Last week, some of the SpringFour team attended Financial Health Network’s 20th Annual EMERGE conference, hosted this year in our home city of Chicago!

No One Organization Can Do It All: Strategic Partnerships are Key

A common theme throughout the conference was recognizing that no one organization can, or should, do it alone when it comes to financial health. Working together through strategic, mission-aligned partnerships enables all of us to achieve more for our organizations and consumers. 

 Julie Szudarek, CEO of Self, touched on this when discussing Self’s partnership with SpringFour during the panel discussion:

Empathy is Essential to Success

Pictured above: Erin Mendez, President & CEO of Patelco Credit Union, and Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey, CEO & Founder of SpringFour

The Real-Life Impact of a SpringFour Partnership

Jennifer also shared a member experience story where SpringFour helped connect a Patelco Credit Union member to much-needed resources that made a tangible difference in their life.

Intersectionality Across Barriers to Financial Health

So many sessions throughout the 3-day experience discussed the many financial health challenges that consumers are faced with today — especially challenges that are often overlooked. 

We heard stories of people with disabilities, each of whom faces even greater financial challenges than the typical American due to laws and regulations that restrict access to financial means, including income level caps and the inability to build wealth. 

We learned how natural disasters can affect people’s ability to access basic needs like food, water, and shelter; especially for those in rural or underserved communities. 

At SpringFour, keeping a finger on the pulse of current needs and researching how we can better support consumers remains a top priority. EMERGE provided an opportunity for our team to learn about unique financial health intersections, expanding our perspectives to be more inclusive, informed, and understanding of the compounding challenges that impact a person’s ability to succeed financially. This event shed light on the innovative strategies our industry is adopting to address these challenges and make a real difference for consumers’ financial health.

What Makes a Successful Partnership

When asked what advice she would give to organizations that are interested in forming partnerships to advance financial health, SpringFour’s Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey said this:

Time Well Spent with Financial Health Leaders

Pictured above: Jennifer Tescher, Founder & CEO of Financial Health Network, and Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey, CEO & Founder of SpringFour

Connect with Us

If we met you at EMERGE but haven’t yet connected virtually, please reach out to us on the Contact Us page of the website or by emailing impact@springfour.com.

Thank you to the Financial Health Network for hosting such a wonderful event. We can’t wait for next year!

Morgan Pierce

Impact and Communications Manager, SpringFour

Allie joined the team as SpringFour’s Operations & Account Specialist in November. She utilizes her expertise in client onboarding to guide SpringFour subscribers through the deployment process. Her experience in Real Estate and Banking as a Service (BaaS) gave her valuable insight into needs consumers are facing today and how the financial industry can support those consumers.

What excites you about being part of SpringFour?

Every single day, SpringFour has a positive impact on someone’s life. Knowing that my work is supporting people and families means so much to me. I genuinely enjoy seeing our partners’ passion and working together to help them better serve their customers.

What does financial health mean to you?

To me, financial health means access. Access to affordable necessities. Access to the tools needed to prepare ourselves for the unexpected and know where to turn when it happens. Access to vetted, local resources that so many could benefit from on their journeys to financial peace.

What financial health trends do you expect to see in the near future?

I expect we’ll continue to see more and more conversations around mental and physical health and how they directly correlate to financial health – and for good reason. Destigmatizing and furthering our understanding of this correlation can only mean good things.

What gets you up in the morning?

I’m typically awoken by the joyous and oddly dinosaur-like shrieks of my children ready to conquer the day! While I’m typically roused by their cheerful morning banter, it’s witnessing their unwavering, pure joy for life that serves as an inspiring reminder to be grateful for another day.

What is your financial health rule to live by?

Knowledge is power. The world of finance can be so confusing and overwhelming, but there are so many educational resources out there that can support you on your financial wellness journey. There are a thousand ways to get from point A to point B, and knowing what your options are for that journey is incredibly empowering and reassuring. What worked for your friend in their journey to live debt-free may not work for you, and that’s okay. You have options to explore to find the best solution for where you are at that moment.

Allie Poppe

Operations and Account Specialist, SpringFour

Phylicia Clifton joined our team in November 2023 to help ensure our clients get the most out of their SpringFour partnership as our Senior Manager, Client Success & Impact. She works closely with our clients to build and develop their campaigns, materials, and strategies to promote and market their SpringFour deployments to their customers and employees. Additionally, she works with clients to understand their usage metrics and how SpringFour is impacting their customers’ financial lives and their own bottom line. Phylicia brings with her four years of experience in financial technology and over 13 years in marketing. Previously, she studied to become a certified financial counselor to better understand the financial struggles many people face and the solutions available to them.

What excites you about being part of SpringFour?

The ability to impact change in our industry and help people find the answers and resources they need to make better financial decisions and ultimately improve their lives. Traditionally, so many people have been left out or left behind when it comes to financial health, often due to a lack of tools, resources, and knowledge that help them take control of their finances and build wealth. In recent years, the financial services industry has recognized this more than ever before and is primed to make a real change in people’s lives by providing services that bridge the gaps, educate consumers, and make help available when and where people need it. 

At SpringFour, we’re working with game changers in the industry who believe financial health should and can be accessible to everyone. We’re poised to help the industry shift to strategies that emphasize empathy, understanding, and support. Every resource accessed has the ability to change someone’s life for the better. What’s more exciting than that?

What does financial health mean to you?

To me, financial health is a reflection of your financial journey. We all start our financial journey at different places, with our own advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes, things go well and we feel financially stable and secure, while at other times our finances may be more strained and uncertain. Almost everyone goes through these financial ebbs and flows, and your financial health reflects that. We aren’t always “financially healthy,” but with the right help and support, we can make our way back to a more comfortable position.

What financial health trends do you expect to see in the near future?

I think we’ll see a rise in artificial intelligence leading to emotional intelligence. As more and more strategies become automated through AI, the most successful strategies will be the ones that use that information to gain the emotional intelligence needed to not only meet people where they are, but also to truly understand their individual situations and provide personalized help and recommendations when and where people need it. AI won’t solely be used to drive business results, but empathy as well.

What gets you up in the morning?

In a literal sense, usually a hungry cat or a dog that wants to go outside. In a mental and emotional sense, the potential in every day – to be better, to do better, to go further, to laugh more, to love harder, to leave the world a little brighter. I’m a glass-half-full, find-the-silver-linings kind of person and have a tendency to believe every day has the potential to be greater than the day before and that I have the ability within myself to make it so. Holding on to that belief makes getting up in the morning to feed the meowing cats or take those antsy dogs outside the first step in a new adventure.

What is your financial health rule to live by?

I’m a big fan of the 50-30-20 rule, which recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings. Before learning about this budget rule, I struggled to understand how to build my budget and what to work toward. Since implementing this rule in my own finances, not only have I been able to better balance my budget, but I’ve also been able to better understand my own financial needs, set personal and professional goals, and gauge my own financial well-being. I may not always perfectly achieve the 50-30-20 balance, but I know where to focus my attention to get back on track.

Senior Manager, Client Success and Impact, SpringFour