We Want You to Apply For An AFCPE Award
Each year AFCPE® recognizes the great work and innovation happening in financial education, research, and practice. Award winners are celebrated at the AFCPE® Symposium in November.
Win or lose, applying for an AFCPE award provides incredible value to you!
- It’s an opportunity to demonstrate your effectiveness and your impact.
- It can enhance your reputation (we love to spotlight our members, and applying for an award brings your work to the forefront.)
- It allows you to gain feedback from your peers (through the review process).
- It has the potential to assist with funding opportunities.
- It provides professional aspiration.
- And it allows for self-reflection, which can increase self-esteem and job satisfaction.
Advice For You From Our Past AFCPE Award Winners
Thinking about applying for an award, but not sure where to start?
Past award winners share:
- Why winning an AFCPE Award meant so much to them,
- What inspired them to apply,
- And their best advice for you!
2014 Outstanding Consumer Financial Information
Rita W. Green, AFC®, Ed.D.
“I was hesitant to apply for an award because I am not in the habit of “tooting my own horn”, so to speak. A colleague once indicated that people will not be aware of my work if I don’t share it.”
“Winning the award was a surprise because there is so much good work that deserves to be recognized and I didn’t know if mine would stand out. Recognition for my work was a byproduct of the true reward of helping consumers who became beneficiaries of my financial education outreach efforts.”
“I want to encourage my colleagues to submit their work for an award because we all benefit from sharing our financial education tools and resources with each other. Winning an AFCPE award, or even being nominated for one, also provides credibility as well as recognition for a job well done.”
2018 Financial Counselor of the Year
Lori Mann, AFC®
“Winning this award meant that those the education provided and required through AFCPE and Sage Financial was assimilated and I am practicing the standards of excellence to the best of my ability for my clients and their families. It means that I have shown them the responsibility and dedication in assisting them with these standards in obtaining the financial goals they have defined and set for themselves.”
“I was new to this field and seeing the success of my clients was amazing, but this award validated my journey with them in their success. It gave me confidence I was providing the best possible service I could for them.“
“I would encourage anyone to have someone nominate them and provide authenticate input in their nomination. For sole practitioners’ their nomination can come from letters of gratitude from their clients and past professional relationships they have had in this field.”
2019 Financial Counselor of the Year
April Berggren-Batts, AFC®
“Winning the 2019 Financial Counselor of the Year Award validated all the hours of work I have put into the financial counseling program. Each day I get to work with our amazing service members and their families. This award reminded me that my efforts are valued and also that the success of our military families is important to our nation.”
“This award has also introduced me to a lot of people. I have more experts than ever in my network, which I can turn to whenever I need assistance. This network is full of the most professional, ethical, diverse, and passionate group of people I have ever encountered. Meeting other hard-working counselors has been the best part of winning this award.”
2017 Outstanding Educational Program
Maria Pippidis, MS, AFC®, FFC®
University of Delaware & University of Maryland Cooperative Extension’s “Smart Choice and Smart Use Health Insurance
“What an incredible honor to have the Smart Choice and Smart Use Health Insurance Educational Modules be chosen as the Excellent Program! The honor has brought additional recognition to our work and the effectiveness of the program. Having an award really recognized the efforts the writing and piloting teams gave and the benefits that the program can have on participants who attend the programs.”
“For me personally, it was very exciting to see how years of hard work is appreciated by others and recognized as beneficial to our financial management community.”
“Though it takes time to pull an application together, it is such a wonderful feeling to know what you do is making a difference.”
2018 Outstanding Consumer Financial Information Award
Dr. Matt Goren, CFP® and Dr. Michael Thomas, AFC®
Nothing Funny About Money
“Winning the AFCPE award said that our peers saw value in the work that we do. It also meant that we were doing an excellent job of promoting the profession. We are not the only voices in this space. Nor will we be the last. We are apart of a collective striving to make a difference. That is a reward in and of itself.”
“Since winning the award, we’ve been able to brand the show as being an award-winning show. Marketing is a big part of getting your name out there. Having the AFCPE behind us helps. The recognition provides us with a level of credibility that we could not achieve on our merit alone.”
“In the words of Nike, “Just do it!” Going through the process will also help you understand the criteria for an award. It is a great way to assess whether or not you are checking all of the boxes. If you are not, this information provides you with the insight needed to create a clear plan on what you need to do to optimize your chances for consideration next year. In either case, it’s a win/win scenario.”
Next steps:
Ready to get started? Visit our AFCPE Awards page to learn more about each award and get started on your application today!
The deadline to apply is July 13.
Questions about the process?
Email awards@afcpe.org.
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