Four Stamford Nonprofits Receive Transformative Funding Awards from the Job Seekers Support Fund, Sponsored by Indeed

The $300,000 fund, established with and advised by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, provided funding to Stamford-based organizations dedicated to helping Stamford residents find employment opportunities.

NORWALK, CT (Oct 25, 2023) – The Job Seekers Support Fund, established by Stamford-based hiring platform Indeed, with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, announced the recipients of general operating support awards – ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 – to four nonprofits providing direct community-based support to Stamford job seekers facing barriers to employment: Building One Community, C.O.R.N.E.R.S., The Stamford Partnership, and Women’s Mentoring Network.

As part of its competitive grant process, the Fund engaged a range of local leaders to advise on challenges facing Stamford job seekers – challenges which, according to the nonpartisan Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, disproportionately impact Black and Latino communities. By assembling an Advisory Committee with a diverse range of expertise and lived experience to determine the recipients of the unrestricted and critical general operating support, the Fund was able empower nonprofits to better fulfill their missions and advance an equitable economy where everyone has a chance to thrive.

“The Job Seekers Support Fund exemplifies how businesses can engage in trust-based relationships with community partners to support community-informed and community-led interventions,” said Julian Pierce, The Community Foundation’s Director of Economic Opportunity, and a lead advisor for the Fund. “The model allowed for stronger and more relevant work—and the result is more meaningful investments and deeper impact.”

“There’s nothing more important than the dignity that comes with getting a job and the economic prosperity that that creates for families, “ said Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons at the celebration event in September. “We are so grateful for this commitment today through Indeed’s partnership with the Fairfield County Community Foundation and all of our nonprofit providers here. It’s such a wonderful example of public-private sector collaboration to create opportunities for residents in our city.”

The Fund’s Advisory Committee sought grantees that increase employment opportunities through programs like workforce training and education; disability services; support in navigating the justice system; and access to essentials like housing and transportation, which greatly impact a job seeker’s prospects.

“Our participants often have limited English language skills, are economically disadvantaged and experience ongoing racial discrimination – all factors that make securing a job difficult,” said Anka Badurina, Executive Director of Building One Community, which provides immigrant services. “If we want to support an equitable economy, we must address our workforce’s opportunity gap for those who need it the most.”

Fairfield County is home to some of the greatest economic inequality in the country and despite being one of the state’s fastest growing cities, Stamford faces more than its fair share of challenges with vast disparities falling across racial and ethnic lines**:

● In 2019, median income was $85k – higher than state averages – but median income for Black men barely broke $50k and was just $40k for Latinos.
● Black and Latino women fared even worse with median incomes of $34 and $36k respectively.
● Some of the latest data – from just before the pandemic – showed that unemployment rates in Stamford averaged 6%, but were as high as 8 and 10% for Latino and Black residents respectively.

“Indeed is really excited to launch the Job Seeker Support Fund,” said Abbey Carlton, VP of Social Impact at Indeed. “These amazing organizations here in Stamford will be able to help more people connect to jobs, hopefully using Indeed. And we as a company will be able to learn from the experiences of these organizations and these job seekers to make our platform even better.”

As the world’s largest job website, Indeed has made reducing barriers to employment a key company goal, evidenced by its global commitment to help 30 million job seekers facing bias and barriers get hired by 2030. Indeed is committed to connecting people to better jobs and transforming lives for the better, and advances this mission by working with organizations who directly serve job seekers facing barriers.

“The Stamford community has been home to Indeed from the beginning. It is important to us to support our community by helping those seeking employment find jobs, which is why we partnered with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation to establish the Job Seekers Support Fund,” said Jonathan Gonzalez, ESG Partnership Manager at Indeed. “We are honored that this partnership has helped expand access to better opportunities for all.”

For more information on The Job Seekers Support Fund, please visit https://fccfoundation.org/JSSFund

(**source: The Fairfield County Community Wellbeing Index, 2023)

About Fairfield County’s Community Foundation
Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is partnering with our community to create a county where every person has an equitable opportunity to thrive. We work closely with community organizations, nonprofits, businesses, and philanthropists to address challenges and identify opportunities to create a stronger, more vibrant community. Sign up for Foundation email updates here. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

About Indeed 
More people find jobs on Indeed than anywhere else. Indeed is the #1 job site in the world (Comscore, Total Visits, September 2022) and allows job seekers to search millions of jobs in more than 60 countries and 28 languages. Over three million employers use Indeed to find and hire new employees. More than 300 million unique visitors use Indeed each month to search for jobs, post resumes, research companies and more. For more information, visit indeed.com.

Media questions may be directed to:
Krista Carnes
Fairfield County’s Community Foundation
Phone: 203.750.3242
Email: kcarnes@fccfoundation.org