Dallas-based Transformance in midst of major transformation

By David Wilfong, NDG Special Contributor

Transformance, the non-profit formerly known as Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Greater Dallas (CCCS), is moving into 2016 with many facets of their operation that are new. There is a new President/CEO, a new app on offering, and even a new name.

Ken E. Goodgames is in the process of completing his first year as president and CEO of the organization. He comes to Transformance after working many years with the Red Cross, where he served as the vice president of product development. Prior to that, he was the vice president of field operations.

Goodgames said he was looking for an opportunity to be able to spend more time with his family, as he had become an adoptive parent with his wife.

“I was on a plane every week,” Goodgames explained, saying it became more important for him to be able to spend quality time with his growing family. After a search process, he found CCCS. “It was a nice match. I was looking for a non-profit, and this gave me an opportunity to have a greater impact directly on our community.”

Also, it is somewhat personal for Goodgames, being the youngest of four boys that grew up in an “under-served” neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio.

His arrival at the organization came in time to help usher CCCS, founded in 1974, as a whole through a big change of its own. For 41 years it operated as a non-profit dedicated to financial education and crisis counseling in in an environment that typically operated at a one-on-one level.

By 2015 there were four satellite offices; Amarillo, Austin, Arlington and Colorado Springs, Colo., therefore the “of Greater Dallas” part of the name was no longer indicative of the scope of what the organization was doing. Additionally, CCCS was looking at branching out in the ways they would be able to help their target audience.

“(CCCS) didn’t give us the opportunity to leverage our footprint in the direction we are going,” Goodgames said. “We are evolving from primarily a classroom environment so that we can connect with people where they are.”

With eyes on a new vision and a greater impact, the organization changed its name to “Transformance,” with which they intend to develop a new identity and establish a greater footprint.

Most of that increase in footprint is slated to be achieved in the online realm. In the last year, the organization has served more than 40,000 individuals and families, with 70 percent of that number being in the North Texas area. Through online outreach, Goodgames said Transformance is hoping to increase that number to 10 million.

Currently rolling off the assembly line is a new app called “Pocket Change,” and its child-centered version, “Pocket Change Kids.” By transforming educational goals in personal and family finance into a game environment, Transformance believes it will make the sometimes-dull world of economics more palatable to a wider audience.

“People think older people don’t play games,” Goodgames said. “That’s not true. I have a grandmother with a tablet and she’s always on it. I’m a gamer, and I’m over 40.”

The first phase of the app, dealing with the subject of saving, has been in Beta-testing and is rolling out at the end of February. Later phases having to do with other areas of personal finance are in the development stage. Through games, videos and additional content, Pocket Change will attempt to bring the world of finance to its users in a fun and more compelling manner.

In addition to counseling and online outreach, Transformance also seeks to serve the community by working in tandem with other non-profit and for-profit organizations and events. Many of these organizations will focus on particular areas such as women’s needs and serving veterans.

“We always ask, ‘Where are the areas we can collaborate to serve our community differently?’,” Goodgames said. “Each of us has areas that we focus on. It’s important that we all do our individual parts best to serve the community. We don’t necessarily try to do it all alone, nor would we want to.”