EARN

Earn breaks the cycle of poverty by matching the savings of low-wage workers and helping them invest in assets that build wealth, creating a cycle of prosperity across generations.

Empower low-wage workers in the Bay Area to escape poverty permanently through asset building products and services; Create, demonstrate, and evaluate innovative asset-building practices that can be replicated on a large scale; and Champion state and local asset-building policies that open the door to financial success to low-wage workers.

EARN was founded to answer one basic question: how can we empower people to escape poverty forever? EARN's answer is asset building -- a new strategy that gives low-wage workers the same tools higher-income people use to create financial stability.

EARN offers money management training, access to financial services, and 401k-like matched accounts. Funds in these accounts must be invested in one of three assets: a home, a small business, or higher education - investments that have the power to lift people out of poverty for the rest of their lives. (Download a 1-page summary here, or read more in our brochure featuring stories of our outstanding Savers, demographics, and other info.)

EARN Accounts - EARN offers two savings products: clients save for higher education, a first home or a small business with the Individual Development Account, also called the IDA.
Parents and children save together for the child's higher education with the Savings Account for Education, also called the SAFE.

Results. With access to EARN's financial services, low-wage, working families are transforming their lives. Averaging less than $18,000 in annual income, EARN families are saving over $75 a month, about 5% of their income, and reaching goals that once seemed unattainable. Click here for our quarterly results analysis.

For example, Chai, a father of two, purchased a truck for his house-cleaning business, allowing him to serve many more clients and dramatically increase his income. Carmen, who had been a teenage parent, now plans on getting her MBA. Cesilia, who worked as a low-paid farm worker and a cleaning lady, bought a three-bedroom house where she, her daughter, and her mother now live. Demonstrating tremendous real-world success, EARN is blazing new trails for addressing poverty on a large scale.

Reviving the Dream
"More and more people are asking if America is still the land of opportunity," explains EARN President and CEO Ben Mangan. "EARN is reviving the American dream and making it something to truly believe in again."