DENVER - March 1, 2023 - WorkLife Partnership announced today that it received $700,000 from the Schultz Family Foundation to expand its Resource Navigation program to ensure vulnerable workers, especially younger workers who are newer to the workforce, have the support and resources needed to pursue job stability, career mobility and economic independence.

 WorkLife Partnership is a nonprofit organization that partners with employers to understand—and meet—the real, evolving needs of their frontline workers. WorkLife provides resource navigation as well as workforce insights to help organizations meet the current and future needs of their employees and business. WorkLife’s Resource Navigator service pairs employees with a real, live person equipped with the resources and expertise to guide workers through whatever is keeping them from meeting their potential. For example, a Resource Navigator can help a worker research and secure affordable housing, interpret a medical bill or coverage, or simply help them develop an annual budget for their household. Its current employer partners include Denver Health, Intermountain Health, Freedman Seating, Dumb Friends League and Community Bridges, Inc. 

 “We are so grateful to the Schultz Family Foundation for recognizing the need for immediate support and attention to the individual needs and barriers experienced by vulnerable workers,” said Founder and CEO of WorkLife Partnership Liddy Romero. “Insights gained from proximity and direct interaction with employees will be used to accelerate business investment and reinvestment in the practices and programs most likely to improve the work experience, career success, and future opportunity for a national workforce.”

 With this funding from the Schultz Family Foundation, WorkLife will reach exponentially more vulnerable workers by engaging with businesses of all sizes committed to providing high-quality jobs and pathways to worker success. The Resource Navigation program will include direct pathways to harder-to-access resources like mental health, legal, and career mobility services. 

 “Despite their considerable talents and enormous potential, younger and frontline workers often face obstacles juggling the many responsibilities of work, home, and family, as well as their own well-being. By investing in WorkLife, our hope is that we can help employers better understand the unique needs of younger and frontline workers. When more of their workers thrive, instead of just survive, companies can increase retention, reduce costs and develop talent pipelines to grow their businesses,” said Tyra A. Mariani, president of the Schultz Family Foundation.

 WorkLife’s workforce insights give leaders an in-depth look into the issues and challenges impacting their employees’ ability to fully engage at work. This solution equips leaders with tools and resources that can help them provide higher quality jobs and evaluate pay, benefits and other differentiators that can allow businesses to attract and retain an exceptional workforce. Media interested in learning more about WorkLife Partnership should visit  www.worklifepartnership.org or contact Abby Leeper Gibson. 

About WorkLife Partnership: WorkLife Partnership, founded in 2009, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to economic equity and thriving workplaces across the country. WorkLife deploys its Resource Navigator benefit inside of businesses to provide personalized, immediate, one-on-one assistance when workers need it most. WorkLife Resource Navigators minimize work disruptions, decrease absenteeism, improve workers’ financial stability and ultimately increase employee retention and engagement. Currently, more than 65,000 employees across 36 employers are eligible to receive support from WorkLife, and 80 percent of those surveyed by WorkLife said that they felt good working for a company that offers this benefit. WorkLife is guided by its vision that prosperity is possible for everyone through work.

About the Schultz Family Foundation

The Schultz Family Foundation, established in 1996 by Sheri and Howard Schultz, interim CEO and chairman emeritus of Starbucks, creates pathways of opportunity for populations facing barriers to success, focusing on youth transitioning to adulthood and marginalized populations, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. By investing in scalable solutions and partnerships in communities across the country, the Foundation aims to help tackle the barriers and roadblocks that prevent individuals from reaching their full potential and, in doing so, strengthen our communities and our nation. For more information about the Foundation and its work: schultzfamilyfoundation.org.

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