I sometimes wonder if being amazing is a genetic thing? Have you ever noticed that exceptional people sometimes come from the same family? That is definitely the case with non-profit founder, Chris Avila Hubschmann. I say this only because I have met a few of her amazing siblings, all of which make our world better. Genetics or not Chris is an inspiration.
Chris comes a great family of hard-working Texans. She had her first job in 7th grade and never looked back. A few financial bumps between college and her career as a business manager for The History Channel, reshaped the direction of her life and inspired her to start an incredible non-profit called Credit Do.
Chris got her first credit card the beginning of freshman year of college, to use for textbooks. However, she didn’t really understand how credit worked and learned her lesson the hard way. As a result, she was determined to “redefine what credit means and was concerned that our society is addicted to a broken credit system.” After researching micro-loan programs, she had an epiphany: what if our credit was representative of what we do—in other words, what we’ve earned—and based on our merit?
In essence, Chris wanted to provide a financial education and credit in exchange for social productivity for middle school students.
That is exactly what she did in 2010. Credit Do partnered with financial literacy organizations to teach the basics of managing money starting in a low-income school in New York City. They then encouraged and empowered these children to work for what they need through partnerships that Credit Do had established. Once the students learned the value of work for credit, they receive a savings account to continue their financial growth.
As Chris told me, “the journey for me was about measuring my time via my worth.” She has taken that philosophy directly to her organization. Credit Do is rooted in the belief that credit is not only a measure of someone’s financial worth, but more importantly, their positive contributions to the community and making financial independence a reality for all.
Like I said, genetics or not Chris Avila Hubschmann has taken her life lessons and turned them into a lessons for all. Pure inspiration.
Charity Matters.
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