To Create Global Change - Empowering Global Citizens - A Social Benefit Corporation - MPOWER Financing
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Empowering Global Citizens
to Create Global Change
Our First Five Years
of Social Impact
A Social Benefit Corporation
1 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Message from Manu Smadja......................................................................................................................................... 4
A Message from Erika Norwood....................................................................................................................................... 5
Executive Summary............................................................................................................................................................ 6
Our Mission.......................................................................................................................................................................... 8
Our Social Impact Strategy and Objectives.................................................................................................................... 9
Our Social Impact Philosophy and Approach................................................................................................................ 10
Our Unique Product is Credit-Building and Customer-Friendly......................................................................... 11
Our Data-Driven Credit Model is Based on Borrower’s Potential, Not Wealth................................................. 12
Our Customer Service Experience is Tailored to the Needs of International and DACA Students................ 14
“Education is the most powerful weapon which
We Bring the Service—and Compassion—to Servicing....................................................................................... 16
you can use to change the world”
Our Initiatives: How We’re Driving Progress Against Our Social Impact Objectives.............................................. 18
- Nelson Mandela Eliminating Financial Barriers Through Scholarships.......................................................................................... 19
Understanding and Eliminating Barriers for Women.......................................................................................... 23
Putting Our Borrowers on the Path to Success.................................................................................................... 26
Nurturing the Fintech and Social Enterprise Ecosystems and Shifting Lending Paradigms........................... 28
Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Internally.......................................................................................... 31
Our Results: How We Measure Up Against Our Social Impact Objectives............................................................... 34
Progress Towards Objective #1: Removing Financial Barriers for Diverse, High-Potential
International and DACA Students.......................................................................................................................... 35
Progress Towards Objective #2: Building Borrower’s Credit and Enhancing Financial
Inclusion and Financial Health................................................................................................................................ 36
Progress Towards Objective #3: Enabling Tomorrow’s Scientists, Entrepreneurs, Innovators,
and Leaders to Realize Their Full Potential........................................................................................................... 38
Progress Towards Objective #4: Helping Universities Meet Their Diversity Goals and
Strengthen Their Bottom Line................................................................................................................................ 40
Data Sources, Notes, and Methodology for Key Impact Metrics in This Report..................................................... 42
2
A MESSAGE Dear shareholders, partners, clients, and friends of MPOWER,
This report is a wonderful celebration of just how far we’ve come since
from Manu Smadja, MPOWER CEO Mike Davis and I founded this company in 2014 — but also a reminder
of how far there is yet to go.
In 2014, we were two former international students with an ugly
A Message from Erika Norwood
PowerPoint deck and a dream: to help remove the financial obstacles Gray Matters Capital CEO
that we had faced when accessing American higher education.
When the Gray Matters Charitable Foundation (GMCF) awarded a Spark Program Grant
In our early years, we were so focused on building the business that we to MPOWER Financing in April 2018, we hoped that it would catalyze the design and
didn’t always have time to measure our social impacts. We knew we were implementation of a truly innovative social impact strategy. We have not been disappointed.
having them, since our core product— an education loan for international
and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) students in the U.S. The insights MPOWER has gathered from borrowers through surveys, case studies, video
and Canada that requires no co-signer, no collateral, and no U.S. or contests, and focus groups have clearly advanced MPOWER’s data-driven decision-making
Canadian credit score—was designed with our mission in mind. We also
and understanding of the customer journey.
knew anecdotally that we were having an impact on students, but we just
didn’t have data.
I would like to particularly commend MPOWER for your work to illuminate the barriers
facing women in emerging markets. The data you have gathered is sobering. But as
Now, thanks in part to a generous grant from Gray Matters Capital, we’re
GMC persists in its mission to support an education leading to a more purposeful life for
able to quantify many of our impacts. As this report highlights, we serve MPOWER would also like to
100 million women by 2036, we appreciate this clear-eyed assessment of the numerous
one of the most socioeconomically and geographically diverse customer thank its other investors:
bases on the planet. Our borrowers are citizens of the world, and they are obstacles facing women in the higher education pipeline.
founding companies, running for office, and making scientific discoveries.
Given that MPOWER focuses on the tail end of this education pipeline, some of these
I hope you’ll enjoy reading about the impact we’re having on our challenges cannot be easily addressed by MPOWER. GMCF, however, intends to use these
borrowers, their universities, and their communities. Most of all, I hope insights to inform its work with women and girls in India and around the globe, and I hope
you’re inspired by our students’ stories—and that you’re inspired to join other partners do as well.
us on this journey.
For the pool of women in emerging markets who do possess the academic and professional
qualifications to pursue higher ed in the U.S. or Canada, however, MPOWER is doing an
extraordinary job of removing financial barriers for them.
We are honored to have been partners in this journey.
I hope you’re inspired by our students’ stories—and that you’re inspired to join us on this journey.
4 5
Executive Summary We’re Proud of the Recognition
At MPOWER, we believe that now, more than ever, we need scientists, engineers, medical professionals, and business
and Awards We’ve Received
and government leaders who are multilingual and cross-cultural; who bring a fresh perspective to a wide range of
global problems and who are equipped to solve them in a culturally appropriate way; and who are sensitive to the
Highlighting This Impact:
needs of—or even themselves members of—often marginalized groups.
This report highlights just how we’re trying to bring this about. It also highlights how diverse and bright our students
are—and how their diversity, talent, and tenacity are already at work solving global problems ranging from poor water BEST FINTECHS 2018 &
quality in Pakistan to antibiotic-resistant infections in Africa.
TO WORK FOR 2019
SUMMARY OF RESULTS, BY OBJECTIVE
Best
Removing Financial 85% couldn’t Lender for
Barriers for Diverse, High- have financed International PLATINUM
Potential International
and DACA Students >2,000 45% 4% a degree
without
Students
loans made female DACA MPOWER
120 76% of
countries
Enabling Tomorrow’s Scientists, Entrepreneurs,
Innovators, and Leaders to Realize Their Full Potential
borrowers
of from Our impact work supports the following
citizenship U.N. Social and Development Goals
3company
emerging
53% markets 45% of
have founded
have family graduates
incomes work in STEM a
< $15,000
Building Borrower’s Credit and Enhancing Helping Universities Meet Their Diversity Goals
Financial Inclusion and Financial Health and Strengthen Their Bottom Line
75% of MPOWER 50% Since our inception,
our students have
While over half of
international students in the
borrowers who had of borrowers were paid over $100 U.S. in 2018 were from India
no FICO score at the approved for a million in tuition or China (IIE Open Doors
time of loan attained a prime credit card and fees to 148 Report), less than a quarter
credit score after making 12 universities. of MPOWER’s borrowers were from
consecutive on-time payments these two countries.
6 7
Our Social Impact Strategy
Our Mission and Objectives
Enable high-promise global citizens to We support our borrowers at every stage in
further their academic and financial their customer journey, with the ultimate goal of
aspirations and make socioeconomic making socioeconomic mobility borderless.
MPOWER removes financial
mobility borderless. At each critical juncture in our borrowers’ journey,
we’ve identified social impact objectives to keep
barriers for diverse, high-potential
international and DACA students
us focused and accountable. We then developed through no-cosigner loans and
metrics to track our progress towards achieving scholarships
these objectives.
Read on to find out how well MPOWER assists U.S. and
we’ve done to date! Canadian universities in meeting
diversity goals while keeping
their underlying financial
positions strong
OUR VALUES
Boldness
MPOWER builds
Compassion borrowers’ credit and
puts borrowers on a path
Excellence to financial inclusion and
financial health
Inclusion
Data-driven Decision-Making
Unwavering Integrity
MPOWER enables tomorrow’s
scientists, entrepreneurs,
innovators, and leaders to
realize their full potential and
change the world
8 9
Our Social Impact Philosophy and Approach Our Unique Product is Credit-Building
SOCIAL IMPACT ISN’T JUST A PILLAR OF MPOWER FINANCING’S BUSINESS—
IT’S THE CORE OF OUR BUSINESS.
and Customer-Friendly
When designing our business model and …to drive continuous improvement in
operations, we took a social impact lens our social impact objectives…
Consumer-Friendly Features of our Core Product
to each step in the process…
Removing Financial Barriers • Can be used at any one of our 350+ partner schools
Customer-Friendly, for Diverse, High-Potential • Funds are disbursed directly to school
Credit-Building Product International and DACA Students • Can be used to fund graduate school or junior or senior year
Credit Model Based on of undergraduate studies
Building Borrower’s Credit
Potential, Not Wealth and Enhancing Financial • No co-signer required
Inclusion and Financial
…to achieve • No collateral required
Customer Service Tailored
to Needs of International Health our ultimate goal
• No credit score required
Students
• Fixed interest rates
Compassionate Servicing Enabling Tomorrow’s
Scientists, Entrepreneurs, • Flexible loan amounts from $2,001 to $50,000
Innovators, and Leaders to • Interest-only payments in school and six months after graduation
Realize Their Full Potential • Assists in building borrower credit
• No pre-payment penalties
…and then layered on special initiatives Helping Universities Meet
Their Diversity Goals and Increase the number and diversity • Generous forbearance policy
to further remove financial barriers and
support borrowers… Strengthen Their Bottom of high-potential global citizens
Line who can benefit from—and enrich—
Scholarships North America’s top educational
institutions, and support them
Outreach to Women during and after their degree so
they can realize their full potential.
Path2Success
10 11
Our Borrowers Have a Wealth Sumei X., MPOWER Borrower
of Potential… From Au Pair to Software Engineer
Originally from Jiangsu, China, Sumei came to Shanghai to attend college. She studied
61% of our MBA students
scored in the top computer science and worked diligently to improve her English, but says she was
“extremely shy” and lacked confidence.
10th percentile on the Graduate
Management Admission Test
After college, she took a job as a technical support specialist for Citibank, but she found
(GMAT) herself restless for an opportunity to “see the world.” When she learned about the au pair
program, she jumped at the opportunity, believing it would help her improve her English,
learn about American culture, and gain self-confidence.
…but not necessarily monetary wealth
Our Data-Driven Credit Model Sumei was surprised by some of the challenges she encountered as an au pair. “I thought
is Based on Borrowers’ my English was pretty good,” she said, “and it was—by Chinese standards. But while I
could read and write it fairly well, speaking was a real challenge. Beyond the language
POTENTIAL, Not Wealth. itself, there’s also a big difference in communication styles. Chinese people tend to be
more indirect, while Americans are more straightforward. It took me a while to adjust.”
The idea behind MPOWER is simple yet audacious: credit decisions “Unlike in China,
for international and DACA students should be forward-looking and [the American kids’] Working as an au pair also gave her a taste of the American educational system. “I was so
based on the student’s extraordinary potential.
17% 53% schooling focused on
critical thinking, not
impressed by the projects that the children I worked with did at school. Unlike in China,
their schooling focused on critical thinking, not rote memorization.”
How do we put this into practice? of our borrowers of our borrowers
rote memorization.”
are from families are from families That experience inspired Sumei to continue her education in the U.S. When she received
Rather than looking at family income or assets, our proprietary
with annual with annual the news that she had been accepted to the Master of Computer Science program at
algorithm uses each student’s test scores, the caliber of their
university, their degree program, and a myriad of other factors to
incomes < $2,500 incomes < $15,000 Boston University, Sumei was elated. However, she soon realized her savings were
estimate the student’s future earnings—and their ability to service woefully inadequate. She considered applying for a loan from a Chinese bank, but there
debt. were no Chinese banks willing to lend without a mortgage on her parents’ house. She was
also reluctant to ask her parents for help.
As a result, we’re proud to serve the planet’s highest-potential
individuals, regardless of income, family background, or gender.
85% STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Fortunately, her online research quickly led her to MPOWER and, as a result, she was able
of our borrowers say they to cover her funding shortfall. Sumei doesn’t know just what the future will bring, but
couldn’t have financed it’s already looking bright. She has a great software engineering internship lined up this
their degree without summer, and she’s hopeful this will turn into a full-time job offer.
MPOWER
12 13
Our Customer Service Experience Gizem Girgim
is Tailored to the Needs of MPOWER Senior Customer Success Analyst
From Struggling International Student to
International and DACA Students Customer Service Guru
MPOWER’s Customer Success Team serves as the customer’s guide and partner
Growing up in Izmir, Turkey, Gizem acquired the nickname “American girl” because she
throughout the application process. MPOWER representatives are available to
spoke English better than all of her classmates—better, even, than her English teacher.
answer questions on a wide range of topics, from applying for our scholarships, to
But she still found she faced a language barrier when she came to U.S. in 2010 to pursue a
requesting a visa support letter from MPOWER, to uploading the right supporting
Master of Finance at Florida International University. “There are a lot of words and phrases
documents for a loan application. Our representatives also keep customers
updated on the status of their applications and collect real-time customer What Our Borrowers Have to Say used daily in the U.S. that come from social media, movies, songs, and the culture itself,
feedback. About Our Customer Service and I just wasn’t familiar with those,” she recalls. “So I made friends with people who were
raised in the U.S. and asked them to explain these phrases to me.”
We use this customer feedback to continuously improve our processes “[I had a] very good experience. I have got hope out of my
Gizem’s English quickly improved, she received excellent grades, and she was even asked
and loan platform. Just a few examples from the past year include: hopeless situation of being withdrawn from the Master’s
to serve as a teaching assistant. But even so, she found that it was difficult to secure a
• Improving self-service options for uploading the degree in Global Health Policy and Management. So, I
finance job post-graduation without permanent residency, so she ended up in retail—
required supporting documentation; commend MPOWER Financing for the good work.”
“I love helping but then found she loved the sales side of it. Eventually, she landed a job as a financial
• Launching a Frequently Asked Questions advisor for Edward Jones. She enjoyed that role, but still jumped at the chance to work for
international students
feature; “[I] really appreciate your great heart to humanity by lifting MPOWER—and help international students work through some of the same challenges
like myself achieve their she had faced.
• Creating a customer welcome video and the burden of education funding [and] enhancing education
education goals every
financial literacy quiz to ensure borrowers privileges to the less privileged. Your prompt response to
fully understand the terms of their MPOWER mails is second to none.”
single day.” “I love helping international students like myself achieve their education goals every single
loan; and day,” she says.
• Creating a Customer Welcome Team to proactively “Ms. Thomas was absolutely amazing! She helped me That passion shines through in Gizem’s work—and in the results. In recognition of her
reach out to customers who fail to progress from from day one all the way. She talked me through all the excellence in customer service, MPOWER’s CEO asked her to stand up the Customer
one stage of the loan approval process to the next in a
challenges and made what was a very stressful process Welcome Team.
reasonable amount of time. We have found that this is
much more bearable and doable. I am eternally grateful for
often due to issues related to identifying and uploading STAFF SPOTLIGHT
her stellar service. She really was amazing!” “Gizem is motivated by seeing others succeed,” says her manager, Kristin, “and this is
the correct documentation, so rather than wait for a
apparent in the way she interacts with students. She checks in on applicants to see how
customer to reach out to us, we call them!
their visa interviews or school exams went. She shares her experiences as an international
“Wow! Gizem is [a] very professional, quick responder
student in hopes it that it will make someone else’s journey easier. She thrives on the
and knowledgeable staff [member]. She is [an] excellent
relationships she builds with each student. We’re extremely lucky to have her as part of
problem-solver. She responds to customers’ concerns and the MPOWER family.”
is able to resolve them to make customers satisfied.”
14 15
A SERVICING Tania Salazar
We Bring the Service— SUCCESS STORY! Citizen of the World and MPOWER
and Compassion— With the financial assistance provided Customer Success Analyst
to Servicing CHALLENGE:
by MPOWER, Mirjeta* was able to
complete her Master of International
Tania’s manager, Kortney, describes her as “totally dedicated
Employment Barriers to doing whatever she can to help the borrower, throughout
Business at Tufts University. But she
MPOWER aims to treat every customer like the life of the loan. Whether it’s onboarding a new borrower or
Some of our borrowers run into struggled to find employment after
a VIP at every stage in the process, including brainstorming options to bring a delinquent account current, she
short-term financial difficulties, often graduation because she didn’t know
servicing. We know that our borrowers face takes the time that is needed with every borrower to ensure all of
as a result of circumstances that how to represent herself in her résumé
unique challenges, so we’ve designed a their worries are eased.”
disproportionately affect international and in interviews. Her loan became
compassionate, borrower-driven servicing severely delinquent and she stopped
and DACA students, such as work
process to assist in overcoming these When counseling students, Tania draws on her experience as
authorization issues. communicating with MPOWER.
challenges. CHALLENGE: a former financial advisor for Merrill Lynch. She often reviews
Lack of Familiarity with borrowers’ personal finances and suggests budget-stretching
As the loan approached default,
U.S. Banking Practices tips and tricks. She also works to address the root cause of
MPOWER’s Servicing Team was
CHALLENGE: their financial difficulties, working in tandem with MPOWER’s
International Transfer Fees OUR SOLUTION Some of our borrowers are unfamiliar finally able to get in touch. Using the
Path2Success team to address immigration and employment
with common practices in the U.S. banking forbearance option, the team was
Some of our borrowers return to their We tailor our assistance to each issues.
system, such as automatic payments, and able to not only bring her past due
home countries after graduation, which borrower’s unique circumstances: “I am passionate about
are reluctant to use these options. payments back up to date and stop
means they no longer have access to U.S. • For borrowers still in school, we the loan from defaulting, but also put a
helping borrowers Part of what makes Tania so passionate about assisting borrowers
dollar-denominated accounts—and face offer a special credit building
couple of her upcoming payments on
find the best solution is her own experience as a former international student—and
bank fees of up to 13 percent to transfer payment option that temporarily
hold as well to give her some breathing
for them.” a true global citizen. Born in Brazil to Colombian parents, Tania
money internationally. reduces a borrower’s monthly OUR SOLUTION spent her formative years in Brazil, the U.S., and Quebec, Canada,
room. While her loan was paused with
payment to $25. MPOWER reports becoming fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French.
We proactively reach out to borrowers to forbearance, Servicing connected her
the loan as “paid current” to the She completed her undergraduate studies at Temple University
educate them about the importance of making with our Path2Success team, which
credit bureaus. This option allows and the Sorbonne, and then received her MBA from McKenzie
on-time payments, as well as options to make revamped her résumé, tapped into
OUR SOLUTION the borrower to continue building
their networks to get Mirjeta interviews
University in Sao Paulo, Brazil, before working as a strategist for
a good U.S. credit history while in this as easy as possible. As an incentive, we start-ups in Brazil.
We partner with Flywire, a secure at three top consulting firms, and
school, without the pressure of offer interest-rate discounts of 0.5 percentage
global payment platform that allows improved her interview skills through STAFF SPOTLIGHT
supporting larger loan payments. points for each of the following: “I am passionate about helping borrowers find the best solution
students to seamlessly pay MPOWER mock interviews.
• Signing up for automatic payments; for them,” Tania says, “and I enjoy educating them about the
from over 200 countries and • For borrowers facing difficulties in
territories. Our borrowers can make obtaining a job or internship, we • Making 6 consecutive, on-time auto importance of personal financial responsibility in credit building. I
As a result of MPOWER’s assistance—
a payment in their local currency at provide referrals to MPOWER’s suite debit payments; love it when I’m on a call with a borrower and the lightbulb finally
plus Mirjeta’s own stellar credentials—
a very competitive exchange rate, by of free Path2Success services. • Graduating and obtaining full-time goes off. Then I can tell the borrower really understands their
she obtained a consulting position
mobile phone, without any hidden fees. employment. loan payment schedule, how any pre-payments or late payments
(See page 26 for details.) and is now back on track with her
will affect the total amount they pay—and how this loan, and the
payments!
credit it builds, will affect their long-term financial goals.”
*Name has been changed to protect borrower’s privacy
16 17
Our Initiatives: How We’re Driving Progress Eliminating FEATURED WINNER
CHIDOZIE D. OJOBOR, NIGERIAN
Against Our Social Impact Objectives Financial ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE RESEARCHER
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Barriers Through Like so many of our winners, Ojobor’s
personal experiences provided the
inspiration for his career choice.
January 2019 March 2019
Scholarships “One of the greatest breakthroughs
of medicine was the discovery of
Loans are just one way that MPOWER achieves our mission of antibiotics,” he wrote in his essay.
ensuring socioeconomic mobility is borderless. Scholarships are “However, over the years, there has
Launch of
first MPOWER Launch of two new Launch of
Launch of webinar
an increasingly important part of the way we achieve this mission been an uprising of antibiotic-resistant bacteria which have posed a
joint scholarship Launch of Nursing series for MPOWER great threat to human existence. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, if left
scholarship Women in STEM and remove financial barriers for international and DACA students.
programs with Scholarship borrowers with
program, the Global Scholarship unchecked, would cause 10 million deaths yearly by 2050 worldwide,
La Unidad Latina Program professional
Citizen Scholarship Program according to a CDC report. Coming from Nigeria, I have firsthand
Program Foundation career coach In 2018, MPOWER awarded $20,000 in scholarships to international
and DACA students. In 2019, MPOWER will increase this to over experience with persons infected with bacteria which are unresponsive
$65,000. to drugs.”
Now a Ph.D. student in Molecular Genetics at the University of Toronto,
MPOWER Global Citizen Ojobor’s contributions to the field greatly impressed our judges. “In the
August 2018 February 2019 March 2019
Scholarship Program last three years of my Ph.D. in Canada,” he wrote in his essay, “I have
Our signature scholarship program awards scholarships to identified novel bacteria-killing entities, called tailocins, which I have
international students at schools we support. We’ve intentionally successfully used to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the laboratory.
April 2019 May 2019 Interestingly, in any case that the bacteria then develop resistance, I can
designed this scholarship program to be as broad as possible to
match the broad, diverse experiences of international and DACA genetically engineer the tailocins to overpower the resistant superbugs.
students. My work has the potential to help the world in overcoming diseases
caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.”
MPOWER’s first MPOWER’s first MPOWER’s first
MPOWER’s first stakeholder focus groups in Launch of group
webinar for “’I feel immensely honored to be a winner of the prestigious MPOWER
social impact interviews to Nigeria to career coaching OTHER WINNERS:
borrowers with Global Citizenship Scholarship,” Ojobor said. “For me, this recognition
case competition understand access understand access pilot for highest-risk
an immigration Vaqar Syed, Pakistan,
barriers for Indian barriers, particularly borrowers revitalizes my drive toward my education, and because this scholarship
attorney
women for women University of California, Los Angeles is monetarily applied to funding my schooling, it is truly freeing and
Zainab Ilumoka, Nigeria, ‘empowering.’”
Northeastern University Law School
Tabitha Wacuka Kiiru, Kenya,
April 2019 May 2019 May 2019 Iowa State University
18 19MPOWER Women in STEM MPOWER Nursing Scholarship Program MPOWER SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Scholarship Program In March, MPOWER celebrated our expansion to support 25 of LA UNIDAD LATINA FOUNDATION
On February 11th, the United Nation’s International Day of Women the top nursing schools in the U.S.—and its continued support for
In January, MPOWER launched a partnership with La Unidad Latina Foundation (LULF), which
and Girls in Science, MPOWER launched its Women in STEM 188 North American universities with top-notch nursing degree
propels students dedicated to advancing the Latino community from high school to college
Scholarship Program. This scholarship program focuses on women programs—by launching the MPOWER Nursing Scholarship Program.
graduation and beyond. As part of this partnership, MPOWER and LULF launched two jointly
who will use their Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math (STEM) MPOWER designed this scholarship program to focus on students
funded and administered scholarship programs: one exclusively for DACA (Deferred Action for
degree to benefit society and the planet and who have the potential with the greatest potential to effect positive social change through
Childhood Arrivals) students, and the other for students from Latin America and the Caribbean.
to serve as role models and advocates for women in STEM. nursing, especially by improving nursing services to underserved and
vulnerable populations.
La Unidad Latina/MPOWERing DACA Students
FEATURED WINNER Scholarship Program
FEATURED WINNER
ARUNIMA SEN, NYU ENGINEERING This scholarship program was designed exclusively for DACA students who demonstrate the
STUDENT AND RECIPIENT OF INDIA’S IREBAMIDALE REINACE ODUFISAN,
highest potential to advocate for and empower the DACA/DREAMER community.
TOP CIVILIAN HONOR FOR CHILDREN NIGERIAN RN AND MIDWIFE STUDYING TO
BE A FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER AT UVA FEATURED WINNER
At just 17, Sen is the youngest recipient
ever of an MPOWER scholarship— Odufisan is a registered nurse and midwife MONETTE*, GEORGETOWN MED STUDENT SERVING THE UNDOCUMENTED
but that’s not the only distinction this who graduated third in her class from her “Our partnership with MPOWER Financing
Monette received (DACA) status in 2012, but she kept her status a secret
young woman holds. She is also one Nigerian nursing school. She co-organized a has been a great way to magnify our
from everyone except for a handful of close friends and mentors. She
of just six individuals—and the only female—to receive the Pradhan week-long community health clinic in Ogun impact on the DACA community. LULF
persisted, though, in her dream of becoming a physician, spending
Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar (National Child Award for Exceptional State, Nigeria, and spent a year in the National Youth Service Corps has long stood with the DACA community, three years working as a medical scribe and project manager for
Achievement), the highest civilian honor for Indians under the age of 18. working with patients with HIV, cancer, kidney disease, and other life-
awarding scholarships since 2015. ScribeAmerica—and getting an eye-opening window into the disparities
threatening illnesses.
Funding the education of high-potential, between the insured and uninsured. “This [experience] sparked
Sen was also selected to participate in the prestigious New York Academy my interest in advocating for the medical needs of the DREAMer
“In the long-term,” she says, “I aspire to become an advocate for low-income students is how we reinforce
of Sciences’ Junior Academy, a selective online research program for high (undocumented) community,” she says.
school students interested in STEM. Within the program, she developed positive health policy formation. As a family nurse practitioner, I would pathways of success for the Latino
an energy-efficient solar hybrid bus and a smart green building with have the clinical experience and the educational proficiency to be community and strengthen our country.” “As a first-year medical student at Georgetown University School of Medicine,” she wrote in her
zero- carbon footprint. She presented these projects for two consecutive directly involved with health care issues in the community. I also look – Julio Casado, Chairman
essay, “I have finally decided that it is time to stop hiding in the shadows and to serve as a voice
years in New York and Florida to global leaders in STEM, including Nobel forward to educating others in and out of the clinical setting.” La Unidad Latina Foundation (LULF) for the undocumented population. I want everyone, regardless of status, to have access to
Laureates and CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. affordable care.”
“I was at a loss for words when I Monette is already working towards this goal. She volunteers at Georgetown’s free clinic, co-
Sen will use her scholarship to pursue an undergraduate degree in received an email notifying me OTHER WINNERS: organized the screening of a documentary on health disparities for undocumented migrants,
Electric and Computer Engineering at New York University (NYU). that I had been selected as the Yixi Dong, China, and mentors two pre-med DACA undergraduates. “This award will help me reach my goal of
OTHER WINNERS:
“I feel extremely honored to have first-place winner!” Odufisan Shenandoah University becoming a physician,” she says, “and providing medical care to all regardless of status.”
says. “This scholarship [will] Madelyne*, Montclair State
been chosen for this award,” OTHER WINNER: Jenniffer Pascual, *Note: Because of their DACA status, recipients have asked that their last names not be used.
help toward my tuition, allowing University
Sen says. Iris Braunstein, Canada, Philippines, California State
me to focus entirely on my Paola*, Stanford University
Harvard Medical School University Long Beach
education.”
20 21La Unidad Latina/MPOWERing Estudiantes “DACA students
face a lot of
Understanding and Eliminating
Latinoamericanos Scholarship Program
This scholarship program was designed to support students who demonstrate the highest
hurdles. They can’t Barriers for Women
access federally-
potential to advocate for and empower marginalized communities in their home country or subsidized loans, What We’ve Learned About Our Female Borrowers and Their Not surprisingly, MPOWER’s two most gender-imbalanced markets are
within the U.S. Latino community. and their parents also those in which significant barriers exist for women to access higher
Customer Journey
typically have education abroad. Key factors identified in both India and Nigeria include:
FEATURED WINNER Over the past year, we have conducted an in-depth analysis of our female
limited access
borrowers, gleaning insights from our customer database and our first- • Limited opportunities for women to obtain the educational and
DIEGO SIERRA, FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR STENGTHENING to bank loans
ever borrower survey. We also gathered insights about women in our (for graduate school) professional qualifications necessary to be
because they lack
DEMOCRACY AND EQUALITY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY target demographic whom we are not currently serving through surveys, competitive for admission to U.S. and Canadian universities.
the income or
Sierra stood out to our judges as a scholarship applicant who had already interviews, and focus groups. For example, India has one of the world’s lowest female labor
assets to qualify for a loan. We’ve assisted
empowered marginalized communities through his work designing participation rates—27 percent in 2018 (World Bank data). Women in
DACA students through our core lending
technologies to close knowledge and wealth gaps in Latin America. This analysis yielded important insights about our female customers— India and Nigeria are also less likely to earn undergraduate degrees
product, which does not require collateral
or potential customers—and their journey. than men.
or a co-signer, and our existing scholarship
Sierra was born in Colombia which, he points out, is among the top 10 programs, but we wanted to create a
most unequal countries in the world and one of the countries with the lowest chance of unique scholarship program just for them in
intergenerational mobility. “Some of the contemporary issues contributing to this ‘broken elevator’ partnership with LULF.”
are the fracture of democracy, the decreased learning opportunities caused by parents’ education
58% of MPOWER’s
level, and the vulnerability of growing up in conflict zones,” he says. Manu Smadja, MPOWER CEO South Korean
borrowers were
Sierra has already developed and implemented numerous digital tools to combat these challenges.
female, the highest
In partnership with the Stanford History Education Group and the Government of Colombia, he
42% 48% 93% 79% 34% 35% percentage among
developed a curriculum to teach students in Latin America to critically evaluate fake news and
MPOWER’s top 10
social media in political campaigns. He also developed a digital tool to help students develop 42% of female MPOWER 93% of female MPOWER MPOWER’s two largest markets
markets.
effective study habits, which received the Technology for Equity in Learning Opportunity award borrowers were pursuing a borrowers had no financing were among its most gender-
from Stanford University, and partnered with United Nations Development Programme
STEM degree, significantly options other than MPOWER, imbalanced: just 34% of
and community of Buenaventura, Colombia, to design digital tools to restore social capital. MPOWER borrowers in India
less than the 48% of while 79% of male
were female, and 35% of Female MPOWER
male MPOWER borrowers MPOWER borrowers had no
After graduating, he aspires to return to Colombia and advocate for sustainable and equitable MPOWER borrowers in Nigeria borrowers were
pursuing STEM degrees other financing option. Most
development. He will use this award to augment his Fulbright scholarship, which only pays a were female. (But note that this only half as likely
OTHER WINNERS: but significantly more than of the 21% of men who had
small monthly stipend and a portion of his tuition at the Stanford University Graduate School of represents a big improvement to pursue an MBA
Ana Cristina Sedas Ruiz, Mexico, the 32% of female higher another financing option said
Education. “I am honored and grateful to be the recipient of this award,” he says. “I believe we can from the 25% of MPOWER than male MPOWER
Harvard Medical School ed students in the U.S. they could have relied on
build a future where every learner in Latin America develops their unique potential and thrives
receiving STEM degrees. family. Nigerian borrowers who were 16% 8% borrowers (8% vs.
regardless of the fragility of their environment. This award strengthens my commitment to working Ana Gabriela Loayza Nolasco, female six months ago!). 16%).
towards this goal.” Peru, Harvard Graduate School
of Design
22 23• The large share of women in MPOWER’s target age group (25-30) can’t—or won’t—lend them the money or co-sign an education loan.
who are married—or being pressured to marry. Women frequently
The Family Factor:
cited this issue in focus groups and stakeholder interviews. United This year, we’ve already taken steps to increase our focus on female
borrowers, including:
Gender Differences in the
Nations statistics show that the age of first marriage for women in
South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are the lowest in the world (21 • Conducting outreach to a wide range of women-serving organizations; Nigerian Market
and 22 years, respectively).
• Launching a new MPOWER Women in STEM Scholarship Program; and Baobab Consulting
• Expanding the schools we serve to include 25 nursing schools (where
• Lack of family support—financial and otherwise. A survey of
approximately 90 percent of students are female) and launching the
female Princeton Review clients found that in India 52 percent
MPOWER Nursing Scholarship Program.
indicated their parents were the primary decision makers regarding
their education, and 48 percent indicated substantial parental
In the coming year, we plan to leverage these insights to improve our
involvement in their decision.
outreach and marketing to women in emerging markets.
WHY MPOWER IS UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO REMOVE
THESE BARRIERS—AND HOW WE’RE DOING JUST THAT
Supporting Women Isn’t Just the
As the above analysis indicates, part of the problem is a pipeline issue:
cultural factors are removing women from the higher education pipeline Right Thing to Do—It’s Good for Our
at every step in the process—and we see this reflected in lower rates of Bottom Line as Well
primary and secondary school completion, early age of first marriage, Here’s a classic example of how doing good results in doing well: MPOWER partnered with Baobab Consulting, a strategic
lower rates of college enrollment and graduation, and lower labor force women who start our loan application process have a 29 percent communications firm focused on Africa, to conduct focus
participation rates. higher customer conversion rate than men! groups and one-on-one interviews with Nigerians in
MPOWER’s target demographic. By design, two-thirds of
But the second big factor—unmet financial need, often as result of That means that when we increase the share of borrowers who are participants were women to ensure MPOWER garnered
families prioritizing sons’ educations—is one that MPOWER can directly female, we decrease our customer cost of acquisition and improve our additional insights into the key concerns and barriers facing
affect. Our no-cosigner loans are perfect for women whose families bottom line! Nigerian women.
Baobab’s focus groups highlighted some intriguing
differences between men and women regarding the role
family plays in their decision to study abroad. Female focus
group participants said they primarily consider the impact on
their family—both positive and negative. Male focus group
participants focused on whether studying abroad would
make their families proud.
Men also expressed a higher tolerance for financial risk and
greater confidence in their ability to repay their loans.
24 25Putting Our Borrowers on the Olivia Thomas
Path To Success MPOWER Student Engagement and
Jason Levin Communications Specialist
While our primary focus is on eliminating financial barriers to higher education for international is a renowned
and DACA students, we realize that access to higher education is not the only challenge facing outplacement, Former International Student Helps MPOWER
our borrowers. career Borrowers Succeed
management,
As graduation approaches, some borrowers struggle to navigate the job market, whether in the and business At the age of seven, Olivia’s family moved to the U.S. from Jamaica so that she could
U.S., Canada, or in their home country. Those wishing to return to their home country often find development coach and the founder and have more educational opportunities and a brighter future—and they succeeded in their
that their university’s career services office is not equipped to support international job seekers. CEO of ReadySetLaunch. He has years mission. In 2016, Olivia graduated from Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, and
Those wishing to remain in the U.S. or Canada often find that they face work authorization of experience assisting professionals at then, in 2018, she graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University, receiving a
hurdles, or that they lack the skills and confidence to navigate a job market with very different various stages in their careers and has Master of Public Relations and Corporate Communications.
norms and expectations from the job market in their home country. been featured in Fortune Magazine and
Market Watch and on Bloomberg Radio. As “Education and access to education have always been extremely important to me,” Olivia
MPOWER’s innovative Path2Success (“P2S”) program seeks to remove these obstacles through: a former marketing professional who has says. “I remember my mom telling me people can take away your material possessions,
worked in France and Sri Lanka, he brings but no one can take away your education.”
• Free résumé reviews.
empathy and understanding to his work
• Free immigration webinars and free 30-minute consultations with an immigration attorney. with international students. “I remember my mom Olivia has lived in diverse communities in eight U.S. states. “I noticed that no matter the
• Free career coaching webinars with professional career coach Jason Levin. This year’s four- telling me people can demographic or socioeconomic situation, education could empower a major change and
part webinar series included sessions on American-style networking, interview skills, LinkedIn take away your material serve as an equalizer. But getting an education doesn’t just affect the individual; it also has
profiles, and identifying employers. possessions, but no one a ripple effect on that individual’s family and community. That’s why I’m very passionate
• Free quarterly webinars to help borrowers identify scholarships for international and DACA
can take away your about providing educational access to all.”
students, and to boost their chances of winning.
education.”
Art Serratelli Olivia’s passion for educational access shows as she provides MPOWER’s borrowers
• A monthly borrower newsletter, and frequent blog posts, packed with tips to help students with opportunities to continue to educate themselves on topics such as immigration,
is a Partner at
adapt to life in the U.S. and Canada on and off campus.
Serratelli Mijal networking, and career preparedness. Olivia organizes and spearheads various webinars,
• A LinkedIn group exclusively for borrowers, with internship opportunities for international PLLC, a firm events, and one-on-one sessions to help MPOWER borrowers succeed after graduation.
students posted on a regular basis. specializing in “As a former international student, Olivia has first-hand experience with the challenges
U.S. immigration STAFF SPOTLIGHT that our customers face, ” says Lutz Braum, MPOWER’s Vice President of Marketing.
In Spring 2019, MPOWER also launched a pilot program to see if targeted, hands-on career law. Beginning “Thus she is well-equipped to connect with borrowers and identify new career preparation
coaching with a professional career coach would assist MPOWER’s neediest borrowers in with a free consultation, Art works with each programs and services that will help borrowers succeed professionally.”
securing employment. Participants meet twice per month with professional career coach Jason client to review all available options and
Levin to get practical tips to address the challenges in their job search, receive homework, and develop a comprehensive immigration plan
are paired with an accountability partner. At the conclusion of the pilot, MPOWER will review that addresses his or her current and future
participants’ employment outcomes to determine if the pilot should be expanded. needs.
26 27Nurturing the Fintech and Social Fintech Networking Events
MPOWER and Deloitte continued to co-host quarterly
Enterprise Ecosystems and Shifting Fintech Happy Hours, which serve as an informal and
Lending Paradigms fun way to connect members of the burgeoning D.C.
fintech community. Attendees come from a wide range
of backgrounds and include entrepreneurs, investors,
In the past year, we’ve become increasingly focused on serving consultants, lawyers, policymakers, journalists, and
as a thought leader and convener for the fintech and social students.
enterprise community.
First Social Impact Case Competition
MPOWER hosted our first-ever case competition for D.C.-area MBA students! In keeping with CEO Manu Smadja’s focus
on achieving gender parity, the case focused on one of MPOWER’s key challenges: increasing the proportion of our Indian
customer base who are female.
MPOWER asked case competition
entrants to develop a strategy
for a marketing campaign that
would not only expand MPOWER’s
market share among Indian women
Social Impact Conference already planning to study in the
We hosted a “Lenses on Social Impact” conference at the Harvard Club in New U.S. or Canada, but also expand the
York City, which brought together global leaders in the areas of social impact market for North American higher
investing and entrepreneurship. Panel experts included Thomas C. Barry, education among Indian women—
President and CEO, Zephyr Management; Chris Cozzone, Senior Vice President, and expand lower- and middle-class
Bain Capital Double Impact; Tahira Dosani, Managing Director, Acción Venture women’s economic and educational
Lab; Rachna Saxena, Associate Partner, Dalberg Global Development; and Kapil opportunities as a result.
Sharma, Vice President for Government and Public Affairs, North America, Wipro.
The roundtable was moderated by Mike Davis, Chief Investment Officer and
Co-Founder of MPOWER Financing.
28 29Promoting Diversity, Equity,
Countries
The first-place team impressed the judges with a digital media campaign,
#livecolorfully, that emphasized a young woman’s need to pursue her dreams
and follow her own path. The second- and third-place teams focused on the role and Inclusion Internally we hail from
of parents in an Indian woman’s decision-making process. The judges were
particularly impressed by the second-place team’s initiative in partnering with One of MPOWER’s core values is inclusion, which MPOWER defines broadly to Australia Indonesia
The Princeton Review in India to administer a survey to their female clients. The include seeking out and embracing diverse viewpoints, as well as supporting and Brazil Iran
third-place team wowed the judges with its use of personas to describe both the Canada Jamaica
celebrating diversity—in terms of race, gender, age, socioeconomic status, religion,
types of female students to be targeted by this marketing campaign as well as China Mexico
national origin, physical ability, and sexual orientation—across our employees,
their parents. The team provided examples of how parent testimonials and France Nigeria
borrowers, investors, advisors, Board members, and partners.
return-on-investment data could be used to effectively assuage parents’ concerns. Germany Turkey
India Ukraine
MPOWER is already hard at work implementing several of these suggestions!
Promoting Diversity Among Employees, U.S.
The judges for the competition were Nuria Aliño, Principal Digital Finance Specialist
Investors, Advisors, Board Members, and Partners
As a global company with a global borrower base, MPOWER knows that it must
Languages
at the International Finance Corporation; Caitlin Rosser, Senior Officer for Impact
and Communications at Calvert Impact Capital; Liz Sessler, Vice President of Product tap into a global talent pool that is able to effectively communicate with, and we speak:
at CapShift, a turnkey impact investing solution for donor-advised funds; and Ozan serve, borrowers around the world. Bahasa Mandarin
First place: Smith School of Business (University of Maryland) students
Cakmak, then a senior manager at Devex, the world’s largest media platform for the Indonesia Portuguese
Thu Tran, Yichen Tian, Lingxiu Fan, and Qitong Li
global development community and now an advisor on refugees and other displaced Our employees hail from 15 countries and speak 18 languages. We employ Bengali Russian
persons for the International Finance Corporation. Christians, Muslims, and Hindus; U.S. citizens, permanent residents, H-1B visa Dutch Spanish
holders, and DACA recipients; and employees who range in age from their Farsi Tamil
early-20s to mid-60s. In our Bengaluru office, we have employees from all over French Telugu
India, of different castes and religions. Our investors, advisors, Board members, German Turkish
Third place: Smith School of Business (University of Maryland) students Hindi Urdu
and partners similarly span the globe and provided varied perspectives:
Deepika Yadav, Augustine Chatterjee, Rachel Pulley, and Alethia Maciel
Italian
• Investors: We are proud to count Breega (Belgium), VARIV (Mexico), and Kannada
Zephyr (India) among our investors. Malayalam
• Board members: Our Board includes two individuals of color.
• Partners: We partnered with La Unidad Latina Foundation to launch two
new scholarship programs for Latin American and DACA students. We also
have partnerships with companies in India, Brazil, Nigeria, and the U.K.
Second place: McDonough School of Business (Georgetown University)
students Adam Malyala, Bennett Haynes, Pramit Singh, and Wei Zhang
30 31Special Focus Area: Promoting Inclusion and Diverse Our Social Impact Team and Advisors
Achieving Gender Parity
Viewpoints through a Non- Maureen Klovers
Over the past year, MPOWER has taken numerous concrete steps
to increase gender balance within the company. With the addition Hierarchical Feedback Culture MPOWER Director of Social Impact
Maureen has 12 years of experience in financial inclusion, higher
of Nicole West to our board in October 2018, female representation
MPOWER has a culture that strongly encourages employees to share education, and consulting. Prior to joining MPOWER, she designed or
among MPOWER’s external Board members increased to 50 percent.
feedback across departments and levels. launched several large government grant and lending programs, including
Two-thirds of MPOWER’s social impact advisory board members are
the U.S. Department of Treasury’s $1.5 billion State Small Business Credit
female. • All employees have monthly, two-way feedback sessions with their
Initiative. She subsequently founded a boutique consulting company
managers, as well as quarterly skip-level, two-way feedback sessions
focused on helping government agencies and universities become more
MPOWER also continues to attract high-quality female candidates, with their manager’s boss. MPOWER’s CEO also meets one-on-one with
efficient, effective, and outcomes-oriented. She holds an MBA and Master’s
and a remarkable 50 percent of employees are female. Perhaps each employee on a quarterly basis.
of Public Policy from Georgetown University.
more remarkably for a tech company, 44 percent of employees at the
director level or above are women. • MPOWER employees take turns serving on the Employee Action Team, “Having varied viewpoints and
which is responsible for leading monthly town hall sessions; planning backgrounds on the management
However, because of some of the challenges MPOWER has had company-wide events, like holiday parties and baby showers; and The MPOWER Social Impact Advisory Board team has made our growth
recruiting women generally, and for technology roles in particular, we spearheading initiatives in response to employee suggestions. more stable and our culture
have redoubled our commitment to creating our own internal talent more inclusive. We’ve been very
pipeline and promoting from within. In the last semiannual promotion • MPOWER administers a monthly Employee Barometer, intended as a deliberate in building the type of
cycle, seven of our 38 employees were promoted—and five of these “pulse check” to gauge employee satisfaction and engagement and to workplace where everyone can
were women. identify areas in need of improvement. thrive. We still have a way to go,
but our parental leave policies, our
Special Focus Area: Promoting Family- • MPOWER recently implemented Aha! to crowdsource suggestions for focus on diversity in tech recruiting,
technology or business process improvements from employees. In just Elena Cebollero Frale Sara Agarwal Warren LaFleur Amisha Shahra Ayan Halder and our professional development
Friendly, Pro-Employee Benefits Chairman, Basil Capital Technology & business Tech entrepreneur and Special Projects Lead, MBA student at University
programs all serve to attract top
a few months, 100 suggestions have been made, and MPOWER expects SICAV development consultant former Microsoft Education The Global Education & of Rochester; MPOWER
At MPOWER, we believe our benefits package both reflects our to implement 40 percent of these by the end of 2019. Madrid, Spain Washington, D.C. Manager for Africa Leadership Foundation borrower from talent who will thrive here.”
Johannesburg, South Africa New Delhi, India Calcutta, India
values and shapes the types of employees we attract and retain.
Our “cafeteria plan” flexible benefits package allows employees to --Lana Bronipolsky Lodge
customize how benefit dollars are spent on their behalf. We’ve long Senior Vice President
prided ourselves on our work-life balance—no one is required to of Talent and Operations
check email in the evenings or on weekends!—and MPOWER has a
paid parental leave benefit. MPOWER also expanded our new telework
policy to allow new parents to work from home three days a week.
Amy Veramay Janell Mora Ozan Cakmak Juliana Correa
In addition, MPOWER recently introduced a new benefit to allow Assistant Director for Senior Manager, Campus Advisor on Refugees and Senior Marketing Manager,
Student Services, UC Recruitment, Cognizant; Displaced Persons, IFC BT (formerly British
employees up to five days per year of paid time off for volunteering. Berkeley International Phoenix, AZ Washington, D.C. Telecom); MPOWER
Office; Berkeley, CA borrower from Colombia
32 33You can also read
