Darlene Pereda

Darlene’s drive to make positive change in the lives of vulnerable communities led her to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector. Since completing her M.S. in International Public Service at DePaul University in 2015, she has worked with nonprofit organizations focused on issues like youth homelessness, type 1 diabetes research, community-based healthcare, and animal welfare. Darlene is excited to bring culturally competent behavioral financial education to people like herself who have had a complicated relationship with money because of student loan debt. Her relationship with money has changed dramatically since starting Community Yield and she hopes the educational resources CY can offer will help people in communities everywhere improve their own. Outside of CY Darlene enjoys volunteering at various nonprofits in Chicago, obsessing over her retirement account, and finding new ways to save her money.