named programs · 6 · from sources
What they call their work
Ban the Box / Fair Chance Hiring
Advances policies that remove criminal history questions from job applications and protect the employment rights of people with records.
Climate Justice for Workers Program
Helps workers secure rights to refuse dangerous work, improved safety protections, and anti-retaliation safeguards in the context of climate change.
Fight for $15 and Union Rights
Supports national and local campaigns to raise the minimum wage to $15 and expand union rights for low-wage workers.
Project Hustle
Collaborative initiative documenting the working lives of Black women and femmes in New Orleans, focusing on criminalization, care work, and occupational segregation.
Truth About the Coalition for Workforce Innovation (CWI)
Exposes corporate efforts to misclassify workers as independent contractors and advocates for employer accountability and universal access to good jobs.
UI Policy Hub
A resource center for state advocates to strengthen unemployment insurance systems and enhance economic security for workers.
activities · 4 groups
What they do
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Worker Rights Advocacy & Wage Protection 6 activities
- Advocacy for a just and inclusive economy through legal and policy solutionsAdvances workers' rights and a good-jobs economy by advocating for legal and policy changes at federal, state, and local levels, with a focus on equity for Black and immigrant workers. Efforts have impacted an estimated 100 million workers and their families over the past decade.
- Advocacy for unemployment insurance and economic security systemsAdvocates for expanded and improved unemployment insurance systems to provide economic security for workers between jobs, including legal victories such as securing due process rights for federal employees in UI eligibility hearings.
- Corporate and employer accountability advocacyAdvocates for corporate accountability in upholding workers' rights and fair treatment, including ensuring accountability in contracted labor arrangements and protecting worker tips from employer seizure.
- Legal advocacy and litigation to enforce workers' rightsEngages in strategic litigation to defend workers’ rights, including winning class-action lawsuits that recovered over $6 million in back wages for delivery workers and secured favorable rulings for Black workers facing employment discrimination.
- Policy advocacy for minimum wage and overtime protectionsSecured significant policy victories including raising the minimum wage and strengthening overtime rules, contributing to $150 billion in raises for 26 million workers since 2012. Led campaigns that extended minimum wage and overtime protections to over two million home care workers and strengthened protections for 12 million middle-class workers in 2016.
- Support for worker organizing and power-buildingSupports worker organizing efforts in sectors such as rideshare and delivery to improve pay, safety, and union rights. Amplifies worker voices and supports collective action through partnerships with groups like Rideshare Drivers United and Long Island Jobs With Justice.
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Labor Union Representation & Organizing 2 activities
- Capacity building through convenings and movement supportStrengthens the workers' rights movement by convening organizations and worker leaders, such as hosting the We’re All In! National Conference with 186 organizations and 300 advocates, and supporting coalition-based advocacy.
- Public comment and regulatory engagementSubmits formal legal and policy comments to influence federal regulations, such as opposing the Department of Labor’s proposed joint employment rule, and provides guides to help workers participate in federal rulemaking processes.
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Civil Rights Advocacy & Litigation 1 activity
- Advocacy to eliminate workplace discrimination and promote equityAdvocates to end workplace discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, conviction record, family or immigration status, and disability. Centers the needs of Black and immigrant workers in policy and legal advocacy.
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Nonprofit Sector Research & Data Analysis 1 activity
- Research to inform worker protections and policy innovationConducts research and policy analysis on job quality, low-wage work, and systemic inequities to advance a just economy. Published findings include data on wage levels, racial segregation in employment, and impacts of AI on job transitions.
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financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$6.87M
Contributions & grants$6.13M89%
Program service revenue$132K2%
Investment income$603K9%
Other revenue$14K
expenses
Total expenses$13.26M
Program expenses74%
Admin / overhead20%
Fundraising6%
Salaries & benefits$9.59M
Grants paid out$695K
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$19.71M
Cash$4.38M
Investments$9.88M
Liabilities$3.26M
Net assets$16.45M
Liquid reserves12.9 mo
4 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue -41.1%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024
Who runs it
paid leadership · 7
| Name | Title | Hours/wk | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| REBECCA DIXON | PRESIDENT & CEO | 35 | $426K |
| CATHERINE RUCKELSHAUS | GENERAL COUNSEL | 35 | $285K |
| HEATHER MCGREW | CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER | 35 | $284K |
| CAITLIN CONNOLLY | CHIEF OF STRATEGY | 35 | $273K |
| MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ | CHIEF OF PROGRAMS | 35 | $251K |
| MELISSA MATOS | CHIEF OF STAFF | 35 | $251K |
| XIN XIN | CHIEF OF DEVELOPMENT | 35 | $128K |
board members · 12
- AMY MORRIS — VICE CHAIR
- AMY SUGIMORI — SECRETARY
- CONNIE RAZZA — CHAIR (OUTGOING)
- DORIAN T WARREN — DIRECTOR (OUTGOING)
- ELISSA MCBRIDE — TREASURER
- JENNIGER EPPS — DIRECTOR
- LOLA ADEKOKUN — DIRECTOR (DECEASED)
- MATT MORRISON — DIRECTOR
- NAOMI WALKER — DIRECTOR (OUTGOING)
- RAJESH NAYAK — DIRECTOR
- RAKEEN MABUD — DIRECTOR
- YONA ROZEN — DIRECTOR
relationships · 16
Who they work with
- Black workers Coalition — Focuses advocacy and policy work on advancing economic justice for Black workers, particularly in response to AI-driven workplace changes.
- Economic Justice Project of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law Partner — Merged with NELP in 2008, expanding its minimum wage advocacy and policy research capacity.
- Governing for Impact Partner — Collaborated with NELP to submit a joint comment opposing the Department of Labor’s proposed joint employment rule.
- Legal Services Corporation Government — Served as an LSC “back-up center” in the 1970s and 1980s, providing technical support to legal services attorneys.
- Long Island Jobs With Justice Partner — Works with Long Island Jobs With Justice to support worker voice and advocacy, particularly for those from low-wage work backgrounds.
- NELP Action Fund Network — NELP’s 501(c)(4) partner organization
- NY Taxi Workers Alliance Partner — Collaborates with NELP on worker advocacy efforts, including campaigns for fair wages and worker protections.
- New Hampshire House of Representatives Government — Engaged through testimony before the Labor Committee on minimum wage legislation.
- Outten & Golden Partner — Co-counseled with NELP on the class-action wage theft lawsuit Ansoumana v. Gristedes.
- Restaurant Opportunities Center Partner — Coalition partner in securing legislative protections for restaurant workers’ tips.
- Rideshare Drivers United Partner — Collaborates with Rideshare Drivers United to organize rideshare drivers around fair pay, transparency, and union rights in California.
- The Awood Center Partner — Collaborates with The Awood Center on worker advocacy efforts, including participation in Amazon rallies.
- UAW Local 2320 National Organization of Legal Service Workers Partner — Union representing NELP staff since 1979.
- local, state and national partners Partner — Collaborates with local, state, and national partners to advance legal and policy solutions for workers.
- local, state, and national partners Partner — Collaborates with local, state, and national partners to advance worker rights and economic justice.
- workers Partner — Works in alliance with workers to advance labor rights and policy change.
strategies · 3
How they approach the work
Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.
- Building Collective Worker Power to Shift Labor Structuresmethodology: worker_power-buildingBy building collective worker power through legal advocacy, policy reform, and peer-led organizing, workers can assert their rights, improve workplace conditions, and reshape labor markets because shared power enables sustained structural change and democratic participation in rulemaking.
- Raising the Floor in Labor Standards Through Equity-Centered Reformmethodology: raise-the-floorBy advocating for higher labor standards—such as living wages, benefits, safe conditions, and paid leave—while centering Black, immigrant, and marginalized workers, systemic inequities are addressed and overall working conditions improve because gains for the most vulnerable raise baseline standards for all.
- Transformative Narrative and Research to Drive Structural Changemethodology: narrative-changeBy combining actionable research, policy design, and worker storytelling, public narratives about worker worth are shifted, which enables policy change because transformed public understanding creates political will for structural labor reform.