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Our Mission

Our Mission

Our mission at Opportunity@Work is to rewire the U.S. labor market so that all individuals Skilled Through Alternative Routes (STARs) can work, learn, and earn to their full potential.

Our Vision

In the next decade, Opportunity@Work aims to enable at least 1 million working adults in America to translate their learning into earning – generating a $20 billion boost in annual earnings.

Our Beliefs

  • We believe in the potential of all people to learn and contribute their talents in our dynamic economy. 
  • We believe a labor market that is rewired for inclusion creates prosperity for individuals, businesses, and society.
  • We believe technology can be used as a powerful tool to drive positive change.
  • We believe no one institution alone can create an inclusive labor market.

Our Values

  • Inclusion: We are committed to the advancement of all people by proactively, equitably recognizing and valuing different experiences and backgrounds.
  • Respect: We celebrate the dignity of all work and the dignity of every working person, especially those with overlooked skills.
  • Empowerment: We nurture our team, partners, and those we serve to become stronger and more confident in decisions and actions to achieve our shared mission.
  • Learning: We pursue experience and experimentation so that each success, failure, and surprise continually leads us, and all who work with us, to more successful outcomes.
  • Fulfillment: We understand that work is more than a job and aspire for it to be rewarding, a source of happiness, and even fun.

Why Us

We are confident that we can make a difference for STARs because of the distinct yet complementary qualities we bring to the opportunity movement. Opportunity@Work’s approach recognizes that there are businesses with much greater reach and capacity to tackle the problems facing STARs, and nonprofits with more expertise or credibility in specific areas. However, the reality is that businesses are unlikely to invest what’s needed because the near-term return on investment (ROI) won’t align with their current for-profit shareholder governance requirements. Likewise, few nonprofits are positioned to develop integrative solutions and mobilize executive-level action at leading companies.

Given our roots and our relationships, we believe Opportunity@Work  can help both businesses and nonprofits deliver greater impact than any of us could achieve on our own. We are trusted by companies to complement their work without posing a competitive threat, and we can help our nonprofit peers and partners extend their reach into corporate C-suites and integrate with employers’ workflows.

These qualities also set us apart: 

  • We are entrepreneurial and driven, a legacy of our private-sector heritage and our bias toward forward-looking action that makes an impact on people’s lives.
  • We are data-driven and technical, skills we apply in using fact-based insights and powerful IT tools to unleash positive change.
  • We are agile and adaptable, a mindset that enables us to build, test, learn, and refine solutions in real time with the corporate and training partners who will use them. 
  • Most importantly, we are courageous and collaborative, undaunted by the status quo and the need for systemic change involving thousands of stakeholders. 

We are inspired by the many others in the field who are equally passionate and committed to change. We see tremendous value in working closely with organizations in the public, private, nonprofit, and social sectors to unlock the best solutions and find ways to scale them across the labor market.

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