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

Economic context

June 01, 2023

Young workers’ economic mobility has improved since the start of the pandemic, but work remains to solidify these gains

Research shows that young workers have seen significant gains in their employment prospects since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Skills and training

June 09, 2023

Shifting Narratives and Policies to Support Black Workers’ Advancement: A Q&A with Bill Spriggs

Shifting focus away from skills gaps and worker shortages requires business, policy, and academic leaders to consider different solutions a shift away from individual failings to systemic inequities.
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Employer practices

Monday, June 26, 2023

Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace: What’s Working?

In a tight job market, employers know that creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace is key to…

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Working Knowledge

The Latest

Social determinants of work June 14, 2023
Research Summary

It’s Not Always What You Know, It’s Who You Know: The Role of Social Capital in Economic Connectedness and Mobility

Recent research analyzed billions of Facebook interactions and found that if children from low-income households grew up in neighborhoods that had social connections similar to children from wealthier households, their incomes would be 20 percent higher during adulthood.

Joe Peck

June 14, 2023
Skills and training June 21, 2023
Research Summary

Community Colleges Have a Wealth of Strategies to Support Black, Latinx, and Indigenous Student Success

Recent research from the Community College Research Center highlights stackable credentials, social supports to address nonacademic challenges, and culturally relevant curricula as three strategies for supporting adult learners from marginalized communities.

Madeleine Sirois

June 21, 2023
Economic context May 17, 2023
Research Summary

Amid a Collapsing Labor Market, Pandemic Policy Response Reduced Poverty and Inequality

Research indicates that the robust economic policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic and historically fast employment recovery resulted in reduced poverty and inequality even amid unprecedented pandemic-induced labor market dislocations, according to a recent working paper from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Andrew Boardman

May 17, 2023
Worker voice, representation, and power June 01, 2023
Research Summary

Beyond Official Statistics Lies a More Complex Story of Worker Power

Unions are smaller and less powerful than they have been in 5o years but are more popular than they have been at any point in that same period. Recent research suggests a new way of thinking about worker power beyond the topline union membership rate.

Joe Peck

June 01, 2023

Research

Social determinants of work March 15, 2022

Expanding Child Care Subsidies to Parents in Education and Training

A fact sheet summarizes findings from a new WorkRise report that models a hypothetical policy scenario where more parents in education and training were eligible for and received public child care subsidies.

Gina Adams, Linda Giannarelli, Nathan Sick, Kelly Dwyer

Grantee Research

March 15, 2022
Social determinants of work Report March 15, 2022

Implications of Providing Child Care Assistance to Parents In Education and Training

New WorkRise research uses microsimulation to model a hypothetical policy scenario where more parents in education and training were eligible for and received public child care subsidies.

Gina Adams, Linda Giannarelli, Nathan Sick, Kelly Dwyer

Grantee Research

March 15, 2022
Job search and matching Executive Summary January 14, 2022

Rise with the STARs

New research from WorkRise grantee Opportunity@Work demonstrates the harm and exclusion workers without four-year degrees who are “skilled through alternative routes” (STARs) experience in the labor market.

Papia Debroy, Justin Heck

Grantee Research

January 14, 2022
Employer practices Report July 01, 2021

Skills, Degrees, and Labor Market Inequality

In a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, researchers demonstrate that workers with college degrees have dramatically better access to higher-wage occupations where the skill requirements exceed the workers’ observed skill compared to workers without degrees.

Peter Q. Blair, Papia Debroy, Justin Heck

Grantee Research

July 01, 2021