The $750,000 program funded by Access Ventures and executed by Render is focused on finding, funding, and scaling innovations to decrease barriers to employment in the Louisville region.
Render, a public benefit corporation focused on creating impact through innovation, in collaboration with program partners Access Ventures and the UofL Health Equity Innovation Hub, launched an application process in February for a second national prize competition through the successful Reconstruct Challenge platform. This $750,000 iteration focuses on addressing barriers to employment in the United States, and specifically in our tri-county region.
Five innovations have been selected to receive $100,000 each from Access Ventures to implement their solutions in the Louisville and Southern Indiana region over the next 12-18 months. These organizations were showcased at a public event on August 25th, 2022 at an event sponsored by Access Ventures and Metro United Way After this period, one of the five innovations will have the opportunity to receive an additional $250,000 to further scale.
Over 50 organizations submitted for this iteration of the Reconstruct Challenge focused on removing barriers to employment, with ideas and solutions coming from across the country. Each proposal was reviewed by an evaluation panel, composed of national and local stakeholders. The top 12 finalists were then interviewed by a selection committee who chose the 5 grant recipients based on 4 qualities: impactful, scalable, enduring, and feasible.
Below are the organizations that will launch their innovations in the Louisville region starting next month:
Honest Jobs: (Denver, CO) Honest Jobs is the nation’s leading fair-chance employment platform, helping people with criminal records find better jobs faster. Nearly 1,000 employers across the U.S., ranging from single-location operations to Fortune 50 companies, use the platform to tap into this loyal, qualified talent pool. Honest Jobs works with community partners, DOCs, probation, and parole to connect with job seekers. Over 30,000 justice-involved job seekers utilize the platform to find jobs and build careers. To learn more about this social enterprise and its impact, visit honestjobs.com.
Leap Fund: (Brooklyn, NY) Leap Fund has seen workers across the country turn down income that they have earned at their jobs, out of fear of hitting the benefits cliff (essentially: earning a dollar or two more an hour, but as a result, losing public benefits that were worth much more than the income increase). We’re changing things for workers receiving public benefits that are afraid of this financial catastrophe affecting them: We have built a benefits cliff coaching program, which includes predicting individualized cliffs, and employers tools, to better understand the scope of the problem, and actually help employees avoid benefits cliffs altogether. Leap Fund is creating products that empower optimism, financial and career growth, future planning, and security for working families that need it most. Learn more at myleapfund.com
Dollar For: (Vancouver, WA) A medical crisis shouldn’t mean a financial crisis. Dollar For eliminates medical debt by advocating for patients and enforcing hospital charity care policies. Our mission is to make Charity Care known, easy and fair. We crush medical bills – for free with no strings attached.
finEQUITY: (Brooklyn, NY) finEQUITY advances the financial futures of those impacted by long-term incarceration. We offer no-cost financial tools, such as credit building opportunities, to justice-impacted community members in order to ease access to employment, affordable housing, utilities, phone plans, and more.
FMS: (Louisville, KY) Facilities Management Services employs 600 custodians in Metro Louisville. The biggest challenge applicants face to work at FMS is lack of accessible, affordable transportation. Working Your Way to Wheels is a multi-stakeholder strategy leveraging the successes of Working Your Way Home to assist custodial workers with owning and maintaining their own vehicle.
Render believes in the impact of innovation. Oftentimes the solutions to our community’s most significant challenges are just waiting for someone to take a risk on them. Traditional processes are engineered for those most familiar with the process, not always those most familiar with the problem, and thereby, the best ideas to solve these community challenges. Through the Reconstruct Challenge’s risk-tolerant approach, we have funded innovation that has unlocked significant impact for our community.
“The Reconstruct Challenge is a tool that helps us think differently about the way we approach big community problems like barriers to employment. There isn't a silver bullet out there--these kinds of challenges require creativity to move the needle. These selected innovators represent new approaches to various aspects of the employment challenge, and we're looking forward to measuring their impact in our community over the next several years,” said Bryce Butler, Managing Director, Access Ventures
For more information on the program please visit the newly updated reconstructchallenge.com.
About Render: Render is an innovation studio that envisions a world where opportunities outweigh obstacles. We partner with organizations to unlock new ideas to solve their most challenging problems. As a public benefit corporation, we default to impact while working towards human-centered solutions. We work together, for good. Learn more at workwithrender.com
About Access Ventures: Access Ventures, a Louisville, KY-based private operating foundation, is working to build a more inclusive and creative economy - an economy that functions for all people and that in which all people have the financial freedom and mobility to pursue every opportunity they desire. Recognized as a leading voice in values and mission-aligned investing, Access Ventures offers a one-pocket approach that invites entrepreneurs, creators, investors, and philanthropy to share in an active and vibrant vision for their communities. Learn more at accessventures.org.
