This Nonprofit Leader Found a Simple Way to Encourage Immigrant Assimilation

“Without a credit score, it’s hard to obtain a credit card, let alone lease a car, fund a child’s education, or buy a home—all hallmarks of successful American life. Under Quiñonez, MAF began tracking these off-the-books loan payments and giving that data to credit bureaus. ‘He’s influenced an entire field by making the parts visible that create financial identity and track records,’ says Ida Rademacher, a vice president at the Aspen Institute, which hosts a financial technology group Quiñonez has attended. ‘Lending circles have been around forever, but his innovation was to broker the relationship with credit bureaus.’”