London, United Kingdom Jun 3, 2024 (Issuewire.com) - The Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards, the global awards ceremony dedicated to financial literacy and education, celebrates its first birthday on October 15th by announcing that it will open for new award entries at the very beginning of next year, January 3rd, 2023.
The first awards, held online earlier this year, attracted more than 150 entries from all over the world, with winners hailing from the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Dubai, and Peru among others.
MAIA co-founder and experienced Singapore-based financier Michael Gilmore said "Low levels of financial understanding and capability are causing huge problems all over the world, from poverty to suicide, and this is only getting worse due to inflation and the cost of living crisis. If we are going to solve this long term, we have to find the best solutions, wherever they are, and promote them all over the world, to where they are needed."
Gilmore continued: "This year, Judge Patrick Jenkins, deputy editor of the Financial Times and chair of its Financial Literacy and Inclusion Campaign (FT FLIC), highlighted the work the awards found in Peru to help their teachers improve their own finances. Similar approaches could prove very beneficial in advising how the FT FLIC develops its approach. That's why these awards are so desperately needed."
Another winner of note in 2022 was Professor Annamaria Lusardi, from Washington DC, for her research paper establishing that financial literacy education really does work, improving the lives and financial outcomes of people all over the world when it is practiced properly.
MAIA co-founder Trudi Harris, who has worked in marketing communications for over twenty years, said "This is so important. Too many people think financial education doesn't help, but our own white paper, "We can't afford it anymore" highlighted the wide range of innovative solutions we are beginning to see that really is helping."
With the Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards celebrating its first birthday this weekend, the time has come to start launching the next round of awards, to find the next idea that could change the way we all think about money.
Harris continued: "From the UK, Blackbullion, a female-led financial programme that helps students find sources of funding and then manage their money better, won a special commendation from the judges for its innovative work. It is helping a group that is often vulnerable and making life-changing decisions with limited information and no training. BlackBullion is now expanding, bringing these solutions all over the world - and we want to see more innovative British solutions leading the way."
Gilmore said "Entries are open to three broad categories of applicants - individual, non-profit organisations, and for-profit companies - because we want to see the best ideas, whether they come from a charity, a fin-tech start-up or an influencer. This year, a teacher's assistant from Canada developed an app and website called Gifting Sense that almost beat the whole University of Chicago and all its resources."
Gilmore concluded: "Everyone is invited to the MAIAs because that's how we will beat this problem."
While the award entry website will open on January 3rd, 2023, potential entrants should register early to get more information on how to enter. The first panel of judges, from all corners of the financial world, will be announced later in October.
About the MAIAs: Founded by Gilmore and Harris, the MAIAs was devised as the first global financial literacy body aiming to solve the problem of weak financial literacy experienced all over the world, by finding and celebrating the best solutions. The winning solutions in 2022 ranged from academic research on gamifying education to 12-year-old influencers making videos about money.
Contact: Trudi Harris at trudi@maiawards.org or Michael Gilmore at michael@maiawards.org to discuss the MAIAs or for interviews about the problems weak financial literacy is causing, and the emerging solutions to this.
Media Contact
The Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards michael@maiawards.org http://maiawards.org
