At the end of 2019, the U.S. economy was booming. The country was at full employment with a stock market that had reached record highs throughout the year. We inhabit a very different reality today.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the economy to a historic standstill, and nearly 45 million U.S. workers have filed for unemployment insurance in a 12-week period. COVID-19’s disproportionate impact on the health and economic well-being of low-income and minority communities—and the compounding impact of systemic racism and violence against Black Americans—has revealed our collective failure to acknowledge and address the structural problems that have consistently left millions behind.
ETF@JFFLabs was founded specifically to address these structural challenges, and we feel greater responsibility than ever to execute against our founding strategy: to invest in technology solutions that create opportunities for economic advancement for all.
Through eight portfolio companies, all of which offer scalable technology solutions intentionally designed to benefit low-wage and low- and middle-skill workers, we help people prepare for, find, secure, and succeed in jobs that lead to economic mobility.
