Funders
Funders
Invest in Workforce Equity. Fund Real Change.
Partner with ARS WorkAbility to expand equitable workforce development, empower disadvantaged community members, and build inclusive economic pathways across every local community in the United States. Your investment drives measurable employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, and historically underrepresented communities.
Why Fund ARS WorkAbility?
ARS WorkAbility is a nonprofit workforce development platform dedicated to serving disadvantaged communities and underserved populations across the United States. We connect individuals with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, and other marginalized job seekers to quality job training, career readiness services, and inclusive employers—creating lasting economic self-sufficiency for the people who need it most.
Your funding directly supports:
- Inclusive job placement for individuals from disadvantaged communities facing systemic employment barriers
- Vocational rehabilitation and DOR-aligned employment services
- Culturally responsive community wellness outreach that serves as a trusted entry point to career services
- Online workforce training and career readiness programming through the ARS Orientation LMS
- Employer consulting on inclusive hiring practices and disadvantaged community talent pipeline development
- Long-term job retention and career advancement coaching for disadvantaged workers
Our Impact: Where Your Dollars Work
At ARS WorkAbility, we believe that with the right structure, guidance, and training, every person from a disadvantaged community can achieve sustainable employment. Our model is built on the conviction that properly matched job seekers—supported through culturally responsive outreach, skills development, and individualized career coaching—are far more likely to succeed and stay employed long-term.
Our approach targets the root causes of unemployment in disadvantaged communities—not just the symptoms. By aligning skills training with real employer needs, and by pairing each participant with individualized coaching from intake through retention, we dramatically improve job-matching accuracy and reduce the revolving door of short-term placements that too often characterize underserved workforce programs.
We strive for the highest possible rates of job retention, employer satisfaction, and career advancement—because our participants deserve more than a placement. They deserve a career. Your investment in ARS WorkAbility funds a model designed to deliver exactly that, one community member at a time.
Our community wellness-to-employment model ensures that participants who may not yet be “ready” for formal workforce services are welcomed first through culturally responsive outreach—building the trust and stability that set the foundation for lasting employment success.
Who We Serve: Disadvantaged Communities Across the United States
ARS WorkAbility specializes in serving populations that face the highest barriers to stable, competitive employment:
- Individuals with physical, cognitive, or behavioral health disabilities
- DOR-eligible clients seeking vocational rehabilitation and customized employment
- Immigrants and refugees navigating language, cultural, and credential barriers
- AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander) communities
- Individuals in recovery from substance use disorders
- Historically underrepresented and low-income job seekers
- Community members engaged through wellness and outreach programs who need a non-clinical pathway to employment
We don’t just place people in jobs—we walk alongside them from community trust-building to career stability, ensuring no one is left behind because of disability, language, cultural background, or lived experience.
What Your Funding Supports
Grants and philanthropic investments to ARS WorkAbility fund five interconnected program areas that move participants from community engagement to economic self-sufficiency:
Community Wellness & Outreach
Culturally responsive community programming, stigma-reduction education, and trust-building outreach that serves as the authentic entry point to employment services—especially for populations with barriers to formal service systems.
Career Readiness & Barrier Navigation
Resume development, interview coaching, individualized employment planning, benefits counseling, stress management, and housing stability support to ensure participants are fully prepared for competitive employment.
Contribute & Access the Shared Database
Your job seekers enter the shared pool—and your organization gains access to a broader database of clients, employer connections, and training resources from across the partner network.
Inclusive Job Placement
Direct job matching and placement using Work Onward, connecting disadvantaged community job seekers with inclusive, recovery-friendly, and disability-welcoming employers—with active employer education and partnership development.
Retention, Advancement & Financial Coaching
90-, 180-, and 365-day post-placement retention support, career advancement planning, wage progression, and benefits coaching that sustains employment without jeopardizing critical stability supports.
If your organization is already doing meaningful workforce work in your community, ARS WorkAbility gives you the tools, the network, and the platform to do even more.
Funding Opportunities & Partnership Levels
We welcome a range of funders—from public agencies and government grantors to private foundations and corporate social responsibility programs. Here’s how you can invest:
Government & Public Agencies
DOR contracts, WIOA Title I & IV funding, county workforce development boards, HHS and DOL grants, state equity and employment initiatives.
Private Foundations
Mission-aligned grants supporting disability inclusion, economic mobility, immigrant integration, disadvantaged community advancement, and community health-to-employment models.
Corporate & CSR Partners
Corporate foundations, workforce diversity initiatives, ESG grant programs, and employer-partners investing in inclusive talent pipeline development.
We are an experienced nonprofit workforce intermediary with established compliance systems, outcome tracking, and funder reporting infrastructure—ready to meet the requirements of government, foundation, and corporate funders alike.
Mission Alignment: Why ARS WorkAbility Is a Smart Investment
Return on Investment for Funders
Investing in ARS WorkAbility creates measurable economic return: each participant placed in sustainable employment generates tax revenue, reduces reliance on public benefits, and increases community economic participation—at a fraction of the cost of long-term social service dependency.
Equity-Centered, Evidence-Informed Model
Our community wellness-to-employment pathway is grounded in public health principles, vocational rehabilitation best practices, and culturally responsive service design—maximizing participant engagement and long-term success for populations that traditional workforce programs often miss.
Collaborative, Systems-Level Impact
ARS WorkAbility doesn’t operate in isolation. We partner with state Departments of Rehabilitation, WIOA programs, SourceAmerica-affiliated employers, community health organizations, and local nonprofit partners to create a comprehensive, coordinated employment ecosystem—rooted in the communities we serve.
Aligned with Current Policy—Committed to Competitive Integrated Employment
ARS WorkAbility's service model is built on the principles of Competitive Integrated Employment (CIE)—the federal standard that defines quality employment as real jobs, at or above minimum wage, in workplaces where individuals with disabilities work alongside people without disabilities with equal access to advancement and benefits.
Our programs are directly aligned with the following federal and state policy frameworks:
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) — U.S. DOL
The primary federal law governing publicly funded workforce development, including VR services through DOR.
Competitive Integrated Employment — U.S. DOL/ODEP
The federal definition and policy framework that guides our placement and retention model.
Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (TCIEA)
Proposed federal legislation to eliminate subminimum wage and expand equitable employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
California Department of Rehabilitation — Open Data Portal
Publicly available statewide VR employment outcome data, reported in partnership with vendors like ARS WorkAbility.
Voices from Our Community
Ready to Partner With Us?
We’d love to share more about our programs, outcomes, and current funding needs. Whether you’re a foundation exploring grant opportunities, a public agency seeking a qualified workforce partner, or a corporation building an inclusive talent pipeline for disadvantaged communities—ARS WorkAbility is ready to collaborate.
Contact Our Development Team
- info@arsworkability.org
- (562)-632-1141 ext. 9
- 750 E Green Street, Suite 301, Pasadena, CA 91101
We respond to all funder inquiries within 2 business days and are happy to schedule a discovery call, provide a program overview deck, or prepare a customized proposal for your funding priorities.