AUSTIN, Texas, June 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Self Financial, a leading fintech company that makes building credit and savings more accessible, today announced the appointment of two independent members to its Board of Directors: Neal Wolin, CEO of the Brunswick Group, and Dara Bazzano, senior vice president and chief accounting officer (CAO) at T-Mobile (Nasdaq: TMUS).
“We’re honored to welcome Neal and Dara to our board to help advance our mission of extending credit access to those who need it most,” said James Garvey, founder and CEO of Self Financial. “Neal brings decades of experience working in the highest level of government driving economic policy and the private sector, and Dara has helped scale major brands including T-Mobile and the Gap. Their varied expertise and backgrounds will be instrumental as we continue to scale our business.”
Wolin has spent much of his career focused on financial services. Currently he is the CEO of the Brunswick Group, a strategy and communications advisory firm with 27 offices globally. Wolin previously served as the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury for the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013. There, he had a prominent role in the efforts leading to the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the wake of the 2008-2009 financial crisis. He also worked on a range of policy initiatives focused on financial inclusion and consumer financial protection.
Previously, Wolin served as president and chief operating officer of The Hartford Financial Services Group, where he oversaw the company’s legal, government affairs, communications, marketing and tax functions. He also served as General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury for the Clinton administration and has been an investor in and an advisor to a range of fintech companies.
“Building a path to participating in the credit system is an incredibly important and laudable goal,” said Wolin. “Self’s mission drew me to the company, and I continue to be impressed by the effectiveness of the product and the team’s unwavering focus on credit access.”
Bazzano is a Fortune 50 C-suite leader in financial operations, strategy, M&A due diligence, integration and transformation, risk/crisis compliance and management. Currently, as senior vice president, CAO at T-Mobile, she oversees the T-Mobile and Sprint finance integration and back office transformation, and financial reporting and operations. Prior to T-Mobile, she was senior vice president of global finance and CAO at CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate asset management services and investment company, where she led the global accounting, controls and financial operations. Throughout her career she’s been instrumental in scaling both private and public companies in consumer technology and retail, including Gap Inc. She has also held assurance partner roles at KPMG and PwC, where she served private equity, venture backed backed and SEC registrants in consumer, technology, retail, telecommunications and real estate. Bazzano serves Lulu's (Nasdaq:LVLU) as an independent director (audit and governance committees) and qualifies as an SEC financial expert. She is also on the board of Girls on the Run International.
Bazzano’s personal perspective on the challenges many Americans, particularly women and mothers, face when building credit drew her to Self.
“Helping consumers build and rebuild credit is personal to me. Many years ago my credit was damaged due to a financially complicated divorce. After my divorce and as a single mother, I worked hard for years to improve my score,” said Bazzano. “I wish Self existed back then and am proud to be part of a company that provides credit access to people who are working to improve their financial situations and lives.”
Since 2015, Self has been steadfast in its commitment to building financial resilience through access to credit. The company has raised $127 million in funding, and earlier this year acquired rent and utility data furnishing company RentTrack, Inc. and its consumer division LevelCredit. Most recently, Self announced the integration of rent and utility reporting into its comprehensive credit platform and became the first direct-to-consumer company to report rent payments to the three major credit bureaus.
Self’s board also includes Anthony Lee, managing director at Altos Ventures, Morgan Flager, managing partner at Silverton Partners and Chuck Harris, executive director at TexasExes and former president of NetSpend.
For more information, visit self.inc.
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About Self Financial
Self Financial is a credit building platform working to increase economic inclusion and financial resilience through products that make building credit accessible. With no hard credit check to get started, Self's signature credit builder products issued by its partner banks are designed to enable people to build credit and savings simultaneously. The company also offers rent and utility payment reporting through RentTrack and LevelCredit, which Self acquired in February 2022. Download the Self app at the Apple App Store (200,000+ reviews and an average 4.9 rating) or Google Play or visit Self.inc for more information.
