History

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Since our founding in 2001, EARN has helped tens of thousands of low-wage families through innovative financial products including matched savings accounts, checking accounts for the unbanked, and money management coaching.

EARN was founded in 2001 by a group of prominent individuals and organizations, including financier F. Warren Hellman, California State Senator Mark Leno, Bob Friedman, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and San Francisco County Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg, and Saundra Hernandez, CEO of the San Francisco Foundation. Ben Mangan, EARN’s current President and CEO, is also a co-founder of the organization.

EARN launched a policy and research initiative in 2003 in response to data illustrating that nearly 30% of all Californians were living in asset poverty (defined as a household’s lacking the resources to pay for basic needs for a three-month period if there is an interruption in income due to job loss or illness).

The organization was the 2005 winner of the Fast Company Magazine/Monitor Group Social Capitalist of the Year Award and was named one of the ten finalists for the Amazon.com Non Profit Innovation Award that same year. 

In 2007, EARN became a founding member and current managing partner of Bank On San Francisco, an initiative launched by the City of San Francisco’s Treasurer’s office to bring unbanked San Franciscans into the financial mainstream. 

In 2008, EARN was among the winners of the Irvine Foundation Leadership Award.

Since our founding in 2001, EARN has helped tens of thousands of low-wage families through innovative financial products including matched savings accounts, checking accounts for the unbanked, and money management coaching.