SPONSORCHANGE.ORG APPLAUDS APPOINTMENT OF CORDRAY AS HEAD OF THE CFPB
Posted by | sponsorchange | January 4, 2012 | No Comments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Shawn Agyeman
shawn@sponsorchange.org
412-256-8121
As America’s watchdog he will help to protect Student Debtors
Pittsburgh, PA—SponsorChange.org applauds President Obama’s decision today to appoint Richard Cordray as the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) through a recess appointment. President Obama made a bold but necessary move in response to the Senate’s prior obstruction of this highly qualified nominee. Cordray will be the first director of the newly established CFPB, which was created to protect the consumer rights of Americans.
“Cordray’s appointment is a win for the American consumer,” said Raymar Hampshire, SponsorChange.org Founder and CEO. “SponsorChange.org has a base of over 15,000 supporters, many whom have been victims of unfair, deceptive and abusive private lending practices. CFPB, under the leadership of Cordray, will help to crack down on such lenders.”
Dodd-Frank Act established the CFPB with the purpose of protecting American consumers from dishonest lenders, who have lured many borrowers into unfair and faulty mortgages, payday loans, credit cards, and student loans. As the cost of higher education increases, many students are taking on more private student loans, which typically have much higher interests rates, inflexible repayment options, and lack consumer protection.
With a director now in place, the agency can finally do the job it was created to do, and that involves enforcement efforts to mitigate unfair, deceptive and abusive practices in the student lending business. The agency also will provide resources to better educate student borrowers so they can make better informed financial decisions.
Hampshire added, “We at SponsorChange.org will continue to educate students on managing their student debt and look forward to working with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help improve the lives of America’s student debtors.”
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SponsorChange.org—An online platform that builds capacity of social enterprises by matching them to college students and graduates, who perform skill-based projects and are rewarded student loan pay through crowd-funding of sponsors. For more information on SponsorChange.org, please visit www.sponsorchange.org or follow along on Facebook and Twitter.
Helping those who give back, pay back: MBA Student Uses Skills to Support Social Enterprise
Posted by | Chelle | August 29, 2011 | No Comments
Hello There Everyone!
I’m so excited to share with you this update from our Summer Change Agent, CMU’s Tepper School of Business student Jason Doran. We can’t wait to see the economic ripple effect of your work in our community. Way to go Jason! Keep up the great work.
Hollymead Capital is an exciting new kind of investment firm that pairs both private investment dollars and with government funding to build community-based social enterprises. The enterprises on which the firm is focused address fundamental social needs in: Food, Energy, Housing, Health, and the Environment. Hollymead works with Non-profits, Governments, Associations, For-profit enterprises, and Foundations.
Similar to a private equity firm, the firm pools private investment dollars from investors and seeks to develop, manage and successfully transfer ownership of the enterprises in which they invest. But the firm differs primarily in two ways. First, the exit strategy is not IPO or selling the firm off, rather it seeks to develop the enterprise until it is able to stand on its own, support its own management team and continue to grow and achieve success into the future. Second, the firm co-funds its investments with government dollars, which are supplied by local and state government programs designed to develop regional community social enterprises.
The Hollymead business model is the first investment firm to actively co-invest public and private dollars in enterprises, while at the same time offering private investors attractive investment opportunities. At this time, the firm is focused on the greater Pittsburgh.
Hollymead’s first venture, Republic Food Enterprise Center, is essentially a food-processing plant and kitchen tha
t sources raw materials from local farmers and then creates finished food goods for distribution through retail channels, including regionally-located grocery stores and gas stations.
My contacts at Hollymead have both been directors, and they have been great to work with.
First venture is personally relevant to me
As someone who values locally produced food for its environmental and economic bene
fits, I am especially happy to helping Hollymead with their first venture. Specifically, I am building a financial model that the firm will use to forecast earnings and investment returns based on expected sales and costs figures. It has so far been an amazing opportunity to learn about a new kind of business and first-of-its-kind investment model.
SponsorChange
SponsorChange gives us experienced business professionals the opportunity to give back to our communities by using our business skills. It feels good to know that our business skills can be used to develop not only economically sustainable businesses but also socially-responsible, community-focused businesses that improve the lives of people in under-served local economies. Overall, I think SponsorChange gives us business guys the ability to affect the kind in underserved communities and economies that we otherwise would not be able to.
NEW Change Agent Summer Opportunity!
Posted by | Chelle | June 6, 2011 | No Comments
Exciting news!
SponsorChange has re-partnered with HmCapital Partners LLC to host a change agent this summer. SponsorChange staff will continue to interview candidates for the next 2 weeks. This project will begin July 1st and will require the change agent to dedicate 50 hours and for your service we will process a $1000 payment toward the student loan of your choice.
The right candidate for this project should have a solid foundation in excel spreadsheets and in business plan modeling and forecasting. The ideal candidate is someone who has had exposure to accounting principles, business planning and financial modeling. There is a base model already in place so if chosen you will be working from an established template and expected to improve its resilience and its forecasting capabilities.
Interested graduates should email chelle@sponsorchange.org with their resume and a paragraph or two on why they think they are right for this position and what the experience would mean to them.
David Lingren Fellowship for Social Innovation
Posted by | sponsorchange | May 26, 2011 | No Comments
Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College has honored SponsorChange.org with the David Lingren Fellowship for Social Innovation. According to the award website the award provides support to one Heinz College student during the 2010-2011 academic year based on that student’s skill level and demonstrated commitment to social innovation and/or social entrepreneurship. The total amount of the award is $2,500 to be distributed from September 2011 through May 2012.
The David Lingren Fellowship for Social Innovation will help us and you continue development of SponsorChange.org throughout the academic year…more about that below!
But first let me say as a social entrepreneur I am hardly alone at Heinz College. Innovation is engrained in the DNA of Carnegie Mellon University and Heinz College offers a unique experience for grad students to explore the intersection of public policy and innovation. All students are supported by the Institute for Social Innovation, which is dedicated to providing support for those interested in social innovation.
Several student projects have been started at Heinz College, including Ross Rocketto’s Running to Govern and Brett Wiewiora’s Onlyinpgh, just to name a couple. I am constantly inspired by the brilliance and innovative ideas I hear almost on a daily basis from students at Heinz College!
If you are a current or prospective student who is interested in policy programs that have a strong focus on social innovation check out Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College and their Institute for Social Innovation.
Ok now back to you and here’s the best part…we have decided to use a portion of the reward to provide funded SponsorChange.org projects for current students and graduates of Heinz College!
Projects will include website development, policy research, and strategy. We are also open to self proposed projects. Because our mission is helping people to pay down their loans through service all payment received will go directly to your student loans!
For more information on how to get started email, info@sponsorchange.org with ” David Lingren Projects”
If you are interested in leveraging this reward through matching funds email, info@sponsorchange.org with “David Lingren Match”
Looking forward to rewarding your skills and commitment to SponsorChange.org!
Raymar Hampshire
