Our Mission
Canary’s technology and services enable our clients (including employers, nonprofits, and others) to give individuals money at pivotal moments in their lives, with dignity and efficiency. We connect the latest technology and payments innovations to the innate and enduring human desire to help each other.
We believe that the right money at the right time matters: it gives people the peace of mind and confidence to recover from emergencies and to invest in their futures.
Our grounding values
Make a Difference
We are wildly ambitious in our desire to be helpful to the individuals and organizations we serve. We strive for meaningful change through generosity, dignity, and interconnectedness.
Embrace Growth
We are flexible and adaptive. We have high standards for ourselves, and celebrate our growth toward meeting them.
Center Empathy
We want to be authentically ourselves, and we want that for others too. We know empathy and mutual trust are what make that possible.
Our Story
Canary brings unusual credibility to this venture. Founder & CEO, Rachel Schneider, leads the development of Grant Circle, our high-impact solution for challenges uncovered as co-author of The Financial Diaries: How American Families Cope in a World of Uncertainty.
She brings experience from Merrill Lynch, Financial Health Network, and The Aspen Institute, as their entrepreneur-in-residence. She credits her commitment to the potential for innovative finance to solve major social problems from her days as a VISTA Volunteer.
Our team has deep empathy for the people we serve, an unparalleled understanding of the problem we aim to solve, and the product and business development expertise we need to help financially insecure individuals thrive.
Financial security for all, regardless of background
At Canary, we aim to connect sources of money to individuals who need financial help at pivotal moments in their lives. Central to this work is recognizing that, as a result of racial and gender wealth gaps, people of color and women are more likely to need help recovering from emergencies. We believe strengthening individuals’ financial safety net is a crucial piece of advancing equity in the workplace and beyond. We work with clients, including employers, community foundations, and philanthropic partners to sponsor emergency relief funds that provide equitable access to charitable grants to every individual in every community our product serves.
Additionally, we know diverse ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds are the backbone of a creative, empathetic team that drives meaningful change. This led Rachel Schneider, our founder and CEO, to spend time with Rhonda Moret of Elevated Diversity to develop DEI policies and best practices. Their conversations inspired our team to come together, discuss how we value diversity, and create an inclusive hiring plan. In this work and beyond, we are committed to building and supporting a diverse workforce in order to bring our mission to life.
Our Founders and Supporters
Canary’s innovative fintech roots are a credit to the crucial work of financial health experts Kimberly Gartner and Aliza Gutman. Alongside Rachel, their work began as a research project to learn how technology could help close the gap between people experiencing financial hardship and their ability to access money to help them recover.
Canary is grateful for the inspiration, advice, and support provided by these organizations and leaders to guide the conversation around employee financial wellness and its influence on the future of work. We are particularly thankful for our partnership with The Worker’s Lab, our original fiscal sponsor for managing emergency relief funds administered by the Grant Circle.
The people
Rachel Schneider
Founder & CEO
Kimberly Gartner
Advisor
Aliza Gutman
Advisor
Angela Cheng-Cimini
Advisor & CHRO at Harvard Business Publishing
The Supporters
The investors
Are you ready to give your employees some extra financial security?
Talk to our team.
Schedule a call with our team to see how Canary can help you implement an easy, dignified solution for employees to request and receive support when they need it most.
