MONEY 2000+TM wins Northeast Extension Directors' award of excellence

Barbara (B.J.) Bristow, extension associate in the Department of Policy Analysis and Management at Cornell University and the project director of Cornell Cooperative Extension's MONEY 2000+ TM program, was honored by the directors of Cooperative Extension Systems in the Northeast with the Northeast Extension Directors' Award of Excellence on Feb. 2.

The award is dedicated to recognizing outstanding programmatic efforts and accomplishments in extending the knowledge of the land-grant system to address contemporary issues in the Northeast region. Efforts must focus on a priority issue, be innovative and meet nine other criteria including incorporating a research base and evaluation strategies and clearly identifying outcomes and impacts.

MONEY 2000+ is a program to help Americans' set financial goals, increase savings and investments, decrease consumer debt and lower household expenses. Two thousand New Jersey and New York participants enrolled for one year or more in the program reported that they have increased their savings by $1,363,819 and decreased debt by $1,111,757 for a total increase in net worth of $ 2,475,576 as of last year.

MONEY 2000+ is now being offered by some 40 state extension organizations. Program resources include: a National MONEY 2000+ web site, a financial fitness workbook, a quarterly newsletter, an instructional video, promotional items and an electronic mail group. As MONEY 2000+ receives more national recognition, Cooperative Extension is increasingly perceived as a source of high quality personal financial education.

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