Empower Work is honored to be named an awardee of the $60 million Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge, receiving a grant for our partnership with SkillUp Coalition to scale an innovative solution to help women thrive and everyone win in a rapidly changing workplace.

CTIA Wireless Foundation announced its Catalyst 2026 Winners, recognizing Empower Work as an innovator in mobile-first solutions that enhance lives. Catalyst is a competitive grants program for social entrepreneurs using next-generation wireless technology to deliver solutions to the challenges impacting American communities. We are thrilled to support over half a million people navigating tough work challenges. People like HB; a working mom who felt unhappy and stuck at her job, and reached out to a peer counselor through text.

At Empower Work, we hear from thousands of workers navigating challenges related to career growth, job searches, workplace stress, finding stable employment, and more. We’re proud to support people through these moments via our peer support text line, and through partnerships with trusted community spaces like public libraries. We’re thrilled to be testing a new partnership with public libraries starting with the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), with the goal to supplement the jobs and career support that public libraries offer the library patrons with the Empower Work text line.

Empower Work is thrilled to announce that Michelle Pullaro has joined the team as Chief Growth Officer. In this new role, Michelle will oversee core programmatic growth including our text line, training, and partnership work. We welcome Michelle’s strategic leadership at a unique inflection point as we continue scaling our impact to support 3 million workers—marking a bold step towards creating healthy, equitable workplaces where employees are valued, supported, and empowered in ways that support their economic and emotional well-being.

Empower Work is thrilled to welcome Tina Wie to our Board of Directors during this pivotal moment in scaling our mission. As we celebrate Tina's addition, we also celebrate Jyot Bawa and Emily Kramer, who will transition to Board Emeritus roles. Their contributions have been invaluable in driving our growth and impact.

A few takeaways from our first 100,000 conversations about work difficulties. Seeing the cumulative data along with personal stories from people who have used Empower Work, I’m floored. Our timely intervention is leading to demonstrably more positive economic and emotional outcomes for underserved workers after livelihood-threatening experiences.

Here from Leigh Honeywell, who founded Tall Poppy, a company focused on fighting online harassment by working with employers to protect employees, on what she has to say about Empower Work and supporting each other in the workplace: “I’ve worked to understand the web of organizations whose missions touch the work we do. One of the most exciting organizations I’ve gotten to know in the field: Empower Work.”

One year ago, I sent a file to print — 60 fliers I’d thrown together to test an idea. The idea had been sparked by a question: why wasn’t there an easily accessible resource for people facing work challenges?

As Empower Work began reaching people, we found what was tough for people varied widely — microaggressions, ethical decisions or questions, run-ins with managers, gaslighting, bullying, sexual innuendo, difficulties managing up, being sidelined or worked around, job transitions, harassment, discrimination…the list went on.

The Empower Work approach is based on researched-backed best practices in coaching and counseling. Our peer counselors go through a robust application, screening, and training where they learn to hold space to discuss what people are facing and ask succinct, informed questions that help people go from feeling backed into a corner with no options, to multiple pathways ahead of them. If needed, we connect people to additional resources ranging from legal information to meditation apps. All of our resources are vetted in line with our mission — free, accessible, inclusive.

This week, Empower Work received a game-changing $100,000 donation from the Pineapple Fund. The fund was started by an anonymous donor, “Pine,” who is making “bold, smart bets that hopefully impact everyone in the world” by giving away $86 million in Bitcoin.

Pineapple Fund’s transformative gifts to 30+ organizations have been highlighted by the New York Times, CNBC, Mashable not just for the impact, but for the intriguing new way that cryptocurrency is influencing philanthropy. Pine’s contribution is our largest individual gift to date — and our first Bitcoin donation.

It’s a powerful reminder of how a seemingly simple moment can be a turning point, and that’s core to our mission.