Giving Back to Clark University

Brad Powers received both his B.A. in psychology and his MBA at Clark University. Today, to give back to the educational community, he sits on the GSOM Board at Clark University. Clark University is proud to be at the forefront of so much research and innovation. Here are a few examples of recent undertakings they’ve been part of:

• They led the project management unit when the United Nations sought a location for its investigation into the world’s response to AIDS and for its strategy planning for battling the disease.

• Two Clark Graduate of Geography faculty members, Colin Polsky and R. Gil Pontius, were awarded a $1.5 million grant by the National Science Foundation for their work while studying 26 towns in Ipswich and Parker River watersheds.

• Clark University was one of the 43 institutions nationwide that launched the Difficult Dialogues program started by the Ford Foundation to promote academic freedom and religious, cultural and political pluralism on college and university campuses.

Fynanz Scores with Funding

Fynanz, a peer to peer lending platform for student loans where Brad Powers is on the board, has recently raised $6.5 million in Series A funding. This funding comes from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Gotham Ventures, The Brazos Group, Zelkova Ventures and JBR Media Ventures.

This funding will help Fynanz, with a total funding of over $8 million, to expand its credit union and student lending marketplace while developing additional lending programs. Launched in 2008, Fynanz guarantees each student loan and enables students to apply for loans while participants can help fund those loans. To reduce their own risk, Fynanz evaluates not only the student borrower’s credit scores, but also their GPA and the school they plan to attend.

Loans are offered to students with very low interest rates, usually .60% to 1.0% lower than what students would find at a bank.