St. Louis Fed Receives International Award for Financial Inclusion

ST. LOUIS â€• The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has received the international 2019 Central Banking Award for financial inclusion. The recognition, awarded to the St. Louis Fed’s Economic Education team by Central Banking Publications in London, highlights the group’s efforts in engaging and supporting teachers around the world through financial literacy tools and education.

Central Banking cited the following accomplishments in announcing the award:

• Over a one-year period ending in August, the St. Louis Fed’s education resource website had 1.1 million new students enrolled, and 1.2 million classroom resources downloaded. This represented a 38 percent increase.

• In a one-year period, the St. Louis Fed reached more than 460,000 students through its educators.

• The Bank’s significant outreach to low-income schools in its District

• The Bank launched the Women in Economics Symposium in 2018.

• More than one-third of the traffic to the Bank’s economic education website during the past year was international. The St. Louis Fed has 17 Spanish-language resources.

"We are honored to receive this award," said Mary Suiter, assistant vice president and the St. Louis Fed’s Economic Education officer. "It is a testament to the great work members of the District's economic education team do and the tremendous support we receive from management and staff at the Bank. We are proud that Central Banking is recognizing the St. Louis Fed for its commitment to financial and economic education."

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard echoed Suiter's comments.

"Financial literacy is of utmost importance today," Bullard said. "We know that educating the public about economic concepts can help make our communities financially stronger. The St. Louis Fed's leadership in advancing financial literacy and economic education furthers our public mission to strengthen the economy for the benefit of all."

The St. Louis Fed’s Econ Lowdown economic education program offers hundreds of free lessons about economics, personal finance, money and banking. There are videos and online courses for pre-K through college, as well as for parents and other consumers. Suiter and team will also be hosting the second Women in Economics Symposium on Feb. 28, 2019.