January 2025 Update
A new year is upon us and Exodus Lending has hit the ground running. This month, we’re going to introduce two new team members, and next month we’ll highlight our FOUR new Board Members. You can feel the energy of new ideas and dreams swirling around. Despite everything going on, we’re feeling determined and hopeful about what lies ahead.
Meet Our Newly Hired Regional Organizers!
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Ben (he/him) is our new Northern Minnesota Organizer! Ben comes to Exodus Lending with a decade of experience in state and federal government. His professional experience includes serving as a Minnesota State Representative for the Moorhead region and working in Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s office as her Regional Outreach Director for Northwest and Central Minnesota. He is passionate about meeting people, learning community issues, and working to improve the financial well-being of others. In his free time, he enjoys home improvement projects with his wife, Sarah, traveling, and music.
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You may recognize Sophie (she/they) from their previous work with Minnesotans for Fair Lending or from being one of Minnesota’s loudest cheerleaders for lending reform, but this time, she is our new Southern Minnesota Organizer. Sophie is a Minnesotan who grew up abroad and is passionate about home and belonging. She attended Minnesota State University, Mankato, and received her degree in Political Science. Sophie has fallen in love with southern Minnesota and is curious about making communities more loving for more people.
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Power & Strategy: Organizing to Win
Exodus Lending co-hosted a week-long organizing training with Street Voices of Change and Central Lutheran Church Downtown Minneapolis at the Mount Olivet Conference & Retreat Center earlier this month.
While our Policy and Partnerships Director, Meghan Olsen Biebighauser, has had a hand in coordinating and presenting at this training for the last six years, Sophie and Claire Chamberlin, our Loan Servicing Coordinator, each attended for the first time. All three shared some genuinely motivating and encouraging takeaways from the event:
“I think it’s so special that we co-host this training each year with local partners. Even though we don’t necessarily work on the same issues, the skills and strategy are the same, and training together with folks working on housing, immigration, education, etc. helps us keep the big picture in view as we delve into the details of our own work.”
– Meghan
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“We are so much more powerful when we join together to take on social problems, and it is important to be involved in community in order to do that! Join a club, use the library, go to your neighborhood association meetings, all part of building community power to win issues.”
– Sophie
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“Changing the world isn’t impossible or even complicated; it’s just a matter of building power among the right people. We do it all the time. “
– Claire
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Predatory Lending in the News
In case you missed it, here are some of the latest news items on predatory lending:
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