announces the expansion of its leadership team, appointing Denzel Singletary as the Head of Government Affairs & Strategic Partnerships, and Richard Freshwater as Deputy General Counsel and Head of Regulatory Affairs. With these new additions, SoLo Funds will have senior counsel on state and federal regulatory activities in the U.S., including the development of strategy, managing relationships, and ensuring compliance that focuses on ensuring the best customer experience for SoLo\u2019s innovative model while driving business results.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Singletary brings a depth of experience in governmental and regulatory affairs, and is joining during a time when SoLo Funds is expanding. Before joining SoLo, Singletary served as the Director of U.S. Government Affairs at Robinhood where he led democratic engagement strategy for over three years, and as the company went public. He most recently steered Robinhood Markets through a congressional investigation and several congressional hearings, while preserving the app\u2019s ability to continue to operate. <\/span>Singletary has built a career helping some of the most notable tech companies navigate the Global, Federal, and State political landscapes including Postmates and Uber prior to joining Robinhood and SoLo. During his time working in the United States Senate for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Singletary focused on various policy solutions ranging from securing healthcare and compensation for The 9\/11 emergency responders to improving access to telecommunication infrastructures for rural New Yorkers.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cAs an admirer of the positive impact SoLo Funds has on so many lives, I\u2019m pleased to lend my strategic insight to the next stage of the company\u2019s growth,\u201d said Denzel Singletary. \u201cSoLo\u2019s mission of bringing fair access to money and a chance at financial wellness for all resonates with me, which is why I\u2019m <\/span>eager to be a part of its next chapter to effectively manage and navigate the complex regulatory and legal landscape<\/span>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Freshwater comes to SoLo Funds with extensive knowledge in the consumer finance regulatory space. He<\/span> joins SoLo after serving as a product counsel at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.<\/span>,<\/span> where he advised on a broad range of legal and regulatory compliance issues involving loans, consumer protection laws, corporate structure, privacy, and data usage<\/span>.<\/span> Additionally, Freshwater held senior roles at <\/span>Thompson Hine, LLP, where he co-chaired the firm’s consumer finance practice advising banks, non-banks, fintechs, and start-up companies on issues related to regulatory compliance at both state and federal levels. Freshwater began his legal career at McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, focusing on consumer finance regulatory compliance and litigation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI am honored to join SoLo\u2019s team as Deputy General Cou<\/span>nsel and Head of Regulatory Affairs at this pivotal moment for the business,\u201d said Richard Freshwater. \u201cI worked with SoLo as outside counsel when it first launched, and I look forward to contin<\/span>uing that collaboration with the founders and talented legal members at SoLo. Together, we will navigate the evolving legal landscape,<\/span> work with regulators when needed, <\/span>and uphold our commitment to corporate governance and compliance that supports SoLo\u2019s strategic goals for bringing community finance to all. I admired SoLo\u2019s goals when I first served as its outside counsel years ago, and continue to do so now. \u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\u201cToo many policymakers don\u2019t understand the challenges and opportunities faced by everyday Americans affected by their decisions, which is a major problem we are working to change,\u201d said SoLo Funds\u2019 Co-Founder and President, Rodney Williams. \u201cWe are incredibly excited to have Denzel and Richard join our team, which will benefit the advancement of our model and the communities we serve. <\/span>SoLo stands out in this fintech environment as a true community finance platform where its members can lend a hand to others in need to help effectuate the change we want to see in our communities. At the same time, we are eager to collaborate with regulators where necessary to achieve positive innovation for a more financially inclusive America.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
SoLo has seen record user and activity growth <\/span>on its platform given its low level of venture capital funding, including the recent milestone of <\/span>users having delivered over $275 million directly to underbanked communities by funding over 1 million requests for everyday necessities. This has saved U.S. consumers an astounding $30 million in fees versus the current market leader for this underserved demographic which are subprime credit cards. This activity continues to demonstrate the impact of SoLo\u2019s community-driven model for consumers who have been overlooked by legacy financial services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Most financial institutions at large have yet to deliver products for these consumers outside of payday loans and subprime credit cards. As the only Black-owned fintech Certified Benefit Corporation in the U.S. and Canada, and with 82% of its members living in underserved zip codes, SoLo has emerged as a new financial service leader on pace to deliver $1B back into underserved communities by 2025. Founded in 2018 by two best friends, Travis Holoway and Rodney WIlliams, who both shared experiences of friends and family needing access to short term loans, built SoLo to provide a community led alternative. Travis and Rodney designed a solution that is providing democratized short-term access to capital to help those in need.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Anyone interested in joining the SoLo Funds team in California or remotely can visit the career page<\/span> here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SoLo Funds Strengthens Executive Leadership Team With Two New Appointments Including Denzel Singletary as Head of Government Affairs & Strategic Partnerships, and Richard Freshwater as Deputy General Counsel and Head of Regulatory Affairs The Largest Black-Owned Consumer Fintech Continues to Invest in Growth with New Executive Leadership Los Angeles, CA, July 24, 2024 — […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"class_list":["post-11283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11283"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11285,"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11283\/revisions\/11285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solofunds.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}