Ascent Microfinance, originally founded by engineering and business students at Ohio State, aims to provide financial services and education to those who need it most. Credit: Madison Kinner | Lantern Reporter
Ascent Microfinance, a Columbus-based nonprofit started by Ohio State alumni, provides financial services to historically underserved communities.
The organization, founded in 2017 by Alissa Noll, an Ohio State alumna, is composed primarily of Ohio State students and alumni who financially advise and aid people in Hilltop, Linden, Franklinton and other developing neighborhoods, according to the organization’s website.
Scott Bond, an Ohio State alumnus and former CEO of Ascent Microfinance, said the organization assisted families during the height of the pandemic when demand increased for personal loans in low-income Columbus communities.
“We realized there was a huge need to be met here, so that’s where we stepped in to provide a microloan for families to be able to apply to,” Bond said.
A microloan is a smaller loan of up to $50,000 provided to small businesses and certain not-for-profit childcare centers in order to help them start up and expand, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Ascent Microfinance performs functions such as financial account management, giving out small personal loans and financial education, including one-on-one tutoring, through its website.
According to the nonprofit’s website, the organization offers personal loans at an interest rate of 5.5 percent — as opposed to the average rate of 14.47 percent, according to WalletHub. Bond said by providing the loans, the organization offers an affordable option to those who may otherwise be taken advantage of by unfair lenders.
“This was doing something really great for the community because it gave them an alternative option from having to go to a loan shark or a payday lender that they would otherwise have to go to because they can’t get a personal loan from a bank or a credit union,” Bond said.
Darshita Bajoria, a first-year in finance and current CEO of Ascent Microfinance, said the financial education the organization provides is invaluable to the people in these communities. She said they conduct financial education sessions Thursday evenings at the Hilltop branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, in which people can stop by to ask questions and receive financial instruction.
Bond said the partnership with the Columbus Metropolitan Library was stunted by the pandemic, but the organization is working to bring it back to full capacity and expand to more library branches.
Bajoria said members of the organization have found disseminating financial education to be fulfilling, and they hope to do more of it in the future.
“We want to just expand that focus of educating people on what they need education on because we feel like that’s also a big need in the community,” Bajoria said.
Bond said the organization also partners with OSU Extension — the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences — and Sisters of Empowerment — a Columbus-based nonprofit that offers career education and training for low- to moderate-income women. He said groups like this help the organization financially empower communities in Columbus and throughout Ohio.
Bond said one of his favorite parts of Ascent Microfinance is its size and ability to help large groups of people, including on an individual basis, throughout Columbus.
“I think what is beautiful about Ascent Microfinance and where we can come in is we do have a larger team, and we also have the luxury of being able to have these one-on-one sessions,” Bond said.
