The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Investor Education Foundation and United Way Worldwide have announced grants totaling more than $1 million over two years to eight local United Ways and other nonprofit community groups working to provide financial education to underserved individuals.

Awarded through the Financial Education in Your Community initiative, which is administered jointly by United Way Worldwide and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation, the grants will provide funding, financial education materials, and technical assistance to organizations serving communities and populations hit hard by the recession.

The grants include $150,000 to the Spokane County United Way to help Next Generation Zone incorporate financial education into its services for low-income youth; $135,873 to the United Way of Northeast Florida to provide the Real$ense workplace financial education program to nonprofit-sector employees; and $50,000 to the Village Family Service Center in Fargo, North Dakota, to provide, in partnership with nonprofit partners, basic financial education classes and counseling to low-income single mothers, new Americans, and clients with a history of substance abuse. Since 2009, the Financial Education in Your Community partnership has awarded nearly $5.7 million to forty-seven projects.

"We are proud to continue our partnership with United Way Worldwide to provide support for community-based innovators who are developing effective approaches to financial education that can be leveraged in communities across the country," said FINRA Foundation president Gerri Walsh. "Local nonprofit organizations are integral to neighborhood social networks. They have a unique ability to craft programs and create environments in which participants can learn and make sound financial choices for themselves and their families."