Introduction
Small to mid-size nonprofits play a crucial role in the workforce landscape by advocating for workers’ rights, providing essential services, and fostering innovation in workplace practices. Despite their size, these organizations make significant impacts on local communities and the broader labor market. This blog highlights the top 50 small to mid-size nonprofits dedicated to improving conditions and experiences for workers across various sectors. From advocacy to direct support, these organizations are at the forefront of shaping the future of work.
Top 50 Small to Mid-Size Nonprofit Organizations
Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture
- Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture supports women and their families in agriculture through advocacy, education, and direct assistance. They offer workshops, mentorship programs, and grants to help women farmers succeed. Their initiatives promote sustainable farming practices and empower women to take leadership roles in agriculture.
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
- The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) conducts economic research and public education to promote democratic debate on important economic and social issues. They focus on issues like fair wages, job creation, and labor rights, providing valuable data and policy recommendations to improve worker conditions.
Justice at Work
- Justice at Work provides legal services and support to low-wage workers, helping them navigate the complexities of labor laws and fight for their rights. They offer free legal clinics, representation, and education on workers’ rights, ensuring that vulnerable workers have access to justice.
Center for Popular Democracy
- The Center for Popular Democracy works to create equity, opportunity, and a dynamic democracy in partnership with high-impact base-building organizations, organizing alliances, and progressive unions. They focus on issues like labor rights, fair wages, and workplace safety, advocating for policies that benefit workers.
Community Change
- Community Change empowers low-income people and people of color to build powerful, thriving communities. They work on issues like workers’ rights, economic justice, and community development, providing resources and support to grassroots organizations advocating for change.
Family Values @ Work
- Family Values @ Work is a national network of grassroots coalitions advocating for paid family leave and paid sick days. They work to ensure that all workers have the time they need to care for themselves and their families without sacrificing their economic security.
Good Jobs First
- Good Jobs First promotes accountability in economic development and advocates for policies that lead to good jobs and vibrant communities. They provide research and advocacy on corporate subsidies, ensuring that public investments create quality jobs and benefit local communities.
Interfaith Worker Justice
- Interfaith Worker Justice mobilizes people of faith and worker advocates in campaigns to improve wages, benefits, and conditions for workers. They provide training and support for worker centers, advocate for labor rights, and promote fair treatment of all workers.
Labor Notes
- Labor Notes is a media and organizing project that amplifies the voices of workers fighting for their rights. They provide resources, training, and support for labor activists, helping them build strong unions and effective campaigns for worker justice.
Maine Women’s Lobby
- The Maine Women’s Lobby advocates for policies that improve the lives of women and girls in Maine. They focus on issues like equal pay, workplace discrimination, and family leave, working to create a fair and equitable labor market for women.
Migrant Justice
- Migrant Justice organizes with farmworkers to achieve economic justice and human rights through grassroots organizing and leadership development. They focus on issues like fair wages, safe working conditions, and immigrant rights, advocating for policies that protect and empower migrant workers.
National Black Worker Center Project
- The National Black Worker Center Project aims to improve the position of Black workers in the labor market through organizing, research, and advocacy. They focus on issues like employment discrimination, wage inequality, and workplace safety, promoting economic justice for Black workers.
National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)
- The National Domestic Workers Alliance advocates for the rights of domestic workers, including nannies, house cleaners, and caregivers. They work to improve wages, working conditions, and labor protections for domestic workers, ensuring they receive fair treatment and respect.
National Guestworker Alliance
- The National Guestworker Alliance advocates for the rights of guest workers and fights against labor trafficking and exploitation. They provide legal support, advocacy, and education to ensure that guest workers receive fair wages and safe working conditions.
New York Taxi Workers Alliance
- The New York Taxi Workers Alliance organizes and advocates for the rights of taxi drivers in New York City. They work on issues like fair pay, workplace safety, and health benefits, ensuring that drivers have the support they need to thrive in their profession.
One Fair Wage
- One Fair Wage campaigns to end subminimum wages for tipped workers and ensure that all workers receive a fair, livable wage. They advocate for policy changes, provide support for workers, and educate the public about the importance of fair wages.
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United)
- ROC United works to improve wages and working conditions for restaurant workers across the United States. They provide training, support, and advocacy for restaurant workers, helping them build careers and achieve economic security.
Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU)
- RWDSU advocates for the rights of workers in the retail, wholesale, and service sectors. They focus on issues like fair wages, benefits, and safe working conditions, working to ensure that all workers receive fair treatment and respect.
ROC the Future
- ROC the Future is a coalition of organizations working to improve educational outcomes for children in Rochester, NY. They focus on issues like school readiness, academic success, and youth employment, providing support and resources for children and families.
SEIU 775 Benefits Group
- SEIU 775 Benefits Group provides training, health benefits, and retirement plans for long-term care workers in Washington state. They focus on improving the quality of care for patients and the working conditions for caregivers, ensuring that all workers receive the support they need.
Silicon Valley Rising
- Silicon Valley Rising is a coalition of labor, faith, and community organizations working to address income inequality in Silicon Valley. They focus on issues like fair wages, affordable housing, and workers’ rights, advocating for policies that benefit low-wage workers.
Street Vendor Project
- The Street Vendor Project fights for the rights of street vendors in New York City, ensuring they have fair working conditions and legal protections. They provide legal assistance, advocacy, and support services to help street vendors navigate the challenges of their work.
Surge Reproductive Justice
- Surge Reproductive Justice focuses on reproductive justice and economic equity for marginalized communities. They advocate for policies that support reproductive rights, fair wages, and safe working conditions, ensuring that all individuals have the resources they need to thrive.
The Workers Lab
- The Workers Lab supports innovative ideas and experiments that build power for working people. They provide funding, mentorship, and resources for projects that aim to improve labor conditions and empower workers, fostering a culture of innovation in the labor movement.
United for Respect
- United for Respect is a worker advocacy organization that fights for fair working conditions and respect for workers, particularly in the retail and service industries. They organize campaigns to improve wages, benefits, and job security for workers, advocating for policies that promote economic justice.
Unite Here Local 11
- Unite Here Local 11 represents workers in the hospitality industry in Southern California and Arizona. They focus on issues like fair wages, workplace safety, and health benefits, ensuring that hospitality workers receive the support they need to succeed.
Vermont Workers’ Center
- The Vermont Workers’ Center is a grassroots organization that advocates for economic and social justice for all Vermonters. They focus on issues like healthcare, workers’ rights, and living wages, providing support and resources for workers and their families.
Warehouse Worker Resource Center
- The Warehouse Worker Resource Center supports warehouse workers in Southern California, fighting for fair wages and better working conditions. They provide legal assistance, advocacy, and support services to help workers fight for their rights and achieve economic justice.
Worker Center for Racial Justice
- The Worker Center for Racial Justice is a grassroots organization that advocates for economic and racial justice for Black workers. They focus on issues like employment discrimination, wage inequality, and workplace safety, promoting policies that protect and empower Black workers.
Worker Justice Center of New York
- The Worker Justice Center of New York provides legal assistance, advocacy, and support for low-wage and immigrant workers. They focus on issues like wage theft, workplace discrimination, and labor trafficking, ensuring that all workers have access to justice and fair treatment.
Workers’ Action Centre
- The Workers’ Action Centre is a Toronto-based organization that advocates for the rights of low-wage and precarious workers. They provide legal assistance, advocacy, and support services to help workers fight for fair wages, safe working conditions, and respect.
Working America
- Working America is a community affiliate of the AFL-CIO that organizes working people who do not have a union on the job. They focus on issues like fair wages, healthcare, and workers’ rights, providing support and resources for non-union workers to advocate for change.
Young Workers United
- Young Workers United empowers young workers to achieve economic and social justice through organizing and education. They focus on issues like fair wages, workplace safety, and workers’ rights for young workers in the retail and service industries, helping them build strong careers and achieve economic security.
Zinn Education Project
- The Zinn Education Project promotes the teaching of people’s history in middle and high schools across the United States. They provide resources and support for educators to teach about social justice, labor history, and workers’ rights, ensuring that students have a comprehensive understanding of the labor movement.
8th Day Center for Justice
- The 8th Day Center for Justice is a coalition of Catholic religious congregations advocating for social justice and systemic change. They focus on issues like workers’ rights, economic justice, and environmental sustainability, providing support and resources for grassroots movements and advocacy efforts.
Adhikaar
- Adhikaar is a grassroots organization serving the Nepali-speaking community in New York City. They focus on issues like workers’ rights, immigration reform, and healthcare access, providing support and resources for immigrant workers to achieve economic justice and social equity.
Arise Chicago
- Arise Chicago partners with faith communities to advocate for workers’ rights and economic justice. They provide support and resources for workers to organize and advocate for fair wages, safe working conditions, and labor rights, ensuring that all workers have access to justice and respect.
Black Worker Center
- The Black Worker Center empowers Black workers to achieve economic justice and workplace equity through organizing, advocacy, and education. They focus on issues like employment discrimination, wage inequality, and workplace safety, promoting policies that protect and empower Black workers.
Casa Latina
- Casa Latina provides education, employment, and leadership opportunities for Latino immigrants in Seattle. They offer job training, placement services, and advocacy for workers’ rights, helping Latino immigrants achieve economic security and social integration.
Centro de Trabajadores Unidos
- Centro de Trabajadores Unidos is a worker center in Chicago that advocates for the rights of low-wage and immigrant workers. They provide legal assistance, advocacy, and support services to help workers fight for fair wages, safe working conditions, and respect.
Chinese Progressive Association
- The Chinese Progressive Association advocates for the rights of Chinese and Asian immigrant workers in San Francisco. They focus on issues like workers’ rights, immigration reform, and economic justice, providing support and resources for immigrant workers to achieve fair treatment and respect.
Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)
- The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is a worker-based human rights organization that advocates for fair wages and labor rights for farmworkers. They focus on issues like wage theft, workplace safety, and labor trafficking, ensuring that farmworkers receive fair treatment and respect.
Domestic Workers United (DWU)
- Domestic Workers United advocates for the rights of domestic workers in New York City. They focus on issues like fair wages, labor protections, and workplace safety, providing support and resources for domestic workers to achieve economic justice and respect.
El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos
- El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos is a grassroots organization in New Mexico that advocates for the rights of low-wage and immigrant workers. They provide legal assistance, advocacy, and support services to help workers fight for fair wages, safe working conditions, and respect.
Freedom Network USA
- Freedom Network USA is a coalition of anti-trafficking organizations that advocates for the rights of human trafficking survivors. They focus on issues like labor trafficking, wage theft, and workers’ rights, providing support and resources for survivors to achieve justice and economic security.
Garment Worker Center
- The Garment Worker Center advocates for the rights of garment workers in Los Angeles. They focus on issues like wage theft, workplace safety, and labor rights, providing support and resources for garment workers to achieve fair treatment and respect.
Heartland Workers Center
- The Heartland Workers Center empowers immigrant and low-wage workers in Nebraska to achieve economic and social justice through organizing and advocacy. They focus on issues like fair wages, workplace safety, and labor rights, providing support and resources for workers to advocate for change.
Inquilinos Unidos
- Inquilinos Unidos is a tenant advocacy organization in Los Angeles that fights for housing rights and economic justice. They focus on issues like affordable housing, workers’ rights, and community development, providing support and resources for tenants and workers to achieve social equity.
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ)
- Jews for Racial and Economic Justice advocates for social and economic justice through a Jewish lens. They focus on issues like workers’ rights, racial justice, and economic equity, providing support and resources for grassroots movements and advocacy efforts.
Make the Road New York
- Make the Road New York builds the power of immigrant and working-class communities to achieve dignity and justice. They focus on issues like workers’ rights, immigration reform, and economic justice, providing support and resources for individuals and families to achieve social and economic equity.
Conclusion
These small to mid-size nonprofits are making a significant impact on the lives of workers by advocating for fair wages, safe working conditions, and equal opportunities. Their work is essential in creating a just and equitable workforce where all employees are valued and respected. By supporting these organizations, we can contribute to a better future for workers everywhere. Whether through donations, volunteering, or spreading awareness, everyone can play a role in advancing the mission of these impactful nonprofits.
