Summer’s founding team draws on years of experience in public policy, law, consumer finance, and engineering to tackle one of the greatest challenges of our generation. We chose to register Summer as a benefit corporation as part of our commitment to helping student loan borrowers improve their financial health.
Public benefit corporations have a dual purpose of generating both profit and public benefits—the directors and managers of a benefit corporation are legally required to consider more than just profits. Our benefit status serves as a daily reminder of what we stand for and why we work to create a positive impact on an industry that desperately needs it.
Summer is also a certified B Corporation®. Certified B Corps are a newer type of company that use the power of business innovation to solve social and environmental problems. Summer was certified by the non-profit B Lab® for meeting rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
Of course, staying true to our values involves more than just a mission statement and a government filing; our commitment is also firmly rooted in our business model. Our team is fed up with the bad actors and unexpected fees in the market that target cash-strapped borrowers.
Instead, we have prioritized a sustainable business model we’re proud of: support from universities and employers who hire us to provide advisory services that improve the financial health of their students and employees, respectively. In doing so, our incentives are firmly aligned with borrowers and their communities.