In 2018, our founder, Dr. Barbara Freeman, co-created a savings model rooted in human-centered design, incubated at the social justice foundation MANAUS. It was initially called LaMedichi, born from a simple but urgent question: why do so many hardworking families still struggle to make ends meet?
That question resonated deeply with George Stranahan—mentor, philanthropist, and founder of MANAUS—whose belief in kindness inspired our earliest conversations. As George often said:
"Any child on a playground recognizes what's fair and what's not. You take what is not yours, or you ignore someone else who needs help. We know what these things mean."
That kind of fairness — honest and grounded — shaped who we are today. With the guidance of Rob Pew, then President of MANAUS, we started as a pilot with just 15 members saving $500 in total. What began as a local experiment has grown into an integrated ecosystem helping thousands of families build financial resilience, reduce debt, and build generational wealth.
Savings Collaborative is grounded in three core beliefs:
We collaborate and innovate alongside our communities, so every solution reflects real needs, cultures, and strengths.
Our tools and coaching emphasize action. People build financial capability by saving, planning, and making real-world decisions, and our technology and coaches are with them at every step.
We connect individual behavior change with technology, institutional partnerships, and community infrastructure that make lasting change possible.
Savings Collaborative is an established nonprofit with a proven model and measurable impact. Think of us as a Swiss Army Knife for financial resilience, bringing together every tool a family might need: a digital savings platform, financial coaching, emergency loans and debt support, financial education, and community ambassadors, all coordinated through the Savings Collaborative Guidance Engine.
This integrated model has been proven in direct service across Colorado and is scaling nationally through institutional partnerships in higher education, housing, and public financial systems.
Leadership
Founder & CEO
Dr. Barbara Freeman is the founder and CEO of The Savings Collaborative, a nonprofit dedicated to building financial resilience and generational wealth. A certified financial counselor and long-term senior consultant to the World Bank, she has worked globally at the intersection of technology, education, and opportunity for people in vulnerable circumstances.
Barbara has held appointments as a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley and a Visiting Professor at the University of São Paulo, served as COO of an educational technology publisher, and earlier co-founded KPMG Consulting’s Risk Management practice in Asia after working in global derivatives at UBS and Midland Bank, now HSBC.
Lead Financial Coach
As a professional in the field of human services for over 15 years, Enrique possesses a robust multidisciplinary level of experience and expertise in the field, having worked in the non-profit sector for the majority of his professional career supporting the needs of children, youth, families, and communities.
Through his work in the area of financial empowerment—including financial literacy and education—Enrique has developed a comprehensive understanding of the factors that impact the social determinants of health for families and individuals, including in the area of financial health, which directly or indirectly impacts all of the other aspects of a family’s well-being.
Head of Partnerships and Community Relations
Iliana is a NACCC-certified financial coach with deep roots in the Roaring Fork Valley. She previously served on the board of The Savings Collaborative for four years and now leads partnerships and supports outreach to expand access to financial coaching in Colorado.
Born in Mexico, Iliana brings lived experience and cultural insight to her work supporting long-term financial stability for families. She also manages the Financial Empowerment Center of the Rockies, which provides free, one-on-one professional financial counseling in Garfield, Eagle, and Pitkin counties, and serves on Colorado’s statewide Financial Empowerment Council.
Head of Technology
Marcos Soledade is The Savings Collaborative technology strategist and leads The Savings Collaborative team of technologists. He co-founded Quantica Technologies, a São Paulo, Brazil-based e-learning technology firm that has served more than 90,000 government employees and citizens with educational platforms and resources.
Former CTO for Agenda Edu and manager of the Univesp, the Virtual University for the state of São Paulo, Marcos is an Entrepreneur in Residence at the Innovation Lab at the Lemann Foundation and holds a degree in Information Systems from the University of Sao Paulo, and participated in the Columbia Startup Lab, at Columbia University (USA). Marcos met Barbara Freeman in Bogota, Colombia, six years ago on a project for the World Bank, and the collaborative spark was immediate.
Outreach & Education
Kat Traylor has always been a leader. She cut her teeth excelling in sales and later a member of management in extremely male-dominated industries. Kat began utilizing her talents as an influencer in advocacy, leadership, and coalition building to actually make a change in our community.
By 2018, she was an executive committee member for several non-partisan groups, advocating for underserved communities in Aurora. Later, she is the Director of Constituent Services for Congressman Jason Crow. Now, she is a small business owner working as a political strategist to help form communities we can be proud of.
Board of Directors
Board Chair
Reginald Berry is a retired client partner of Fair Isaac Corp (FICO). He helped develop the federal sector business for FICO and has a background in FICO's Credit Risk and Fraud Management Solutions. He has worked with the Small Business Administration (SBA), EXIM Bank, and the U.S. Treasury Department on credit risk issues.
Reginald brings his expertise in credit and finance to help craft The Savings Collaborative's structure, risk management, and credit and savings processes. He sees serving on the board as an opportunity to use his knowledge and experience to support low-income communities that lack access to banking and credit.
Board Member
Maria Judith Alvarez is a highly-respected community leader in the Roaring Fork Valley. She is a medical assistant from Mexico who has lived in the United States for the past 15 years.
Judith is the coordinator of The Peoples Clinic, the Community Engagement Coordinator for SANA, Alliance for Safe and Abundant Nutrition, and the coordinator of the New Project Promotoras del Bien-Estar for Garfield County. The Savings Collaborative was born during Judith's time at Valley Settlement, and she championed the organization from the start.
Board Member
[Bio to be provided.]
Treasurer
Jon Fox-Rubin worked as an automotive technician and a ski instructor to pay for his studies in mechanical engineering at CU Boulder. After earning his BSME with honors, he worked in Germany on a NASA Space Shuttle project, then earned an MSME and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Jon was part of Rocky Mountain Institute and Executive Director of the Manaus Fund, where he helped build the Mountain Voices Project and led Valley Settlement. He is the treasurer of The Savings Collaborative's board of directors and helped facilitate the initial testing of The Savings Collaborative prototype during his tenure as Executive Director of Valley Settlement.
Founding Chair
Rob Pew is chairman of the board of directors of Steelcase Inc., the largest office furniture manufacturer in the world. Rob is President of MANAUS and serves on the boards of IDEO.org, the Aspen Community Foundation, and the Steelcase Foundation, and for 25 years served as board chair of Chicago's Institute of Design.
Rob Pew is the first chair of The Savings Collaborative's board of directors. Rob loves working with the organization because it helps people most in need develop financial security for their future.
Board Member
Originally from the Dominican Republic, where she trained and worked as a civil engineer, Yana Ricart is a psychotherapist who provides counseling services for adults, adolescents, and children for various psychological issues, integrating multiple therapeutic approaches. Multilingual in Spanish, English, and Japanese, Yana currently resides in Singapore.
Yana wanted to be part of The Savings Collaborative because of the guidance and support the organization provides for people in vulnerable situations. She brings her heart and mind to the organization, where she has helped shape it from its inception.
Honorary
George Stranahan (deceased) founded MANAUS, and The Savings Collaborative is one of his many legacies. MANAUS incubated The Savings Collaborative until it was ready to stand as its own non-profit.
George was a lifelong educator, philanthropist, serial entrepreneur, physicist, writer, publisher, and fine arts photographer. He founded the Aspen Center for Physics, Aspen Community School, and Carbondale Community School.
Board Member
[Bio to be provided.]
Our extended team — financial coaches, community ambassadors, and technology partners — delivers Savings Collaborative's work across Colorado and nationally. Meet our coaches →