WorkRise Welcomes Seven New Leadership Board Members
Our incoming board members bring outstanding credibility and recognition from the full range of sectors involved in improving work and workers’ lives.
Learn more
Our incoming board members bring outstanding credibility and recognition from the full range of sectors involved in improving work and workers’ lives.
Grantmaking and Partnerships
Led by a cross-sector Leadership Board that is ideologically diverse and representative of often-siloed groups, WorkRise invests in research on policies, programs, and practices that have the potential to accelerate economic security and mobility for low-wage workers. We fund analyses and the creation of data that shed light on labor market barriers, trends, and opportunities. And we engage in strategic partnerships that help advance evidence-based solutions in support of our mission. Learn more about our most recent request for proposals and how you can collaborate with WorkRise.
The Latest
Skills and training
September 26, 2023The Impact of Student Debt on the Low-Wage Workforce
Student loan debt has a negative impact on labor market outcomes and economic mobility, with disparate economic impacts for low-wealth households. Burdens fall more heavily on Black and Latinx borrowers and those who did not complete their degree.
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The Latest
Job search and matching
March 12, 2024
Research Summary
Self-Employment Savvy: The Relationship between Financial Literacy and Working Independently
Individuals with higher levels of financial literacy are more likely to work for themselves than participate in traditional employment, no matter their race or ethnicity. This relationship is even stronger for women, demonstrating the importance of financial education and confidence-building in an economy where non-White and female workers face significant barriers to self-employment.
Social determinants of work
March 05, 2024
Article
Move to Opportunity or Invest Locally: What helps workers get ahead?
Federal, state, and local investment in underresourced communities is more effective in improving low-wage workers’ economic mobility than moving them to well-funded communities.
Skills and training
February 27, 2024
Video
WorkRise Shorts: Perspectives on Learning and Employment Records, with Jhacole LeGrand-Dunn
How can a learning and employment record, a new kind of credentialing tool, promote greater equity in the US jobs market? Answering this question is Jhacole LeGrand-Dunn, Senior Director, Pathways, at Digital Promise, and a member of the Retail Opportunity Network, a community of leaders focused on upskilling and economic mobility. LeGrand-Dunn explains how learning and employment records can open up more pathways to access to jobs and enable more equitable access to jobs.
February 27, 2024
Research
Employer practices
Executive Summary
June 26, 2023
A Workplace Divided: Survey Research and Stakeholder Engagement to Advance Equitable Workplaces
A national survey by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University explores workers' perceptions of discrimination and unfair treatment based on race and ethnicity. The survey reveals significant percentages of Asian-American, Black, and Latino workers experience discrimination in private-sector and government workplaces. Black workers are more likely to view workplace discrimination as a significant problem than white workers, with Black female workers reporting the highest levels of discrimination. The study highlights the impact of discrimination on career advancement and the need for government and employer interventions to promote workplace equity.
Grantee Research
Skills and training
Executive Summary
April 03, 2023
Navigating Public Job Training
Right now, more than 75,000 Eligible Training Provider (ETP) job programs are eligible for funding under America’s primary federal workforce development law, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). How well do these public investments prepare workers for high-quality jobs? In this analysis, authors combine training provider and program data from the US Department of Labor with performance records and occupational data to study the types of providers receiving WIOA funding and the kinds of jobs for which they offer training. The report also reviews websites for all 50 states to understand how easily potential job trainees can access information on these programs.
Grantee Research
Economic context
Executive Summary
March 15, 2023
How Past Criminal Convictions Bar Floridians from Occupational Licensing Opportunities
In this report, the Florida Policy Institute and the DeVoe L. Moore Center at Florida State University highlight research exploring the relationship between occupational licensing and recidivism and the consequences of overregulation on workforce development. The authors also survey the landscape of Florida’s occupational licensing laws and policy reform efforts and present policy proposals to reduce professional licensing barriers for people with criminal records.
Grantee Research
Worker voice, representation, and power
Executive Summary
March 13, 2023
Nailing New Labor Models: Exploring Sectoral Bargaining and High-Road Training Partnerships in the Nail Salon Sector
This report from the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and the UCLA Labor Center explores how partnerships and sectoral boards can build a sustainable and equitable nail salon industry, focusing on two approaches from other sectors. High-road training partnerships and sectoral bargaining approaches can be adapted for nail salons but require distinct interventions and capacities for member participation.
Grantee Research