Investment from Jack Dorsey’s #StartSmall initiative accelerates the improvement of mental health and economic security 

Empower Work, a national nonprofit on a mission to create healthy, equitable workplaces where people are supported, valued, and empowered, is honored to receive a transformational $1.3M gift from Jack Dorsey’s #StartSmall philanthropic initiative. This moving gift comes at a critical moment. As we round towards a second Labor Day during the pandemic, a new wave of COVID strains the lives and health of workers across the United States and exacerbates the challenges of economic and mental health recovery, particularly for women and women of color.

Empower Work helps underserved workers thrive following adversity, ensuring they have the support, information, and resources to navigate complex work challenges via technology. 

“Every day we support workers reaching out who are feeling isolated, uncertain, overwhelmed - a nurse torn between taking care of her patients or taking care of her kids sick with COVID, a trucker laid off terrified of losing everything and not being able to support her three kids, a restaurant worker worried about her health and paying rent. This gift transforms our ability to rise to meet the needs right now of people who are hurting.” Jaime-Alexis Fowler, Empower Work’s Founder and Executive Director said. “We’re at a critical turning point where we need to  change lives in the moment, and we need to radically reimagine what supportive, healthy, equitable workplaces look like going forward. Our team, volunteers, and community are deeply grateful for this groundbreaking gift.”

With the #StartSmall gift, Empower Work will expand key resources, improve our technical infrastructure, and significantly expand marketing and outreach to change the lives of 50,000 historically marginalized workers.

“Our text line provides critical support at someone’s fingertips. A woman on a bus or a bathroom can immediately get help to retain a job, find a new job, take action on inequities faced in their workplace - and in many cases all of those,” Emily Kramer, one of Empower Work’s Board Members said. “We knew before COVID that the future of work needed to look different. The pandemic laid bare the stark lack of resources and support. Empower Work is a lifeline.”

Prior to COVID, over 40 million Americans lacked access to support at livelihood altering moments, exacerbating inequality. That inequity has only widened during the pandemic. The #StartSmall gift advances Empower Work’s campaign to support 3 million workers in the coming five years, and kickstarts Empower Work’s long-term vision to create healthy, equitable workplaces where people thrive.

##

About Empower Work

Empower Work is a national 501(c)3 nonprofit on a mission to create healthy, equitable workplaces where people are supported, valued, and empowered. We believe that when people thrive at work, communities, companies, the economy, and our democracy, thrive. To reach that, we need to dramatically shift cultural norms and expectations within workplaces. And we need to radically transform how we support people at critical, opportunity-altering moments.

Our approach fuels positive change in three ways: 

1. Improved economic and emotional well-being for less-represented and less-resourced workers via immediate, confidential SMS support,

2. Improved workplace practices as volunteer peer counselors bring their 25+ hours of Empower Work training to their workplaces creating a ripple effect, and

3. Systemic workplace change as our data and storytelling informs new approaches, training, & policy.

Read more about our Impact over the past year.

Interested in getting involved? Sign up to be a volunteer.