GitLab Foundation Announces New AI for Economic Opportunity Fund Grantee Cohort
January 30, 2025 — The GitLab Foundation announced fourteen new AI for Economic Opportunity Fund grant recipients today. After carefully reviewing more than 400 applications, these organizations were selected to receive more than $3.5 million in funding to implement and test AI-driven innovations that boost income and promote economic mobility.
These grants mark the demonstration phase of the AI for Economic Opportunity Fund this year, with OpenAI and Ballmer Group also providing additional funding to scale the highest-potential solutions this summer.
The AI for Economic Opportunity Fund builds towards the Foundation’s vision of a world where one million more people can afford a better life. The fund provides frontline organizations with resources to explore cutting-edge technologies, improve productivity, and ultimately unlock more than $1 billion in new income for low-income people.
“Our first grantee cohort showed how AI is increasingly able to solve challenges in economic mobility pathways— and we are excited to recognize this second round of pioneers using AI to transform many different paths to economic opportunity,” said Ellie Bertani, CEO of the GitLab Foundation. “While the promise of AI is everywhere, we believe it’s important to invest in practical, real-world applications with organizations that have deep knowledge of the communities they serve.”
In the coming months, the cohort will receive assistance from OpenAI, which expanded its support in this second year by offering advanced technical expertise, $250,000 in direct funding, access to early product releases, and API credits. This partnership between GitLab Foundation, OpenAI, and Ballmer Group is a new approach to meet the unique needs of AI-enabled nonprofit projects by providing technical experts, cohort-based project support, and a spectrum of grant capital to enable prototyping, testing, and implementation.
The fourteen organizations receiving grants, along with a high-level overview of their funded projects are:
Best Fit — Helping adult learners overcome nonacademic barriers, empowering them to achieve education and career goals through our AI-powered Safety Net Tool and case management tools.
Burnes Center for Social Change, Northeastern University — Reforming state hiring systems to remove degree requirements and enable equitable, skills-based hiring practices to reduce disparities in access to high-quality jobs
CampusEvolve — Developing a personalized AI conversational tool that will guide Washington State's low-income students on their pathways through post-secondary credentials to economic mobility
Center for Employment Opportunities — Leveraging AI to create customized training tools that advance staff expertise and provide participants with interactive simulations for workforce readiness
Credential Engine — Using AI to convert incomplete college coursework into credential-aligned records, seeking to unlock better job opportunities for millions without a degree
GiveDirectly and AidKit — Revolutionizing enrollment for direct cash transfers with AI-conversational interfaces, improving accessibility to critical financial and federal assistance programs
Justicia Lab — Expanding ¡Reclamo! by incorporating a generative AI assistant to provide actionable legal aid to workers, combatting wage theft, and reducing poverty
Mobile Pathways — Harnessing AI to expedite employment authorization for underserved immigrants, particularly asylum seekers, through the Pathfinder platform
Recidiviz — Alleviating corrections agency burdens with ethical AI tools, automating repetitive tasks, and advancing criminal justice reform through efficiency and fairness
SaverLife — Boosting financial security for 1099 workers by developing an AI prototype that provides resources to navigate work supports more seamlessly
Scholarship America — Streamlining access to financial aid for underserved students by automating and proactively awarding aid
Social Finance — Developing an AI Learning Lab (AI Hub) for public agencies to test, learn, and scale AI solutions impacting economic opportunity
Student Basic Needs Coalition — Supporting student success by incorporating AI-driven benefits access and enrollment
The National Accreditation Commission — Developing a next-generation, student-centric, AI-enabled accreditation information hub (AIHub) that aligns high-demand, short-term programs and micro-credentials with economic development and labor market needs
489x ROI
This fund is estimated to increase annual earnings by $4,205 per person, for a total increase in lifetime earnings of $22,435 per person
The total estimated increase in lifetime earnings across all 86,764 people impacted: $1.9 billion
$3.5M invested
