The Workers Lab Innovation Fund
An early-stage investment fund for worker-centered innovations. The page lists research initiatives alongside technology products, worker cooperatives, organizing efforts, legal protections, job training, and policy advocacy as the kinds of ideas it backs, making it one of the few worker-movement funds that will consider a research or evidence-building project as the innovation itself.
- Indicative award
- Amount not published (varies by call)No per-award figure is published. The page reports cumulative activity only: $8 million invested in 100 innovators since 2014. Individual award sizes are not stated, so both numeric fields are null.
- Timing
- Varies by programmeNo specific published date recorded. This funder publishes a cycle rather than a date, and this database does not invent one.No application cycle or deadline is published on the page. Prospective applicants are directed to the fund's investment pages and contact channels.
- Who can apply
- Community organisation, Practitioner, Early-career faculty
- Eligibility
- The page does not publish formal eligibility criteria. It describes backing innovators and entrepreneurs rather than institutions, and reports that 75 percent of recipients have been entrepreneurs of color and 65 percent women-led. There is no stated 501(c)(3) or university requirement, and no stated citizenship or geographic gate. A social work researcher would most plausibly enter as a co-founder or evidence partner on a worker-organization-led application; prospective applicants should contact the fund for current criteria.
- SSWR clusters
- Topics
- worker-centered innovation · worker organizing · job training · worker cooperatives
- Apply at
- https://www.theworkerslab.com/innovationfund
- This entry
- Curated by the working group. Written 2026-08-07. The funder link has not yet been machine-checked.
Amounts and dates on this page are indicative and are maintained by people rather than scraped. Funders change ceilings, windows and eligibility without notice; confirm all details at the source above before applying.
Also on the Work and Work-Life Policies and Programs shelf
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