Profile: Sarah Chenven, Innovative Change$
Making change matter one dollar at a time
It takes a nonprofit career to take on payday lenders. Sarah Chenven, director of the newly formed nonprofit, Innovative Change$, has worked with the underserved or marginalized all her life. Now she’s applying her knowledge and experience in public service to the emerging community development financial institution that aims to change the landscape of lending to Portland metropolitan area’s low-income community.
“Innovative Change$ is a compelling, unique, and, yes, innovative initiative,” Sarah said. “It’s a result of a number of brave people saying, let’s fill this huge gap in the community. It’s validating to be a part of such an effort.”
Fifteen years of searching for clues to alleviating poverty led Sarah from the International Rescue Committee in New York and the Balkans, to the University of Texas School of Law at Austin, to Portland’s Mercy Corps, and finally, to Mercy Corps Northwest, which helps people start or expand small businesses. The last opportunity stoked her interest in microfinance.
The transition to Innovative Housing, Inc. (IHI), a low-income housing developer, allowed her to work on designing a program from scratch and to apply her legal training – she’s a member in good standing of the Oregon State Bar and the Multnomah Bar Association – in a highly regulated field.
According to Sarah, “The biggest common challenge for people in low-income housing isn’t their income level. It’s financial stability. No matter what the income, if you have poor credit and banking history and lack access to affordable credit in tough times, you can get stuck in crisis mode. Furthermore, few of us have had money management training – either in school or at home.”
To break the cycle of generational poverty, Innovative Change$ will provide hands-on financial education, credit building opportunities, and affordable consumer loans to low-income Oregonians. The organization aims to become a viable alternative to predatory payday lenders and help its clients establish a measure of financial stability and transition beyond crisis.
“Almost all the pieces are in place. We’re just about to start the financial education classes. Our state lending license is due in any day now, and we’re almost done finalizing arrangements with credit bureaus. The key to our success in this pilot phase will be partnerships with nonprofits providing additional resources to clients. It’s all very exciting!”
(January 2010)
