Louis is a senior fellow at the Aspen Institute, working with the Business Ownership Initiative to expand the role of business ownership in generating economic opportunity. He is also a senior fellow at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, which promotes access to financial services to create and sustain affordable and vibrant communities for America’s working families. Louis also serves as an appointed member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Consumer Advisory Board.
Louis was previously the senior director of public policy at LendingClub, a leading digital bank, where he worked to help consumers save billions of dollars by refinancing expensive credit card and auto loans into lower rates. Louis joined LendingClub in 2013 to launch its small business lending program, drawing on his background at the community development financial institution (CDFI) Self-Help. LendingClub’s program has served over 10,000 small businesses, seen five times the representation of minority-owned firms when compared to conventional bank lending, and grown into an award-winning fintech/CDFI partnership with Accion Opportunity Fund.
In response to the rise of predatory small business lending, Louis brought together fintech, advocacy, and CDFI allies to co-found the Responsible Business Lending Coalition (RBLC). Together, the RBLC has generated a wave of new small business financial protection laws across the country, based on its Small Business Borrowers’ Bill of Rights. Louis also co-founded the American Fintech Council and the Marketplace Lending Association to support pro-consumer innovation in fintech. Louis serves on the boards of the Woodstock Institute and the California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Wesleyan University and attended the MBA program at UC Berkeley.