CREDO Mobile history
“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 23 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 $60 million to amazing
groups - groups that members themselves help select - like Doctors without Borders,
the ACLU, the Global Fund for Women, Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood, and more, while
generating 5,652,914 letters, 15,785,829 emails and 932,992 calls to political and
corporate decision-makers.
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.