Filene Research Institute
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Filene Research Institute is an American credit union and consumer finance think tank headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.
| Company type | Cooperative |
|---|---|
| Industry | Finance |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Mark Meyer, president and CEO Patsy Stewart, chief finance officer and COO Christie Kimbell, chief experience officer[1] |
| Products | Basic and applied research, product testing and incubation, advisory services, training and education, events and communities[2] |
| Website | filene.org |
History and objective
Founded in 1989,[3][4] the institute is named for Edward Filene, a Boston, Massachusetts-based businessman and philanthropist who was instrumental in the creation of credit unions in the U.S.
In 1993, the institute published a research report on the evolution of credit union field of membership, helping to lay the groundwork for H.R 1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act.[5][6]
In 2003, the institute started the REAL Solutions project to study financial services for low-income households and address predatory lending and other fringe financial services. The project became a program of the National Credit Union Foundation in 2007.[7]
In 2004, the institute launched an innovation training program called i3 (for "Ideas, Innovation, Implementation"), which brings together credit union executives to identify new solutions and business models in financial services.[8]
In 2010, the institute established the Cooperative Trust program and community to support credit union young professionals.[9][10] In 2017, the Cooperative Trust was awarded the Herb Wegner Memorial Outstanding Program Award by the National Credit Union Foundation [11]
The institute engages several prominent academic researchers, including:
- Sekou Bermiss[12]
- Dennis Campbell[13]
- Robert Hoel
- William E. Jackson
- Jinkook Lee
- Robert D. Manning
- Bill Maurer[14]
- Hayagreeva "Huggy" Rao
- Quinetta Roberson[15]
- Barbara J. Robles
- J. Edward Russo
- Hope Schau[16]
- Lisa J. Servon[17]
- Peter Tufano
- James A. Wilcox
Partnerships
In early 2012, it partnered with Saveup; a company which rewards fiscal responsibility.[18]
The institute is a grantee of the Center for Financial Services Innovation.[19]
The institute has also been supported by the Ford Foundation and Visa to conduct research on financial services for households of color, including Latino/a and immigrant households.[20][21][22]
