MPOWER Financing's CEO & Co-Founder, Manu Smadja, Named Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Mid-Atlantic Award Winner

The Entrepreneur of the Year® awards celebrate the bold leaders who disrupt markets, revolutionize industries and transform lives

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2024 /CNW/ -- MPOWER Financing is proud to announce that its CEO and co-founder, Emmanuel (Manu) Smadja, has been named the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Mid-Atlantic Award winner by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US). This prestigious award recognizes Smadja's exceptional leadership and the significant impact MPOWER Financing has made in democratizing access to education for talented students worldwide.

Smadja was selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs, and other business leaders. Candidates were evaluated based on their ability to create long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, commitment to their purpose, and demonstration of growth and substantial impact, among other key indicators.

We consider this award a recognition of the impact MPOWER is having by democratizing access to education

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"It's an honor to be the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2024 Mid-Atlantic Award winner," said Smadja. "Since founding MPOWER Financing 10 years ago, our team has worked tirelessly to create a world where access to education is borderless. We consider this award a recognition of the impact MPOWER is having by democratizing access to education. As CEO of MPOWER, I get to be the face of the company, but this award really goes to our dedicated team, backers, partners, and the talented international students we're proud to serve."

Manu added, "MPOWER graduates are citizens of the world. They are founding companies, running for office, and making scientific discoveries. We're inspired by their stories and are honored that they chose us as their partner on their educational journey – 93% of our students say that a loan with MPOWER was imperative for their ability to complete their education. We're helping these students – many of whom are first-generation college students from the Global South – improve their lives and the lives of their families."

MPOWER Financing is a Washington, D.C.-based, mission-driven fintech firm and the leading provider of non-cosigned loans to promising students from around the world. To date, MPOWER has provided over 15,000 loans to students pursuing higher education across the United States and Canada. In addition to providing global education loans, the firm provides career guidance and immigration support to prepare students for success after graduation.

Entrepreneur Of The Year recognizes many different types of business leaders for their ingenuity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. The program celebrates original founders who bootstrapped their business from inception or who raised outside capital to grow their company; transformational CEOs who infused innovation into an existing organization to catapult its trajectory; and multigenerational family business leaders who reimagined a legacy business model to fortify it for the future.

About MPOWER Financing
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., and with employees worldwide, MPOWER Financing is a mission-driven fintech company and the leading provider of global education loans. Its proprietary algorithm analyzes overseas and domestic credit data as well as future earning potential to serve promising international students. MPOWER works with over 400 top universities across the U.S. and Canada to provide financing to students from over 200 countries. The MPOWER team primarily consists of former international students and provides students with career guidance and immigration support to prepare them for their professional careers after graduation.

MPOWER is a Certified B-Corp and has been named a Great Place To Work, one of the best fintechs to work for and the best tech workplace for diversity. The company is hiring for various positions worldwide.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year^®
Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year^® has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 80 countries and territories globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum^® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year^® competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY
EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets.

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform and operate.

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers for the complex issues facing our world today.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

SOURCE MPOWER Financing

Sasha Ramani, [email protected]