NFCC Honors Outstanding Financial Counselor and Outstanding Financial Educator
Washington, DC (PRWEB) April 17, 2014 -- The National Foundation for Credit Counseling® (NFCC) recently bestowed its highest honors on two exceptional NFCC member agency financial professionals.
• The Professional Achievement and Counseling Excellence (PACE) Outstanding Counselor of the Year award was given to Argelis Sanchez with NFCC member agency GreenPath Debt Solutions, and
• The Professional Achievement and Counseling Excellence (PACE) Outstanding Educator of the Year award honored Jennifer Rodriguez with Springboard Nonprofit Consumer Credit Management.
“Financial Literacy Month is the ideal time to underscore the quality of services delivered by NFCC member agencies. The honorees reflect a depth of knowledge and passion for financial education that is representative of the entire NFCC network,” said Susan C. Keating, president and CEO of the NFCC. “Americans can reach out with confidence to a NFCC member agency, knowing they will receive solid solutions and answers to their financial concerns from trained and caring individuals.”
The reigning Outstanding Counselor of the Year, Argelis Sanchez, joined GreenPath in July 2009 as a bi-lingual counselor. As a Spanish speaking counselor, Argelis continuously looks for ways to meet the financial needs of the Hispanic community.
He helped develop a relationship with the United Way in Westchester, New York, resulting in community outreach events in both English and Spanish across New York City. In addition, Argelis is often looked to by Spanish radio and television networks to provide financial education to their audiences.
As a direct result of Argelis’ outreach to the Hispanic community, demand for financial counseling in Spanish has increased. To meet the increased need, Argelis assists other Spanish speaking staff find new and creative ways to reach and counsel consumers in their native language.
Argelis is a NFCC Certified Consumer Credit Counselor, and was one of the first counselors in New York to pass the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM/reverse mortgage) exam. After earning his HECM certification, he began conducting reverse mortgage counseling sessions, and helping other counselors in New York prepare for the test. With his assistance, 90 percent of GreenPath’s New York counselors are now HECM-certified, allowing them to provide a higher level of counseling to senior homeowners interested in a reverse mortgage.
Jennifer Rodriguez, this year’s Outstanding Individual Educator, is Springboard’s Southern California Education & Outreach Coordinator. In that role, Jennifer is responsible for presenting educational workshops that provide consumers with the tools they need for basic money management, household budgeting, conquering debt, building savings, understanding credit reports and scores, using credit wisely, and identity theft awareness and prevention.
A bilingual educator and financial coach, Jennifer has delivered financial education to thousands of consumers in both English and Spanish, equipping them to better manage their money, improve their use of credit, and promote family self-sufficiency.
During the past year, Jennifer worked diligently with her colleagues to educate nearly 7,000 consumers and conduct 390 seminars in community settings. She plays a crucial role in providing an ethnically diverse, low-income population with the education and counseling necessary to become financially independent.
Additionally, Rodriguez is a well-known educator within Southern California’s military community and is frequently called upon to present workshops to active-duty and retired military servicemen and women and their families.
Jennifer holds certifications with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) as a Certified Consumer Credit Counselor and Certified Educator. Jennifer is additionally certified in the following consumer credit laws: the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.
The NFCC is thankful to the sponsors who generously supported the PACE Awards: Bank of America, Chase, Citi, and Experian.
Members of the media interested in obtaining interviews should contact Gail Cunningham at (940) 500-4100 (direct), or (240) 672-2700 (cell), or via email at gcunningham (at) nfcc (dot) org.
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The National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), founded in 1951, is the nation’s largest and longest serving national nonprofit financial counseling organization. The NFCC’s mission is to promote the national agenda for financially responsible behavior, and build capacity for its members to deliver the highest-quality financial education and counseling services. NFCC Members annually help millions of consumers through more than 600 community-based offices nationwide. For free and affordable confidential advice through a reputable NFCC Member, call (800) 388-2227, (en Español (800) 682-9832) or visit http://www.nfcc.org. Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NFCCDebtAdvice, on Twitter: twitter.com/NFCCDebtAdvice, on YouTube: http://www.YouTube.com/NFCC09 and our blog: http://financialeducation.nfcc.org/.
Gail Cunningham, National Foundation for Credit Counseling, http://www.DebtAdvice.org, +1 (940) 500-4100, [email protected]
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