Why “Dora” Financial? The Story of Dora Maxwell

Dora Maxwell

Apr 19

As you dive deeper into reading about Dora Financial, the free mobile app, and its many features, the question may have occurred, “Why choose the brand name “Dora”?”. It all started with a woman by the name of Dora Maxwell.

She was a force to be reckoned with in the credit union industry in the early 20th century, and she truly cared about the underserved communities. She devoted her life to ensuring everyone had a fair shot at financial success.

Born in the late 1800s, Dora Maxwell was an early credit union pioneer. Even though she worked in an intimidating industry, she traveled and secured charters for hundreds of credit unions throughout the United States.

In 1932, Dora replaced Basil B Mallicoat as the head of the CUNEB branch and new headquarters called "Eastern State Offices," located on Forty-Second Street in New York, New York.

As she traveled around the northeast - it was her mission to organize credit unions and assist in working with the poor communities.

Dora once traveled with a group of two other Credit Union Agents to Pittsburgh, PA, according to an article written in the Pittsburg Press in 1935. “Three government representatives were in Pittsburgh today completing organizations of Federal Credit Unions, those “poor man’s banks” which promote thrift and make the possible low-interest borrowing….”

The article mentioned, “Miss Dora Maxwell, who was training in the work through the Credit Union Extension Bureau in Boston, organized the “baby banks throughout the country; was the vanguard of the official representatives.”

Not only did she organize credit unions, but Dora was also one of the original signers of CUNA's constitution at Estes Park, Colorado. She worked as an organizer for the movement's trade association and held numerous volunteer positions at the local and national levels.

In addition to organizing hundreds of credit unions, she developed volunteer organizer clubs and worked with organizations on behalf of the poor.

As you can tell, Dora Financial has a very similar mission to what Dora Maxwell's life mission was.

After researching Dora Maxwell and her commitment to such inspiring work, we immediately knew that “Dora” was the perfect name for our brand, Dora Financial.