Brazilian Worker Center

What Brazilian Worker Center does

The Brazilian Worker Center (BWC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1995 and headquartered at 14 Harvard Ave, Allston, MA, serving Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking immigrant workers and families in the Greater Boston area. Its core program is in-person Workers Rights workshops held every 15 days at the Allston office, supplemented by a portfolio of specialized programs including Know Your Rights education, Susan Harwood OSHA safety training (six grants delivered since 2011), the Family Welcome Center with weekend hours, the Dreamers youth empowerment program, the Mulheres Vencedoras health and wellness initiative, and the Building Justice worker committee partnered with Justice At Work. The organization also engages in coalition-based campaign organizing, co-chairing the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative (MIC, 15+ organizations) and the Driving Families Forward coalition, and played a key role in the passage of the 2014 Massachusetts Domestic Workers Bill of Rights and the Work and Family Mobility Act.

The organization's product surface is delivered through multilingual content (Portuguese, Spanish, English, Haitian Creole) including a podcast, newsletters, social media, an extensive OSHA safety resource library, and reports such as 'Making it Work for Workers' (2023) and 'Invisible no More' (2014). The Building Justice committee has helped recoup approximately $3.5 million in restitution for workers over four years through direct mediation, complaint referrals, and small claims actions. The underlying 'technology' is human-led community service delivery and multilingual content production rather than a software platform; no AI, API, SDK, or mobile product is offered.

BWC's business model is a donation- and grant-funded non-profit operating model with no fees for services. Revenue streams include individual donations (including a current '30 for 30 Years of Impact' campaign seeking $30,000), recurring monthly giving, foundation grants, and flexible emergency grants from partners such as United Way of Massachusetts Bay ($575,000 in emergency grants announced). Distribution is community-led: direct outreach through the Allston office, a network of 11+ church partnerships, coalition-based campaigns, and digital channels (Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube podcast). The organization serves a horizontal immigrant worker segment with no commercial customer concentration.

Name

Brazilian Worker Center

Legal name

Brazilian Worker Center, Inc.

Website

https://braziliancenter.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Brazilian Worker Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1995 in Allston, MA, serving Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking immigrant workers and families in Greater Boston through workers' rights workshops, OSHA safety training, immigration support, family services, and coalition-based policy advocacy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Immigrant Worker Advocacy and Community Social Services

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Workforce Development & Inclusive Employment (Job Training, Placement) (BPAGALAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Employment & Job Readiness Support Services (BPAGAEAJ), Workforce & Job-Seeker Services (Community-Based) (EDAAAFAM)

Keywords

• Immigrant worker advocacy
• Workers rights education
• Community organizing services
• OSHA safety training
• Immigrant family support

Headquarters

HQ city

Allston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: The organization raises funds through direct donations, including a current '30 for 30 Years of Impact' campaign seeking $30,000. Donors can make single or recurring monthly donations through the website.
2. Emergency Financial Assistance: Direct cash assistance to families experiencing hardship, funded through flexible emergency grants from partners like United Way of Massachusetts Bay ($575,000 in emergency grants announced)

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Brazilian Worker Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free, culturally and linguistically appropriate services to Brazilian and Latino immigrant workers in Greater Boston. Its core offerings include in-person Workers' Rights and Know Your Rights workshops held every 15 days, OSHA-compliant Susan Harwood safety training, the Family Welcome Center for immigrant families, the Mulheres Vencedoras health and wellness program, the Dreamers youth empowerment program, and the Building Justice worker committee for wage-theft advocacy.

Product overview

The Brazilian Worker Center is a non-profit social services organization offering a portfolio of programs for immigrant workers, NOT a technology company with a software product. The core offerings include Workers Rights Workshops (core program), Know Your Rights education in multiple languages, Health and Wellness Initiatives (Mulheres Vencedoras), Leadership Development programs (Susan Harwood Training, Dreamers), Building Justice worker advocacy, Coalition Building for policy campaigns, Community Support Services, and the Family Welcome Center. These are community service programs, not SaaS products or technology platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Family Welcome Center: Support services for immigrant families including housing assistance, school registration support, communication with federal agencies, and family orientation.
• Mulheres Vencedoras
• Building Justice
• Dreamers

Products and services

• Workers' Rights Workshops In-person workshops for workers and domestic workers on workers' rights and labor laws, offered every 15 days at the BWC office in Allston, MA. Identified as the core program and foundation for all other BWC initiatives; serves Brazilian and Latino immigrant workers in the Greater Boston area.
• Know Your Rights Workshops Educational workshops providing immigrants with knowledge about their rights regarding immigration, workplace safety, and labor laws. Available in multiple languages including English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Haitian Creole, and targeted at immigrant workers and families in the Greater Boston area.
• Susan Harwood Targeted Training OSHA safety and health training for workers, including Fall Prevention training in Portuguese and Spanish for residential construction. Funded through Susan Harwood grants; since 2011 BWC has delivered six Susan Harwood grants for safety training.
• Mulheres Vencedoras (Health and Wellness Initiatives) A women-led mindfulness-based program developed by BWC to disseminate the importance of mental health and wellness among immigrant workers who may experience chronic health issues, including cancer and anxiety. Targets women in the Brazilian and Latino immigrant community.
• Dreamers Program Empowerment program for immigrant youth, particularly Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Latinos, providing knowledge and skills necessary for civic participation in the Greater Boston area.
• Family Welcome Center Program providing support to immigrant families including school registration assistance, communication with federal agencies, detention center commissary support, jury duty assistance, and family orientation on banking and money transfers. Open Saturday and Sunday, 9:00 PM to 3:00 PM, at the Allston office.
• Building Justice and Workers Committee Worker committee funded by BWC in partnership with Justice At Work (J@W), responsible for monitoring and taking action on wage theft cases in the community. In the last four years, recouped approximately $3.5 million in restitution for workers through direct mediation, complaint referrals to state and federal labor authorities, or small claims courts.
• Community Support Services Direct assistance with rent support applications, phone calls with employers for wage theft cases, referrals to attorneys and organizations, document interpretation in English, and public notary services. Targeted at immigrant workers and families in the Greater Boston area.

Quantifiable outcome

• $3.5 million in worker restitution recouped over four years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Justice At WorkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBWC partners with Justice At Work on the Building Justice worker committee, which monitors and takes action on wage theft cases in the community. Jointly organized the 3rd Annual Building Justice Assembly in March 2025.
• Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative (MIC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBWC co-chairs the MIC with Rian Immigrant Center, Agencia Alpha, and Centro Presente. MIC was organized in cooperation with the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Advancement of the City of Boston, comprising 15+ immigrant-serving organizations.
• Driving Families Forward CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBWC co-chairs this coalition advocating for the Work and Family Mobility Act and related driver license legislation.
• Hancock United Church of ChristminorOthersPartnered for donation events including distribution of backpacks with essential items for newborns and caregivers. BWC presented information about Family Welcome Center services.
• Studio REV of New YorkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Studio REV and Northeastern Nu Law Lab to create a Know Your Rights and Workplace Safety hotline for domestic workers.
• Northeastern Nu Law LabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated to create a Know Your Rights and Workplace Safety hotline for domestic workers as part of the Domestic Worker Advocacy Project (DWAN).
• AFL-CIOminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBWC collaborates with AFL-CIO on coalition work to advance the Wage Theft Bill in Massachusetts.
• Injured Workers CoalitionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBWC participates in coalition advocating for changes to workers' compensation and labor laws.
• Protecting Our Immigrant Communities (POIC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBWC participates in POIC coalition advocating for changes in immigration and labor laws.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Justice At Work: Massachusetts-based workers' rights nonprofit partnered with BWC on the Building Justice wage-theft committee and Know Your Rights hotline. Closest functional peer on the wage-theft and worker-advocacy axis.
• CASA: Mid-Atlantic worker center serving immigrant working-class communities in Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania with workforce rights education, organizing, and social services — a larger-scale analog of BWC's model.
• Agencia ALPHA: Boston-area nonprofit serving Brazilian and Portuguese-speaking immigrants with workforce, immigration, and family services. Co-chairs the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative alongside BWC, operating the most directly comparable mission and language focus.
• Centro Presente: Lawrence/Boston-based Latino immigrant membership organization providing workers' rights, education, and community organizing. Closely comparable immigrant worker-center model with overlapping Spanish-speaking constituency.
• Rian Immigrant Center: Boston-based immigrant services nonprofit (formerly Irish International Immigrant Center). Co-chairs the Massachusetts Immigrant Collaborative and serves a comparable newcomer population through case management and workforce support.
• Make the Road New York: New York-based worker center offering workplace rights education, immigration legal services, and organizing — the canonical larger-scale implementation of the same member-led immigrant worker-center model BWC operates.

Broad incumbents

• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC): Quaker-affiliated national social-justice organization with programs on immigrant rights, workers' rights, and economic justice. A broader incumbent whose thematic priorities overlap materially with BWC's advocacy and training work.
• National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON): National umbrella network of 70+ worker centers, including immigrant membership organizations analogous to BWC. Represents a broad-incumbent scaling template for the worker-center model BWC embodies.

Emerging players

• Welcome Back Initiative: Network of community-college-based programs helping internationally trained immigrants reintegrate into the U.S. workforce. Adjacent to BWC's workforce development mission, focused on a narrower professional-reentry segment.

Regional players

• Chelsea Collaborative: Chelsea, MA-based community organization serving predominantly Latino immigrant residents with workforce, housing, and civic engagement programs in an adjacent Greater Boston geography to BWC.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BRImmigrantCent
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@brazilianworkercenter
• Facebookfacebook.com/brazilianworkercenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brazilianworkercenter
• Instagraminstagram.com/brazilianworkercenter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

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 Brazilian Worker Center