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When asked what they want to be when they grow up, most kids answer with astronaut or the president, but Ohio native Elizabeth (Eli) Corbett always knew she wanted to be a lawyer. “I crafted a sentence on the wide-spaced paper that we used in the first grade saying that I wanted to be a lawyer and an ice skater on the weekends,” she says.
After completing a prestigious opportunity to serve as a paralegal in the Department of Justice’s “Outstanding Scholars Program” as a fresh graduate, Corbett attended UCLA Law with the goal of becoming a prosecutor, and after a short time in private practice she was offered a position to serve an assistant US attorney in the District of Columbia. Corbett’s star rose as she worked at a relentless pace to try thirty cases in two-and-a-half years, but she was also forced to come to grips with the sobering reality of America’s criminal justice system.
“I longed to do work that could fix the root cause of the problem, including offering fair financial services to underserved communities trapped in a cycle of poverty and crime,” Corbett says. Understanding the link between poverty and crime was the aha moment in Corbett’s career, and ultimately led her to join the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Moved by the mission of the agency to expand opportunity to underserved communities and protect consumers, over the course of five-and-a-half years Corbett would help build out the agency, and eventually become acting chief of staff. Her time at the CFPB taught her that she was most at home in a mission-driven organization, but she also knew that she didn’t have to be in government to have an impact.
“A lot of my friends were going to work in the Biden administration. I thought I was going to head back into government,” says Corbett. “I came to realize that you don’t have to be in the government to make big changes—you can do it in the private sector too if you’re working for a truly mission-oriented company.”
“I came to realize that you don’t have to be in the government to make big changes—you can do it in the private sector too if you’re working for a truly mission-oriented company.”
Elizabeth Corbett
Today, as the vice president and deputy general counsel at Affirm, Corbett continues to fight for economic justice by advancing Affirm’s mission to build honest financial products that improve lives at scale.
Affirm allows consumers to split their purchases up into a schedule of easy payments that fit into their budget. Affirm underwrites each transaction individually, and consumers know exactly how much they owe up front before they decide to transact. Unlike a credit card, Affirm never charges consumers late fees, and there is no ability to revolve or compound interest by design.
“The thing that makes it so amazing is that Affirm unlocked this business model that is far healthier from a financial perspective for consumers. This is something the big banks haven’t figured out to do to date,” Corbett says. “One of the cool things about being a product counsel is that you’re part of the innovation team. You’re there from day one because it’s incredibly important that we create products that are good for American consumers, but also compliant with the very complicated regulatory landscape that we’re a part of,” she says.
In becoming a leader who makes legal decisions at the forefront of consumer finance and technology, Corbett credits her resilience to thrive in intense environments and empathy to understand the invisible challenges people face because she was diagnosed with epilepsy at twelve years old. “I owe all of my success to my epilepsy, quite honestly. From a young age, I felt I had this thing within me that I needed to prove to others I could overcome,” Corbett explains. “It drove me to excel in academics and work extra, extra hard.”
Corbett kept her condition confidential for many years, even when she was on heavy medications throughout law school. “Looking back, I still ask myself how I made it through under those conditions. But, somehow, I did,” she reflects. “I think it was this overwhelming need I felt to prove that there was a seat at the table for me and that I was worthy of the opportunities that came my way.”
“One of the cool things about being a product counsel is that you’re part of the innovation team. You’re there from day one because it’s incredibly important that we create products that are good for American consumers, but also compliant with the very complicated regulatory landscape that we’re a part of.”
Elizabeth Corbett
Today, Corbett is proud to serve on the board of the Epilepsy Foundation, where she works to raise awareness about epilepsy, reduce the stigma associated with it, and, most importantly, raise money to further research that has been significantly underfunded for far too long.
“It took me a long time to appreciate my epilepsy, but I’ve come to think of it as my superpower,” says Corbett. “It has created an overwhelming sense of empathy within everything I do, and I believe that’s what drives my mission orientation, the way that I lawyer, and the companies that I work for.”
“Eli combines her senior-level government experience with an in-depth understanding of fintech to successfully guide her team through an increasingly complex regulatory environment. She is a consummate leader.”
—Eric Goldberg, Partner, Consumer Financial Services, Data and Technology (CFS+)
