Laurel TaylorFounder

United States - San Francisco, California

At Candidly, we understand that education is one of the largest investments most people will make in a lifetime — whether for themselves or their children. And like any investment, it needs to be planned for and managed in the context of one’s overall financial picture, even when — especially when — that means taking on debt.

We’re on a mission to enable everyone to reap the rewards of the investment they make in education so they can build financial health, wealth, and resilience. Because candidly, education should help move people forward – not hold them back.

Candidly is the only data-driven student debt and savings optimization platform that addresses the full lifecycle of education expenses, from planning and preparing for college, to funding and repaying student debt, to saving for a financially sound tomorrow. Candidly empowers hard working Americans to make simultaneous progress on paying down student debt and building wellness and wealth with micro actions and transactions that transform financial outcomes.

The platform can be delivered as an employee benefit or it can be integrated and embedded into a partner’s native experience as part of their holistic financial wellness, retirement, wealth management, and/or advisory solution. Giants within the financial services industry such as UBS, Vanguard, Empower, Lincoln Financial Group, Fiserv, and Salesforce have integrated Candidly into their offerings. Founded in 2016, Candidly is backed by world-renowned institutional investors at the intersection of future of work, finance, and social impact including Impact Engine, Rethink Impact, Salesforce Ventures, Silicon Valley Bank, UBS, Unum, and Vulcan Capital. For more information, visit https://getcandidly.com/.

Student loan indebtedness is ubiquitous, impacting 70% of all graduates. The average graduate (and often times, their parents) will endure 17 to 20 years of loan payments in efforts to become (student) debt free. Our emerging workforce will comprise 75% of the workforce by 2025 making student debt a majority issue.

I believe in the power of the human spirit, communication, and connections between influential leaders and aspiring talent to solve large scale problems. I chose to pursue my MBA at MIT Sloan School of Management, and subsequently leave my position leading one of Google's Global Business Units so that I could commit to the most important work of my life - launching Candidly.