Anne Leland Clark
Joined the Board of Directors in 2018
I am an economic justice advocate who has spent my career designing and implementing a variety of antipoverty programs. I am currently the Financial Capability and Learning Director with Prepare + Prosper (P+P), a nonprofit focused on financial well-being. In my 8 years at P+P, I’ve built a nationally recognized tax-time savings campaign, a volunteer-based financial coaching program, and the emerging Financial Access in Reach (FAIR) financial inclusion initiative. I have a master’s of Public Policy from the Humphrey School at the University of Minnesota. When I’m not working, I enjoy frequenting farmers’ markets, trying new recipes, reading and podcasting, and spending time with my dog and husband.
It was 2014 when I first encountered the work of what would later become Exodus Lending when we [Prepare + Prosper] hosted a listening session in partnership with Minnesotans for Fair Lending. A small group of the customers in my program shared their raw truths about their experiences with payday loans. I vividly remember one customer who had to pawn her deceased mother’s wedding ring to pay back the interest on payday loans and others who suffered financially in the long-term or a short-term fix. I was thrilled when Exodus Lending was developed as a community solution to a predatory problem.
Who is one person who inspires you and why?
In this space of financial inclusion, I am inspired by Lisa Servon. Servon is an academic and researcher who embedded herself as a teller for several months at both a check casher and a payday lender seeking to shed light on why people are turning away from banks and wrote a book called The Unbanking of America: How the New Middle Class Survives.