Awards & Recognition for Financial Educators
Educators are the single most important influence on participants’ success – far more powerful than any single curriculum or resource. At the National Financial Educators Council we celebrate the people who turn knowledge into lasting behavior change through three signature recognitions: Financial Educators Day, Financial Education Instructor of the Year Award, and State Chapter Board Member of the Year. We honor financial education instructors and leaders whose work produces measurable learning gains, builds sustainable programs, and advances financial-literacy advocacy at the local and state levels.
Recognizing Excellence in Action
These three recognitions highlight complementary contributions – community-wide celebration and awareness (Financial Educators Day), classroom excellence and measurable learner outcomes (Instructor of the Year), and strategic leadership that scales impact across states (Advisory Board Member of the Year). Together they showcase the educators, volunteers, and board members who lead by example and create models other communities can replicate.
National Financial Educator Day
Financial Educators Day recognizes those individuals who are working to improve the financial capabilities of people in their communities. While taking the opportunity to recognize traditional educators, we also extend our thanks to volunteers, financial professionals, concerned citizens, and others who teach financial literacy. All these individuals are invaluable to the effort.
Financial Educators Day takes place the last Friday of April (Financial Literacy Month) each year. Initial support from politicians, celebrities, and organizations in the financial literacy industry have transformed the last Friday of each April into a day of recognition, celebration, and advocacy.
Financial Educators Day launched in 2014. To date, over 1,000 individuals from 47 states have been mailed awards thanking them for their efforts.
Financial Education Instructor of the Year
Each year the National Financial Educators Council honors an outstanding instructor with the Financial Education Instructor of the Year award. Created to spotlight educators who make a lasting difference, the award recognizes that while curriculum matters, it is the teacher who most influences learners’ financial capabilities. Winners are chosen for their ability to motivate and engage learners, produce measurable learning gains, and create long-term improvements in financial behavior.
Past recipients were evaluated across three core areas: Education – demonstrated passion for improving financial capability, instructional approaches that motivate action, and strong pre/post results plus evidence of lasting behavior change; Awareness – success in raising public and community attention for the financial literacy movement and advancing its goals; and Sustainability – a viable business or program model which ensures that their outreach can continue and grow over time.
Advisory Board Member of the Year
The Advisory Board Member of the Year embodies NFEC’s mission – an on-the-ground leader whose vision, relationships, and results catalyze statewide change. As public-facing ambassadors and strategic advisors, they attract resources, accelerate program adoption, mentor fellow board members, and set a replicable model other chapters adopt – amplifying impact far beyond their community.
This award honors a state chapter advisory board member whose leadership and sustained commitment have materially advanced financial education in the community. Winners demonstrate strong leadership, measurable impact, effective advocacy and partnerships, and practical sustainability – building programs, securing resources, and creating models other chapters can adopt.
Thanking All Financial Educators
Financial literacy remains a grassroots movement powered by passionate people. We thank every financial educator – teachers, volunteers, coaches, and board members – who show up, adapt, and persist on behalf of others. Your daily work turns knowledge into action and changes lives in classrooms, homes, and workplaces across the country.
