NEW YORK, Oct. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Fig36 has been named a Champion of Financial Wellbeing in the 1st annual Unlocking Change Challenge. Over the last 6 months, Ashoka, BNY Mellon and their network partners have rallied around a vision of financial wellbeing for individuals and families across the country. The Unlocking Change Challenge committee reviewed applications from over 100 organizations across 41 states in the United States and had the difficult task of selecting 4 winners.
As one of the four Champions of Financial Wellbeing, Houston based Fig will receive a $50,000 cash award to support Fig36 activities and will join Ashoka's cohort of Pioneers of Financial Wellbeing in San Francisco from October 23-26, 2018 at this year's Social Capital Markets Conference (SOCAP18) as a part of the Entrepreneur Scholarship Program.
Fig Tech builds operations and financial risk software that enables small local organizations like non-profits to operate their own lending programs. "Local organizations are uniquely positioned to provide financial services to their communities because nobody knows the specific needs of the community better than these organizations," says Founder and CEO, Jeff Zhou.
At the awards ceremony held in BNY Mellon headquarters in New York, Head of Partnerships, Zara Mohidin recalled Fig's humble beginnings:
"We got our start by cold calling over 50 non-profits all around the country to learn about how predatory financial institutions were affecting families. And about 49 of them did not return our calls… But one non-profit did, and that was the United Way of Greater Houston. If Jackie didn't answer the phone that day, we wouldn't be here today! We piloted our idea in Houston and realized that this idea has the potential to truly transform the way underbanked Americans experience financial services. So, thank you to everyone along the way who gave us a chance, including Ashoka and Bank of New York Mellon— your recognition means the world to us and the thousands of people we serve."
About Fig Tech
Originally a collaboration with the financial coaches at the United Way of Greater Houston, Fig provides credit building products for consumers and financial stability tools for community organizations. Started in 2015, Fig is a graduate of TechStars Seattle in 2016 and has provided over $3M in loans to underserved Americans. To learn more about the Fig36 product visit https://www.figloans.com/community-loans.
About The Unlocking Change Challenge
Ashoka and BNY Mellon are partnering to shape the future of financial wellbeing through social innovation and entrepreneurship. With a responsibility to its clients, its people, and the world, BNY Mellon contributes to the resiliency of global markets and solutions for some of the world's most pressing issues, building healthy economies and sustainable communities over time. Ashoka is the largest global network of leading social entrepreneurs—individuals with new ideas to systematically address the world's biggest challenges and the entrepreneurial skill to transform those ideas into national, regional and global social impact. Together, with social entrepreneurs, Ashoka and BNY Mellon are well positioned to lay a foundation of financial wellbeing for every person in the United States—and around the world.
SOURCE Fig Tech
Share this article