We had the opportunity to reflect on Clarifi’s mission and our experience at Macquarie Group’s Pro Bono Marathon Day earlier this year. This volunteering experience was facilitated by Common Impact, with the goal of improving our organization’s engagement strategy. Below is an excerpt of the story and interview, which you can read more about here.
When people have the tools and support to take charge of their finances, it changes everything. Clarifi is helping individuals and families across Philadelphia do just that by offering judgment-free financial counseling, housing guidance, and direct assistance that helps communities stabilize, build, and preserve their wealth. Taylor Goebel, communications and marketing lead, and Brianna Thomas, community engagement lead, are two of the storytellers and strategists helping bring that mission to life.
When Clarifi was selected to participate in Macquarie Group’s Pro Bono Marathon Day, facilitated by Common Impact, Taylor and Brianna brought a timely, strategic challenge to the table: How could Clarifi better leverage social media to engage corporate donors, strengthen its brand, and amplify its voice as a trusted leader in financial wellness?
From social media wins to fresh community event strategies, the project helped Clarifi move the needle on outreach and engagement in measurable ways. Taylor and Brianna reflect on how that experience shaped their work, deepened their impact, and reinforced the value of matching corporate skills with community needs.
How does Clarifi help individuals build financial resilience and create positive change in their communities?
Taylor: At our core, Clarifi is about helping people stabilize their finances and build and preserve their wealth. We do this through our free financial empowerment and housing counseling services. We take a relationship-based approach, where our counselors meet one-on-one with clients to understand their situation and the challenges they face. From there, we build a personalized action plan which can include strategies for paying down debt, improving credit, or working toward a bigger goal like homeownership.
Building trust is huge. Especially with people who’ve had negative or even traumatic experiences with financial systems. Sharing financial information, like pulling up a monthly statement, can feel really personal. For some, it can bring up shame or fear, especially if they’ve had rough experiences before. Our counselors meet people with respect and care.