Announcing the 2016 AFCPE Award Winners: Celebrating Innovation, Expertise and Leadership in Financial Counseling & Education

WESTERVILLE, Ohio, Dec. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education^® (AFCPE^®) is pleased to announce the 2016 AFCPE Award Winners. Each year, AFCPE members have the opportunity to nominate colleagues who are doing exceptional work in the field of personal finance. All nominees go through a rigorous application peer-reviewed process. 

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"This year's award winners represent diversity in innovation, expertise and leadership," said AFCPE Executive Director, Rebecca Wiggins. "Our members are making incredible accomplishments across financial education, research, and practice – setting the standard for the important work happening in our field."

Distinguished Fellow Award: Dr. Barbara O'Neill, Rutgers University
Dr. Barbara O'Neill, CFP^®, AFC^® has made a significant impact not only to AFCPE but to the field of personal finance. She is an esteemed financial educator, researcher, practitioner, mentor and pioneer for financial education and wellbeing.

Mary Ellen Edmondson Educator of the Year Award: Andrew Zumwalt, University of Missouri Extension
Andrew Zumwalt has directed the Missouri Tax Education Initiative since 2006, and his program serves thousands of Missouri residents each tax season. As an educator, he pushes his students to go farther, research deeper and develop mastery of a topic versus attaining a simple surface understanding.

Financial Counselor of the Year, Martina Simpson
A 2008 FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellow, Martina Simpson, AFC^® has assisted thousands of military servicemembers and their families through one-on-one financial counseling, education and workshops to achieve financial stability.

Outstanding Educational Program, The University of Utah Personal Money Management Center
The center provides exceptional financial education to university students, including partnering with a local Individual Development Account (IDA) matched savings program to assist low- to moderate-income students in saving a portion of their income to receive a matched grant for tuition.

Outstanding Financial Counseling or Planning Center, Merrimack College Financial Capability
The center provides bilingual financial education, coaching and counselling services to the low-income, mostly Latino, residents of Lawrence, MA while promoting financial inclusion and healthy financial behaviors on campus and in the larger community.

Outstanding Research Journal Article of the Year: Robin Henager, PhD, Whitworth University & Brenda Cude, PhD, University of Georgia for Financial Literacy and Long- and Short-Term Financial Behavior in Different Age Groups. (JFCP, Vol 27, Issue 1)
Examining the relationship between financial literacy and financial behaviors among various age groups, this research provides important implications for financial professionals and policy makers, indicating that a one-size-fits-all approach is not ideal to meet the needs of Americans of various ages.

2016 AFCPE Symposium specific awards:

2016 Outstanding Practitioners Forum, Dr. Barbara O'Neill for Measuring and Reporting the Impact of Financial Education

2016 Outstanding Symposium Poster, Veronica Deenanath, MA, Dung Mao, MA and Catherine Solheim, PhD, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities; and Lori Hendrickson, MEd, AFC^®, CFCS and Mary Jo Katras, PhD, University of Minnesota Extension for Financial Realities of Low-Income Families: Learning from Front-line Professionals

2016 Outstanding Symposium Research Paper, Dr. Sandra Huston & Dawn Abbott, AFC^®, Texas Tech University for Examining the Community of Inquiry (COI) Model for Guiding Online Learning Related to Personal Finance

2016 Outstanding Student Paper, Judith Oboagye for An analysis of the indicators of financial satisfaction: Does behavioral and debt factors matter?

AFCPE award winners were honored in a ceremony at the 2016 AFCPE Symposium.

About AFCPE^®

AFCPE® ensures the highest integrity of the financial counseling profession by certifying, connecting and supporting diverse professionals. Our comprehensive certification programs represent the gold standard for financial counseling, coaching and education, including the AFC^® (Accredited Financial Counselor^®) certification which is accredited by NCCA and nationally recognized by CFPB and DoD.

Contact:
Rachael DeLeon, Communications Director
614-746-0300
[email protected]

SOURCE Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education