Our Beginning
"It was the greed-is-good 1980s. Gordon Gekko, and all that," says CREDO Mobile CEO Laura Scher. "A lot of my friends got out of college and headed straight to Wall Street. But I wanted something different — or rather, I wanted to make a difference."
So the seed was planted.
A small band of idealists comes together to further the causes of human rights, women's rights, peace, environmentalism and an entire progressive agenda. They have an idea about helping people spend in a socially responsible way, turning everyday purchases into automatic acts of generosity.
So they establish a company called Working Assets. It is 1985.
And then — long before "corporate social responsibility" is a buzzphrase — they develop an innovative long distance service where 1% of your charges goes to progressive nonprofits you vote on, your bill serves as a progressive newsletter and your phone company as a progressive lobby.
And something really clicks with consumers.
This Working Assets movement grows steadily over the next 25 years, providing steadily growing support for a wide range of progressive nonprofits, before taking the natural next step into mobile phones — along with a name that better reflects their current business: CREDO Mobile.
To date, the company and its members have donated more than $65 million to amazing groups — groups that members themselves help select — like the ACLU, Doctors Without Borders, Global Fund for Women, Greenpeace and Planned Parenthood. Our members also speak out on the issues they care about, generating millions of letters, e-mails and calls to political and corporate decision-makers each year.
And though the name may have changed and the business evolved, the company’s philosophy and mission remain the same: to make it easy for passionate progressives to make a difference.