Vemo Co-Founder Joins Stride Funding to Lead Operations, Along with Executives from Discover Financial, Federal Reserve, and OneMain Holdings

Stride strengthens position as a leading fintech as it grows its executive team across credit, servicing, and compliance with four key executive hires

BOSTON, April 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vemo Education (Vemo) co-founder and former Senior Vice President of Originations & Servicing, Renée Mang, has joined Stride Funding, Inc. (Stride) as the company's Vice President of Operations. The award-winning startup, which provides flexible, affordable alternative funding products for students in higher education and alternative education programs, has added four new industry leaders to its executive team with a combined near 100 years of experience across Sallie Mae, National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), Discover Financial Services, Eastern Bank, OneMain Financial, and more.

Stride, a fast-growing fintech with expertise across credit, servicing, and compliance, is the leading provider of Income Share Agreements (ISAs), Deferred Tuition Agreements (DTAs), and payment plans for students across higher education and alternative education programs. On a mission to provide flexible, affordable funding to students of all backgrounds, Stride has pioneered outcomes-driven underwriting that doesn't require a cosigner, minimum credit score, or current income when determining student eligibility.

"I'm thrilled to be joining the team at Stride. I've admired their growth, passion, student centricity, and platform from afar and can't wait to bring my 40+ years of experience and passion to accelerate Stride's momentum and operational rigor," said Mang. "I've had the pleasure of growing Vemo and shaping the early days of the ISA industry and supporting some of the top Title IV schools and coding bootcamps. I look forward to growing the best-in-class education funding company driving access and affordability every step of the way."

An early leader in the field, Mang comes with 44 years of experience and held several key positions in her 20 years at Sallie Mae, including managing $30 billion in new loan origination volume annually. She joined Vemo Education as a Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of Originations & Servicing in 2016, overseeing customer service operations, origination, servicing, back-office operations, school relationship management, and student counseling for Vemo's income-based finance products. At Stride, she will lead all customer success, origination, servicing, and income verification teams and instill operational excellence in teams focused on school partners and student customers alike.

Blessing Chimwanda, who oversaw Eastern Bank's consumer lending compliance management program, is Stride's new Chief Compliance Officer. He has spent 20 years in financial services, including as Large Bank Legal and Compliance Bank Examiner at Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, with a deep focus on developing, monitoring, and testing fair lending and ECOA policies.

Pete Klipa joins as Director of Loan Servicing, with 25 years of experience in collections and recoveries in the utility, credit card, and auto finance industries. He previously led Creditor Relations at the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), working with the NFCC's largest banks and federal regulators on strategy, oversaw Loss Mitigation at American Credit Acceptance, and managed collection agencies at Discover Financial Services.

Dr. Travis (TJ) Gonzales, Vice President of Credit and Analytics, joins Stride from Purpose Financial, where he most recently served as the Chief Analytics Officer and acting Chief Risk Officer. He previously led analytics and modeling as a Managing Director at OneMain Holdings. He has spent nearly a decade leading teams and leveraging innovative tools and methodologies to support increased access across consumer lending and personal loans.

Tess Michaels, Stride founder and CEO, says, "We founded Stride Funding with the goal of making education more accessible for students across the country, and with this A+ team in place, we're more confident than ever in the impact we will have on reshaping the student loan industry. Renée, Blessing, Pete, and TJ bring with them an incredible amount of leadership, experience, and passion that will drive our scalability, innovation, and differentiation."

To learn more about Stride's executive team and school partnerships, visit stridefunding.com.

About Stride
Stride Funding Inc. is a mission-driven company that helps students hit their stride–with flexible educational funding. Unlike loans that lock students into rigid repayment structures, Stride offers affordable repayments based on income. The company has been recognized as a visionary leader by FinTech analysts for its innovative funding arrangements and commitment to career support. Stride's executive team includes professionals with experiences at JP Morgan Chase, Sallie Mae, National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC), Goldman Sachs, Federal Reserve, and Liberty Mutual; Stride's board of advisors is composed of serial entrepreneurs and industry leaders. GSV Ventures, Slow Ventures, Strada Education, Juvo Ventures, Firework Ventures, and Flybridge amongst others have participated in previous funding rounds. Learn more at stridefunding.com.

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Contact
Morgan Viehman
[email protected]
(214) 775-9960

SOURCE Clasp