Envisioning a future of inclusive economic opportunity so people have better lives
Full List of Grantees
In an effort to close the global opportunity gap, The Upwork Foundation funds initiatives that connect marginalized communities with life-sustaining knowledge work, no matter their location. We primarily fund organizations serving the following communities:
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Our 2023 grantmaking is dedicated to helping adults from underrepresented and underserved communities reenter the workforce and build new careers after taking a two to ten-year career pause. Supporting workforce reentry can take many forms, but we are prioritizing efforts that offer technical and soft skill development, job placement, and/or entrepreneurship incubation and financing to individuals impacted by:
Our application process is invitation-only and we are no longer accepting inquiries from interested nonprofits. Please stay tuned to learn more about our 2023 grantees and our 2024 grants strategy.
Organizations listed here represent those recommended by The Upwork Foundation. The Upwork Foundation works collaboratively with the Tides Foundation to process grants, ensuring grantmaking compliance. The Tides Foundation conducts due diligence on each organization before approving each grant and issuing funds on Upwork’s behalf.
For most asylum seekers, rebuilding a life with dignity and purpose begins with finding a job. AsylumWorks offers job readiness training programs to help asylum seekers find and keep jobs that are safe, legal, and meaningful.
AsylumWorks empowers asylum seekers and other migrants seeking humanitarian-based legal protection to rebuild their lives safely and with dignity.
The Brave House supports young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth, ages 16-24, in New York City, with a focus on those who are survivors of gender-based violence. We welcome youth who identify as female as well as those who are gender-non-conforming, transgender, or non-binary. The Brave House provides free legal support, community space, and holistic services, including art class, meditation workshops, English lessons, self-defense class, dance, career advising, college visits, mentorship and much more. The Brave House is a part of the Urban Justice Center through their Social Justice Accelerator incubator program.
The Brave House is a community of support for young immigrant women and gender-expansive youth (ages 16-24) in New York City, with a focus on survivors of gender-based violence.
INCO training and incubator programs provide the knowledge, skills, and habits necessary to secure in-demand, high-opportunity jobs in the changing economy. INCO has a presence across five continents, working to build a new economy based on sustainability and inclusivity.
Active in 50 countries, INCO’s mission is to create an economy that is green, inclusive, and sustainable by investing in and supporting innovative companies while equipping individuals facing barriers to employment with future-proof skills.
InReach is for the entire diverse LGBTQ+ community – including asylum seekers and refugees, undocumented and other immigrants, young people experiencing homelessness, those facing family or community rejection due to their identity, and other transgender and non-binary people in need of safe resources.
InReach supports the entire diverse LGBTQ+ community including asylum seekers and refugees; undocumented and other immigrants; young people experiencing homelessness; those facing family or community rejection due to their identity; and other transgender and non-binary people in need of safe resources.
Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 in San Francisco, with a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. Kiva provides crowdfunding loans and unlocking capital for the underserved, improving the quality and cost of financial services, and addressing the underlying barriers to financial access around the world. Through Kiva's work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment and families can afford needed emergency care.
Kiva is on a mission to expand financial access to help underserved communities thrive. Through Kiva's work, students can pay for tuition, women can start businesses, farmers are able to invest in equipment and families can afford needed emergency care.
Multicultural Refugee Coalition (MRC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization employing refugees, immigrants, and asylees in fair-wage, dignified work through two social enterprises: a textile manufacturing studio and an organic farm. MRC enterprises are built at the intersection of the traditional, respected skills of sewing and farming that refugees bring and a growing market for local textile & food production.
The Multicultural Refugee Coalition (MRC) creates livelihood opportunities for refugees. MRC believes in the potential of all refugees to thrive in their new communities through dignified, fair-wage work.
Oakland Bloom’s mission is to advance economic equity in the food industry. It aims to support poor and working-class refugee, immigrant, and BIPOC chefs to launch their own food businesses, and to reenvision and reshape what a healthy and just food service industry could look like. It pursues these aims through its Open Test Kitchen food incubator program, and its Detoxify the Industry program, developing people powered cooperative food business models that embody community principles and values.
Oakland Bloom’s mission is to advance economic equity in the food industry. It supports poor and working-class refugee, immigrant, and BIPOC chefs to launch their own food businesses and to re-envision and reshape what a healthy and just food service industry could look like.
RefugePoint advances lasting solutions for at-risk refugees and supports the humanitarian community to do the same. RefugePoint helps refugees to find lasting solutions through self-reliance (helping them to meet their own essential needs) and through resettlement and other pathways to safety such as relocation for employment, education, and family reunification.
RefugePoint advances lasting solutions for at-risk refugees including access to resettlement and other pathways to safety. With a global office in Nairobi, Kenya, RefugePoint is on the ground in Africa to strengthen response solutions that help refugees lead healthy, dignified lives and become contributing members of society again.
Annually, RISE provides services for nearly 400 refugees and immigrant families from over 25 nations worldwide. In contrast to traditional refugee resettlement agencies’ services that are limited to the individual’s initial 90 days, RISE’s staff continues to provide support for refugees and immigrants beyond this initial period. This ensures that all New Americans -irrespective of origin- are able to lead productive lives, engage in their community, and continue to pursue successful integration.
The mission of Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE) is to advocate and promote self-sufficiency through employment, education, social support, and economic independence for members of the refugee and immigrant communities.
With more and more refugees displaced for longer periods of time, businesses have a critical role to help them integrate economically into their host communities. TENT Partnership for Refugees encourages companies to think beyond traditional philanthropy. TENT works with businesses to include refugees by engaging them as potential employees, entrepreneurs, and consumers. When companies take this approach, they are not only helping refugees, they also see considerable business benefits.
TENT mobilizes the business community to improve the lives and livelihoods of refugees forcibly displaced from their home countries. TENT has a network of over 300 major companies committed to integrating refugees into their host communities.
Upwardly Global is the premier national organization working to support immigrants and refugees with international credentials to restart their careers in the United States. Upwardly Global is committed to using knowledge and experience to build the field and shift systems to advance inclusion.
Upwardly Global’s mission is to eliminate employment barriers for immigrant and refugee professionals, and to advance the inclusion of their skills into the U.S. economy.
We Are All America has led the emergence of an effective national organizing infrastructure that can mobilize public support for people fleeing violence and persecution, counter nativist forces, and develop more welcoming policies and practices in this area at the federal and state levels.
We Are All America has led the emergence of an effective national organizing infrastructure that can mobilize public support for people fleeing violence and persecution, counter nativist forces, and develop more welcoming policies and practices in this area at the federal and state levels.
Since 2009, Give Directly has delivered $500M+ in cash directly into the hands of over 1 million families living in poverty. They have operations in Kenya, Rwanda, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Togo, DRC, Uganda, and the United States. In 2020, Give Directly delivered cash to twice as many people as all other years combined and delivered $0.92 of every dollar donated.
GiveDirectly lets donors send money directly to the world’s poorest households. They believe people living in poverty deserve the dignity to choose for themselves how best to improve their lives and that cash enables that choice.
Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG) is an initiative of Mercy Corps. It was established in 2011 in collaboration with Google with the goal of nurturing and leveraging highly skilled Palestinian youth to stimulate the Palestinian economy through tech and innovation. Operating across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Gaza Sky Geeks provides budding freelancers, founders, and coders with the technical training and support they need to earn a meaningful income online.
Gaza Sky Geeks is propelling Palestine’s digital work economy through upskilling and job placement services, with a focus on helping women.
REACH is a Vietnamese non-profit organization specialized in providing vocational training, career advice and job placement for Vietnam's most disadvantaged youth and young adults (16-30 years old). Established in 2008, REACH has opened centers in Hanoi, Hai Duong, Hue, Danang and Ho Chi Minh City. To date, REACH has trained more than 19,000 youth through intensive trainings that cover life and job readiness skills. REACH supports students in finding jobs that provide stable income and more than 80% of REACH graduates secure a job after completing REACH's courses.
REACH specializes in providing vocational training, career advice, and job placement for Vietnam's most disadvantaged youth and young adults.
Per Scholas has been advancing economic mobility for 25 years. They partner with leading employers to build more diverse talent pools, directly connecting graduates to new career opportunities at businesses ranging from Fortune 500 companies to innovative startups. With campuses in 17 major metropolitan areas and growing, Per Scholas has trained more than 15,000 individuals.
Through rigorous tuition-free training, professional development, and robust employer connections, Per Scholas prepares individuals traditionally underrepresented in technology for high-growth careers in the industry.
Digital NEST connects members to the latest digital technology, powerful skill-based, STEM-inspired training programs, and a transformative community of mentors and advocates. Their technical & soft skills training includes Earn-As-You-Learn opportunities where members refine their skill sets, build a professional portfolio, and are empowered to prosper in the 21st Century workforce.
Digital NEST is a youth workforce development center that provides both technical and essential "soft" skills training to youth, ages 14 to 24, in under-resourced communities.
LaunchCode is creating economic opportunity through free and accessible tech training, apprenticeship, and job placement. LaunchCode's programs are designed for motivated individuals who are assessed for passion, drive, and aptitude rather than credentials. The average LaunchCoder more than doubles their previous salary in their new role.
LaunchCode recognizes that while talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. They aim to change that with free and accessible tech education.
Merit America serves low-wage workers and recently out-of-work individuals who are interested in making a near-term job transition and have a high school degree. Merit America identifies family-sustaining careers, trains learners for those careers, and helps graduates start their new careers through job placement support.
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Merit America envisions a world in which anyone can advance their life based on merit, not money.
Year Up believes every young adult deserves equal access to opportunity and racial and economic justice. By working strategically with employers to ensure training is linked to in-demand jobs, Year Up has prepared tens of thousands of young adults for living-wage jobs with career pathways.
Year Up’s mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support that will empower them to reach their potential.
Year Up is committed to ensuring equitable access to economic opportunity, education, and justice for all young adults—no matter their background, income, or zip code. Year Up serves young adults ages 18 to 26 who have earned a high school diploma or GED but are otherwise disconnected from the economic mainstream. Their California campuses reach the underserved communities of East Palo Alto, Hollister, Oakland, and Redwood City to open doors to life-changing opportunities for these students.
Year Up's mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by ensuring that young adults gain the skills, experiences, and support for career empowerment.
Urban Alliance is building a diverse next-generation workforce by providing job-skills training, mentoring, and paid internships to young people of color in Washington DC, Northern Virginia, Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit. In partnership with over 200 employers, they level the playing field for under-resourced youth, empowering high school students to connect to upwardly mobile careers and access the tools needed to overcome the systemic barriers preventing them from equitably accessing economic opportunity.
Urban Alliance aims to build a diverse next-generation workforce in their community through job-skills training and paid internships during high school.
re:work’s mission is to make our workplaces look more like our neighborhoods by making meaningful employment equally accessible to all residents, regardless of zip code or skin color. They seek to transform workplaces into diverse and inclusive spaces that reflect the diversity of Chicago’s neighborhoods and improve employment outcomes for untapped communities in the South and West sides, combating the lack of diversity in tech’s workforce in the process.
re:work training is improving outcomes for Chicago’s untapped communities and diversifying tech through educational and career opportunities.
Opportunity Junction helps motivated job seekers gain the skills and confidence to launch careers leading to financial security. They provide skills training and focus on job placement in careers that do not typically require college degrees, yet still promote upward mobility. Located in East Contra Costa County, California, Opportunity Junction is a resource for families displaced by gentrification within one of the epicenters of the emerging phenomenon known as suburban poverty.
Opportunity Junction helps motivated Contra Costa job seekers gain the skills and confidence to launch careers that lead to financial security.
The Mann Deshi Foundation operates an ecosystem designed to educate, train, and empower women of all ages in rural India to become entrepreneurs with support and access to financial institutions that these women may not otherwise have. Their vision is to empower women to make their own choices and to be celebrated as equal and valuable members of their families and communities. Mann Deshi provides access to knowledge, business skills, capital, markets, financial literacy, and supportive networks to help unlock the true potential of entrepreneurs. Mann Deshi serves Rural India including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and more.
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Mann Deshi Foundation empowers women entrepreneurs and their communities in rural India.
LaunchCode is a national nonprofit creating economic opportunity by adding new talent to tech ecosystems across the nation. While careers in technology have traditionally been reserved to those who can afford a four-year degree, LaunchCode's programs are free and accessible to motivated individuals who are assessed for passion, drive and aptitude rather than traditional career credentials. On average, LaunchCoders placed into paid apprenticeships and jobs more than double their previous salary.
LaunchCode recognizes that while talent is everywhere, opportunity is not. They aim to change that with free and accessible tech education.
Kepler provides a different kind of education – one that combines in-person, online and on-the-job learning in service of a singular goal: decent jobs for marginalized and economically disadvantaged young Africans. Kepler, through a partnership with Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), has enrolled more than 1,000 students across campuses in Kigali and the Kiziba refugee camp in Western Rwanda.
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Kepler provides African youth with new pathways to education and employment.
i.c.stars provides talented, low-income, young adults in Chicago and Milwaukee with the technical skills and business network needed to secure high paying careers in technology and to become leaders in their communities. I.c.stars was established to address the lack of opportunity and systematic oppression in our communities to activate a technology community of change agents to power social and economic freedom.
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i.c.stars provides a rigorous, technology-based workforce development and leadership training program for underserved adults.
Genesys Works believes that all young people, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status, deserve an equal opportunity to reach their full potential. The organization provides earning and learning pathways to career success for young adults in underserved communities through skills training, meaningful work experiences, and impactful relationships. Genesys Works is a national nonprofit with virtual internships and program locations in the Bay Area, Chicago, Houston, New York City, the Twin Cities, and Washington D.C.
Genesys Works equips high school students with the knowledge and skills to achieve career success.
Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG) is an initiative of global humanitarian agency, Mercy Corps. Their mission is to build an internationally admired and competitive tech sector in Palestine that creates high-salary jobs and future leaders. GSG has been in operation since 2011, born with a seed grant from Google. They have been propelling Palestine’s digital work economy through upskilling and job placement services, with a focus on helping women.
Gaza Sky Geeks is propelling Palestine’s digital economy and future technology leaders to transcend borders through cutting-edge, peer-led education..
Friends of Ngong Road (FoNR) provides education and support to impoverished children in Nairobi, Kenya whose families have been affected by HIV/AIDS. FoNR takes an innovative approach by providing support in three essential areas: education, safety and well-being, and providing a supportive community.
Friends of Ngong Road provides education and support for children in Nairobi, Kenya whose families have been affected by HIV/AIDS.
The East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) was founded in 1988 by UC Berkeley’s law students who recognized the opportunity to channel the school's top talent toward solving the enormity of legal inequity in the Bay Area. EBCL operates eight nationally recognized clinics providing free services to over 7,000 Alameda and Contra Costa households and a clinical program boasting 150+ Berkeley Law students annually. As East Bay’s largest provider of legal services to Black and Brown families, undocumented individuals, and low-income people, EBCLC’s priority is to ensure that all clients and their communities realize healthy, dignified, thriving lives.
East Bay Community Law Center addresses racial and economic injustice and poverty through legal services, policy advocacy, and law training
EarthEnable trains and employs Rwandans and Ugandans as masons to create and install custom-developed earthen floors in local homes. Their program provides affordable and sustainable materials to address a pressing need for sanitary flooring, an obstacle to healthier lives for 75% of households in the region. EarthEnable is targeting the significant health challenges posed by dirt flooring, as well as creating long-term solutions for jobs in Rwanda.
EarthEnable is improving health outcomes through simple and affordable solutions in Rwanda and Uganda.
Digital NEST is a high-tech career development center for young people connecting youth with members of their community that train in tech and business skills. Their community center serves predominantly Latinx youth in the neglected agricultural and rural communities of Watsonville and Salinas, California, where youth have free access to computers, software, and a safe space to network and learn what they otherwise would not have.
Digital NEST connects youth to a skill-building community that transforms them into successful professionals who create innovative solutions and prosperous communities.
The vision of Centro Community Partner is to create a world where anyone, anywhere can get access to entrepreneurship education and capital to help them start a small business, become financially self-sufficient, and build financial security for their families. Their programming provides business planning, financial literacy support, and access to loans for women and minorities in Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, and South Africa.
Centro Community Partners is building thriving communities by providing underserved, low-income entrepreneurs with business education, mentorship, and access to capital.
Pivotal supports foster youth in California’s Silicon Valley in obtaining vital education and career support for high school and college students, and prepares and places foster youth into paid summer internships. They stick by these youth throughout high school, college and into their careers, and help them get the life they want for themselves. Pivotal’s college graduation rate is 10-times the national rate for foster youth.
Pivotal helps young people in foster care reach their academic and employment goals to create the life they want for themselves.
Code Nation equips students in under-resourced high schools across New York City, Chicago, and the San Francisco Bay Area with the skills, experiences, and connections to access careers in technology. Their coding and work-based learning programs provide students with career-readiness skills, competencies and resources to set them up for success. Code Nation alumni will have the power to reduce wealth disparity, increase diversity in the industry, and develop technology that better serves our world.
Code Nation effectively propels students into tech careers and breaks deep-seated social and economic inequities in the tech industry.
African Entrepreneur Collective (AEC) envisions an Africa with low unemployment, where young people and refugees are engaged, where communities have access to relevant innovations for self-determination, and where African solutions are unleashed to solve African problems. They provide training focused on business development and debt financing for refugee entrepreneurs in Rwanda and East Africa to drive economic growth within their communities.
African Entrepreneur Collective works with local entrepreneurs in East Africa so that they can grow their businesses and create jobs.
Read updates on The Upwork Foundation's initiatives, impact, and partnerships to get insight into our purpose and vision.
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Pledge 1% is a global movement that inspires, educates, and empowers every entrepreneur, company, and employee to be a force for good. Over 10,000 members in 100 countries have used Pledge 1%’s flexible framework to ignite half a billion dollars in new philanthropy.
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If invited, prior Upwork Foundation grant recipients must submit a separate application to be considered for additional grant opportunities.
We strive to provide feedback to every organization that is invited by The Upwork Foundation to apply for a grant; however, due to an overwhelming number of applicants, we may be unable to provide individualized feedback. We are continually working towards improving our processes to better serve applying organizations.
Please contact us to learn more.
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