Message from the Executive Director
It has been a productive and exciting year since ICMM launched in April 2016. As the Executive Director from the launch until October 2017, Marty Saffer laid a sound foundation for a bright future. During his time as the ED, Marty was instrumental in building an excellent research team with sound scientific training and experience. We are grateful for Marty’s leadership.
2017 Areas of Focus:
- The Board of Directors sharpened and solidified ICMM’s mission and vision.
- Topics and projects that aligned with ICMM’s mission were identified and launched.
- In November 2017, I became ICMM’s Executive Director. This is a dream job for me following two decades served as an executive in the financial education and credit counseling industry.
Moving forward to the New Year, ICMM’s research team and partners are exploring how current theory and research from behavioral science can be applied to personal money management and financial literacy. Our focus areas include debt reduction and savings programs for consumers living in low to moderate-income (LMI) communities. Our research applies behavioral science and technologies to inform evidence-based educational programs for the LMI population.
The consumer financial education and management landscape is gaining momentum with the new findings in behavioral science and emerging technology developments. The future for agencies like ICMM is encouraging, yet challenging. There are uncertainties ahead due to the federal government’s economic and taxation policy changes. Much work is ahead of us in helping LMI communities experience economic empowerment and shared wealth.
ICMM will continue to fine-tune our strategic direction and work to build strong partnerships with academic and nonprofit institutions to achieve our mission: to create a sustainable financial future for consumers.
Warm Regards,
Dr. Diane Chen
You are invited to download and read our 2017 Annual Report.