Skip to main content

Search form

Martin Eakes

Martin Eakes
CEO, Self-Help & CRL

Mr. Eakes is co-founder and CEO of Self-Help and the Center for Responsible Lending. Mr. Eakes holds a law degree from Yale, a master's from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton, and a bachelor's degree from Davidson College. A native of North Carolina, he is a nationally recognized expert on development finance and has been honored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as a MacArthur Fellow for his work.

In 2009, his commitment to responsible lending was honored by the Opportunity Finance Network, which presented him with the Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award for Responsible Lending. Other awards include the Credit Union National Association Wegner Award, National Consumer Law Center's Father Robert F. Drinan Leadership Award, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation National Families Count Award. A leader in U.S. community development finance and policy, Martin currently serves on the Bank of America National Community Advisory Council.

News

March 27, 2023 | By Lynn Bonner | NC Policy Watch
Blue Cross agreed in 1998 to the conversion law that included the provision for a charity trust should it become a for-profit company. Martin Eakes, co-founder of the Self-Help Credit Union and the...
August 12, 2019
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released new rules that drastically expand the criteria that determines whether an immigrant is likely to become a “public charge”...
July 6, 2016 | By Kate Berry | American Banker
Installment lenders offer annual percentage rates that range from 36% to 100% or perhaps higher. Payday loans typically have APRs of 350% or more. "Installment loans are a much safer structure," said...