Fund for Jobs Worth Owning

What Fund for Jobs Worth Owning does

Fund for Jobs Worth Owning (FJWO) is a 501c3 nonprofit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) founded in 2019 by the ICA Group to provide financing to worker-owned cooperatives in the United States. The organization is headquartered in Florence, Massachusetts and operates with a small team (1-10 employees). FJWO specializes in flexible term loans, business expansion loans, startup loans, and lines of credit tailored to the unique constraints of collectively-owned businesses — notably substituting personal guarantee requirements with ongoing reporting of business metrics, an approach designed for low-wealth worker-owners who lack conventional collateral.

The Fund's core lending portfolio is concentrated in home care and child care cooperatives, sectors where worker ownership has been shown to roughly halve turnover and increase wages by approximately $2 per hour versus comparable non-cooperative firms. Documented borrowers include Home Care Associates of Philadelphia ($300K turnaround loan), Cooperative Care in Wisconsin (emergency refinancing), Childspace in Philadelphia ($150K line of credit), and the assemble of an $8.4 million financing package for APartnership's worker ownership transition in New York. FJWO also made a foundational 2020 investment in the Home Care Workers Purpose Trust to finance Consumer Direct Care Washington, projected to become the largest worker-centered business in the U.S.

FJWO's business model combines (1) loan interest income from cooperative borrowers, (2) capital raised through Social Impact Notes — unsecured promissory notes offered to accredited investors under SEC Rule 506(c) at 0%-5% fixed interest, 5-10 year maturities, and $5,000 minimums — and (3) grants from mission-aligned institutions such as Wells Fargo's $700,000 Open for Business Growth award in October 2025. The organization also filed an SEC Form D for a $10 million exempt securities offering in August 2023. FJWO operates without traditional equity investors, relying on impact capital, CDFI partnerships (Shared Capital Cooperative, Cooperative Fund of the Northeast, Local Enterprise Assistance Fund), and a referral pipeline channeled through the ICA Group network, the Workers to Owners Collaborative, and Opportunity Finance Network conferences.

Name

Fund for Jobs Worth Owning

Legal name

Fund for Jobs Worth Owning, Inc.

Website

https://jobsworthowning.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Fund for Jobs Worth Owning is a 501c3 nonprofit CDFI founded in 2019 by the ICA Group that provides flexible term loans, working capital, and technical assistance to worker-owned cooperatives in the United States, with a focus on home care and child care sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Development Lending

NAICS

Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

Impact Investing & Social Finance (Funds, CDFIs, Microfinance) (BPAGALAA)

Keywords

• Cooperative financing
• Community development lending
• Worker ownership loans
• CDFI lending services
• Social impact investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Northampton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Social Impact Notes: The Fund offers Social Impact Notes to accredited investors with interest rates ranging from 0% to 5% (fixed for the term), maturities of 5 to 10 years, and minimum investment of $5,000. Proceeds fund lending to businesses advancing worker ownership.
2. Loan Interest Income: Revenue generated from interest on loans provided to worker cooperatives including term loans, lines of credit, and working capital solutions for cooperative conversions, expansions, and startups.
3. Grants: The Fund receives grants from financial institutions and foundations for mission-aligned purposes. Received $700,000 grant from Wells Fargo's Open for Business Growth program to support the Care Cooperative Business Growth Initiative.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Fund for Jobs Worth Owning is a 501c3 nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI) that provides financing and technical assistance to worker-owned cooperatives. Its core offerings include flexible term loans for ownership transitions, business expansion loans, startup loans for home care and child care cooperatives, lines of credit and working capital solutions for existing cooperatives, and Social Impact Notes offered to accredited investors under Rule 506(c) of Regulation D.

Product overview

The Fund for Jobs Worth Owning is a 501c3 nonprofit community development loan fund that provides financing solutions for worker-owned cooperatives, rather than a traditional software product company. The organization's core offerings consist of five integrated financial products: Flexible Term Loans for Cooperative Transitions (financing business conversions to employee ownership), Business Expansion Loans (for growth of established cooperatives), Startup Loans for Home Care and Child Care Cooperatives (with flexible payment structures for new ventures), Lines of Credit and Working Capital Solutions (revolving credit without personal guarantee requirements), and Social Impact Notes (accredited investor products under Rule 506(c)). These financing solutions are complemented by Technical Assistance and Coaching services that provide business planning, financial training, governance design, and operational support to all borrowers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Flexible Term Loans for Cooperative Transitions
• Business Expansion Loans
• Startup Loans for Home Care and Child Care Cooperatives
• Lines of Credit and Working Capital Solutions
• Social Impact Notes
• Technical Assistance and Coaching

Quantifiable outcome

• Worker-owned home care cooperatives have about half the turnover rate of other firms
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ICA GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Fund was created by the ICA Group, the oldest national organization dedicated to the development of worker cooperatives. Since 1977, ICA has launched dozens of worker-owned cooperatives and social enterprises, helped over 40 companies convert to worker ownership, and created and preserved over 10,000 jobs. ICA Group provides technical assistance to FJWO borrowers including business valuation, transition planning, governance design, and financial training.
• Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost of cooperative finance sessions at OFN conferences where FJWO participates. DAWI supports the development of worker cooperatives through research, policy, and field building.
• Shared Capital CooperativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCooperative lender that participates alongside FJWO in OFN sessions on worker cooperative financing. Member of the Workers to Owners Collaborative.
• Cooperative Fund of the Northeast (CFNE)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCDFI specializing in cooperative lending that participates alongside FJWO in cooperative finance sessions. Member of the Workers to Owners Collaborative.
• Cooperative Development FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts roundtables bringing together cooperative finance leaders including CFNE, Shared Capital Cooperative, Local Enterprise Assistance Fund, and Rochdale Capital to discuss investment opportunities and collaborative strategies.
• Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNonprofit CDFI providing financing and advisory services to cooperatives. Chris Carley serves on LEAF's Board of Directors. FJWO participates in roundtables with LEAF on cooperative finance.
• Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe largest worker cooperative in the country. CHCA is a founding partner in the Home Care Workers Purpose Trust, which FJWO invested in to finance Consumer Direct Care Washington. CHCA serves as a model for home care cooperative development.
• Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational nonprofit working to transform eldercare and disability services. Co-founder of the Home Care Workers Purpose Trust with ICA Group and CHCA. PHI has been instrumental in advocating for fair wages and benefits for home care workers.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Seed Commons: National network of locally rooted CDFIs financing worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces, with a strikingly similar mission and borrower focus to FJWO. Strong overlap in technical assistance plus patient capital delivery to worker-owned businesses.
• Cooperative Fund of the Northeast (CFNE): CDFI specializing in cooperative lending across the Northeast, co-lending with FJWO in the Workers to Owners Collaborative. Direct overlap in cooperative conversion and growth-capital products targeting worker-owned enterprises.
• Shared Capital Cooperative: National CDFI cooperative lender that provides financing to food co-ops and other cooperatives, including worker co-ops. Co-participant with FJWO in Workers to Owners Collaborative OFN sessions and roundtable discussions.
• Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF): Nonprofit CDFI providing financing and technical assistance to cooperatives and small businesses, with a near-identical borrower profile to FJWO. LEAF is also part of the Workers to Owners Collaborative alongside FJWO and shares a board-level connection (Chris Carley sits on LEAF's board).

Broad incumbents

• Reinvestment Fund: Large mission-driven CDFI that finances projects in housing, education, health, and small business, including community-wealth-building efforts. Comparable as a broad social-finance CDFI rather than a direct co-op lender.
• National Cooperative Bank (NCB): Federally chartered bank serving cooperatives and small businesses with deposit, lending, and banking services. FJWO board member Damilola Odetola is a VP at NCB, reflecting operational overlap and the bank is a far larger incumbent in the cooperative finance ecosystem.
• Capital Impact Partners: Large national CDFI providing capital and capacity-building across health, education, and economic development, with overlapping care-economy exposure. A much larger incumbent that can offer deeper pockets and similar mission-aligned lending products.
• Calvert Impact Capital: Impact-investment intermediary issuing community investment notes to accredited and institutional investors, with capital deployed across a global CDFI and social-enterprise portfolio. Functionally analogous to FJWO's Social Impact Notes product but at much greater scale and broader mandate.

Emerging players

• Working World: CDFI focused on financing worker cooperatives and democratic workplaces, with a very similar borrower profile to FJWO. Smaller and earlier-stage, but competes for the same pool of worker-coop conversion and growth deals in select geographies.

Others

• Opportunity Finance Network (OFN): National membership association and intermediary for CDFIs, including FJWO and most of its peer lenders. Not a direct competitor but the convening infrastructure (OFN conferences, peer roundtables) through which FJWO originates partnerships and co-lending relationships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jobs-worth-owning

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Fund for Jobs Worth Owning