MAIAs name 17 global winners for financial literacy awards

By AI, Created 5:22 AM UTC, May 29, 2026, /AGP/ – The Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards named 17 winners from the U.S., U.K. and countries including Kenya, Canada, Australia and El Salvador. The fifth annual awards spotlighted projects on pensions, anti-scam education, fintech and financial coaching as financial literacy gains urgency worldwide.

Why it matters: - The MAIAs are spotlighting tools and programs meant to improve financial literacy, access to money guidance and protection from scams. - The awards show how financial education efforts are spreading across schools, nonprofits, fintech and public-interest projects in multiple countries. - Kenya’s KNEST program won two categories for helping self-employed workers and micro-entrepreneurs understand and access pension schemes.

What happened: - The Money Awareness and Inclusion Awards announced the winners of the fifth annual MAIAs on May 29, 2026. - The awards named 17 total winners. - The U.S. had five winners, more than any other country. - The U.K. had three winners. - Winners also came from Kenya, Canada, Australia and El Salvador.

The details: - Michael Gilmore, MAIAs co-founder, said entries rose 12% from last year. - Gilmore said the number of finalists increased 29% because of improved quality. - Veronica Frisancho won the Best Academic Paper prize for work on the long-term impacts of teaching money in school. - Daniel Ross’s Financial Literacy Australia won Best For Profit Project for Underserved Communities for the second year in a row. - Braden Cobb’s Kidz Economy returned to the winners’ list after a 2024 win. - NGPF’s Shady Sam won best non-profit school-age education for a game that puts players in the role of a predatory lender to teach loan-shark tactics. - Danish Khatri’s “Ten Dollar Adventure” won Best Book after a unanimous decision from book judges, including the Library of Mistakes. - “This Is Not Financial Advice” won the MAIAs’ first movie award for a documentary on speculative behavior fueled by social media. - Texas A&M University’s “Second Chance Money Skills” won Closing the Gender Gap for work with incarcerated women in Texas. - Munny Group from the U.K. won Best Fintech for using AI to provide 1-on-1 money coaching 24 hours a day. - Fundacion Gloria Kriete’s Social Entrepreneurship Incubation became the MAIAs’ first winner from El Salvador. - Westbank, a group of high school students in Washington state, won Best Educator. - Credit Canada Gold’s Financial Coaching for non-profits won one Adult Education prize, while UK Savings Week, organized by the Building Society Association, won the for-profit Adult Education prize. - DigitLabs’ RealXEducation won best Blockchain Education Project. - Impact Investing Coffee Mornings Singapore won the Green Financial Literacy Prize. - Scam Victim Alliance from Australia won Best Anti-Scam project in its second year.

Between the lines: - The spread of winners suggests financial literacy is moving beyond traditional classroom teaching into digital tools, media, prison education and community programs. - The range of categories also shows the MAIAs are trying to reward niche efforts that are often overlooked, including blockchain education, green investing and anti-scam work. - Gilmore described the awards as recognizing the many ways people are trying to “make money better.”

What’s next: - The MAIAs directed readers to the Winners 2026 page for the full list of recipients. - The organization also pointed to the awards show video for more judge commentary. - The MAIAs said interested readers can contact michael@maiawards.org for more details.

The bottom line: - The fifth annual MAIAs made a broad case that financial literacy is now a global, cross-sector issue, with winners ranging from school games to pension education and documentary film.