The subject is a touchy one — it’s difficult to talk about with friends and hard to talk about with total strangers,” she said. “We want something in the middle. We were thinking about something like Weight Watchers, where women could meet to talk about certain issues that they share in common and maybe become friends.”

Richman wrote most of the content for the program’s curriculum, citing a big gap in financial knowledge for women.

“For some people it’s sort of this stigma, being a woman who knows about money,” she said. “And for some it’s just boring, it’s not fun. We’re trying to make it fun. You meet up with some women for coffee, you set goals, you talk about things that are difficult to talk about but still important.”

Richman still serves as director of public outreach for the Women’s Institute and answers questions submitted via email as best she can, offering women legal and tax advice.

She said that, through these emails, she saw the terrible positions women would get themselves into out of ignorance.

“They’re not dumb, they just didn’t know,” she said. “They would do things out of their interests because they just didn’t understand, which was so shocking to me.”

Richman said she has always been interested in finance and that her interest in business was sparked by her entrepreneurial family.

“Many members of my family owned their own businesses, and I think I just really understood how important finance is to getting things done,” she said. “Nothing really happens unless there’s money to make it happen. It’s really exciting to stand at the leverage point seeing whether things happen or not.”

After dropping out of high school, Richman owned an independent bookstore near San Diego while she attended community college.

“I’d done a lot of entrepreneurial things in high school, and, when an opportunity came up, I took it,” she said. “It’s really fun having your own business. You don’t have to ask anyone — you can just make things happen.”

She spent a year at UC-Berkeley before coming to Stanford.

“I was at the point where the business had become successful, and I really craved the school experience,” she said. “Now I’m living in a co-op, getting involved in clubs, living the dream that I didn’t have a chance to after high school.”

Richman is planning to pursue a co-terminal degree and hopes to work as a social entrepreneur after she graduates.

“I’m really passionate about the power of technology and entrepreneurship to make a huge change in the world,” she said. “I want to use the power of business techniques to really make a difference in a way that’s measurable.”

Richman has an internship with Voyager Capital (a venture capital firm), a research position at the Graduate School of Business, a fellowship with the Stanford Humanities Center and a radio show on KZSU.

In addition, she is the chair of academic improvement for the ASSU Executive Cabinet, a member of Stanford Finance, a Haas Center Public Leadership Fellow and a member of Cap and Gown. Richman added that she is very interested in entrepreneurial opportunities on campus.

Alex Gould, Richman’s adviser in the economics department, said he connected immediately with his advisee.

Both Gould and Holtzman emphasized Richman’s persistence and positive attitude.

“She’s very easy to get along with, and for her perseverance and energy, she gets an A plus,” said Holtzman.

Gould echoed these sentiments, adding that Richman is unique for her doggedness and “can-do spirit.”

“Nothing seems to get her down,” he said.

According to Gould, Richman is exceptional as a student and as a person.

“She’s extremely proactive, asks a ton of good questions — hones right in on the really important issues,” he said.

Because of her nontraditional experience, Gould said he found Richman more mature than the average Stanford undergraduate.

“I find a lot of econ majors are convinced that everything can be solved by a spreadsheet,” he said. “At the end of the day, there are human beings behind all the spreadsheets, and Jessica is very tuned in to the personal dynamics, which is something I don’t see very often.”