EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — March is International Women’s Month and once again, WPRI 12 is honoring those who inspire, lead, and forge the way for other women.

For the third year, people nationwide submitted the Remarkable Women in their lives and out of the dozens of local nominees, four finalists were chosen.

Our first finalist is Marcy Reyes, who founded the Financial Literacy Youth (FLY) Initiative, a nonprofit organization providing culturally responsive financial literacy programming to underserved and underrepresented students.

Reyes, a Puerto Rican woman, had few resources growing up but still put herself through college. She developed a passion for finance while studying at Rhode Island College and later earned a master’s degree in finance from Northeastern University.

Now, her goal is to implement FLY in all Rhode Island high schools to empower BIPOC youth with knowledge, skills, and experiences to end generational poverty.

Those who nominated Reyes say she is a changemaker, educator and internationally recognized businesswoman and she is the “speaking proof” of what financial education can do.

Throughout the month of March, one of our four local finalists will be featured every Tuesday on 12 News This Morning and The Rhode Show to tell her story and highlight her accomplishments. All of this year’s finalists’ stories will also be posted here on WPRI.com.

Then, on Monday, April 4, a winner will be announced and entered as a finalist for the National “Nexstar Woman of the Year” award.