Technology that Benefits Instead of Disrupts
In a new conversation, Jimmy Chen, founder/CEO of Propel and Ofek Lavian, founder/CEO of Forage, return to discuss current trends...
About This Episode
In a new conversation, Jimmy Chen, founder/CEO of Propel and Ofek Lavian, founder/CEO of Forage, return to discuss current trends in using technology to ensure more people can access government food benefits. “As of January 27, 2025, at least, our plan is to continue to invest in the things that we have confidence that are not going to change over the 20-, 30-, 40-year time horizon, while we stay nimble and adapt to what might change in the next few weeks or months,” says Chen. “EBT funding is influenced significantly because of macroeconomics, probably to a greater extent than the actual policies of the administration of the White House,” Lavian predicts. Listen to hear about the latest technology trends.Resources and Mentions:
Jimmy Chen
Founder and CEO
Jimmy Chen is Founder and CEO at Propel, a software company that aims to fight poverty through technology. They are the creators of the Providers app (previously Fresh EBT), which enables EBT cardholders to manage their benefits, save money through grocery coupons, and find jobs. The app helps more than 2 million low-income Americans each month. Previously, Jimmy worked at Facebook, LinkedIn, and studied Symbolic Systems at Stanford.
Ofek Lavian
CEO and co-founder
Ofek Lavian is the CEO and co-founder of Forage, mission-driven payments company democratizing access to EBT SNAP payments online through a single, unified API. Lavian is a data-driven and mission-oriented FinTech leader, passionate about building technology products that improve the physical world. Prior to Forage, he led cross-functional teams of engineers, data scientists, operations managers, and designers to build frictionless payments products at Instacart and Uber.
Propel
https://www.joinpropel.com/Propel builds modern, respectful, effective technology that helps low-income Americans improve their financial health.
At Propel, we believe that tech hasn’t pulled its weight in solving real social problems. While tech alone won’t solve poverty, it can play a much larger role in building safety net services that restore financial health.
We believe that the best way to change the system for low-income Americans is to build a thriving business that aligns our incentives: a system where our business grows if and only if we help more low-income Americans improve their financial health.
Forage
Forage is a mission-driven payments company that helps merchants accept EBT SNAP payments online through a single, unified API.
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