Improving Economic Opportunity: Funding for Three Innovative Partners

We’re supporting three organizations working to improve economic opportunity for people across the United States: Family Independence Initiative, Code for America, and Opportunity@Work. Each of these organizations is taking an innovative approach to helping people advance, making use of technology to connect people to work, training, financial resources, and services. The Family Independence Initiative has created an online community, UpTogether, where low-income families strengthen their support networks, while providing access to capital to invest in their family’s health, education, and professional growth. Code for America is piloting ways to remove barriers and help people access government social safety net services more quickly to help them weather unexpected setbacks. And, Opportunity@Work is working to shift hiring practices to help more people who can do the job get the job, while expanding opportunities for people to gain the skills necessary to succeed in today’s workplace.

Over the past year, we’ve shared our commitment to advancing justice and opportunity, supporting innovative organizations who are working to address systemic challenges that are holding back families and communities — like our broken criminal justice system and an affordable housing crisis.

Everyone deserves equal access to opportunity, regardless of their circumstances. But that’s simply not the case for far too many American families. It’s clear also that many of the same people who face eviction or grapple with an unfair criminal justice system also struggle to earn a living. Today, promising new approaches are emerging to help families tackle systems that too often seem stacked against them.

As a new organization just beginning work on issues that have persisted for many decades, we are focused on supporting and learning from those doing impactful work alongside the communities they serve. We look forward to learning more from these organizations, the communities impacted, and other leaders working to improve economic stability and mobility for more people.