Corporate Roundup: Liz Davidson, Laurel Taylor Named Among Leading Female Founders

Image Credit: Image Credit: © Bjorn Hovdal | Dreamstime.com

Inc. Names Liz Davidson, Laurel Taylor Among Leading Female Founders

Business media company Inc. Magazine this week named two leading retirement plan industry experts among its 2025 Female Founders 500 list.

Liz Davidson, founder and CEO of Financial Finesse, along with Candidly Founder and CEO Laurel Taylor, were among the top business leaders disrupting the financial services sector.

Davidson founded Financial Finesse, an independent provider of workplace financial coaching, in 1999 with aims to make unbiased financial guidance accessible to all investors. Today, Financial Finesse reaches 2.5 million employees across over 20,000 employers.

“Being named to the Inc. Female Founders 500 list is an honor and a reminder of how far we’ve come,” says Davidson. “The goal has always been to help the underserved and knowing we’re achieving that—whether by investing in closing the racial wealth and financial wellness gaps with culturally relevant coaching and content, helping employees reduce harmful financial stress, or empowering employees to maximize their benefits—is incredibly rewarding.”

Candidly, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven student debt and savings optimization platform, was founded in 2016 after Taylor found herself struggling over accumulating student loan debt. The platform builds employee benefits solutions that help workers pay down their debt while saving for long-term needs like retirement.

Since its inception, Candidly has worked with distribution partners including Empower, intellicents, Lincoln Financial Group, Vanguard, and other firms.

“Being named to Inc.’s Female Founders 500 reinforces what drives our impact at Candidly – the power of building from lived experience. Having carried six figures of student debt myself, I understand firsthand the weight of indebtedness that millions face daily,” said Taylor. “This recognition celebrates not just my journey but our team’s relentless pursuit of transforming financial futures through AI-powered solutions that make the complex simple. We’re not just building technology. We’re creating pathways from debt to wealth for hardworking Americans of all ages and wages, with urgency and purpose.”