Unemployment Benefits for Gig Workers

Our Design Sprint Progress Report


    Design Sprint to Improve the Delivery of Unemployment Benefits

    On April 27, 2021, The Workers Lab hosted a briefing about our Design Sprint to improve the delivery of unemployment benefits for gig workers. We teamed up again with our trusted partner Steady to help develop and test a tech solution that gets at the challenge of verifying income from gig work. In use, this tool paves the way for government leaders to more easily deliver timely and accurate unemployment benefits to gig workers.

    Our next hope and expectation is to partner with a state to do the same; to demonstrate that government can innovate not only to make gig workers’ lives easier today, but also to make our unemployment insurance system more equitable, accessible, and inclusive of workers that have historically been excluded.

    Hear about how we’re preparing to pilot this cutting-edge tech solution with state governments. Request the link to watch the briefing.

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    More About The Presenters

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    Adrian Haro

    Chief Executive Officer

    Adrian joined The Workers Lab in 2017 as Managing Director. In that role, he oversaw the formation of The Workers Lab non-profit corporation and doubled the budget and staff. Before his promotion to CEO, Adrian served as our interim leader to oversee a critical transition period. Prior to joining The Workers Lab, Adrian built a career in progressive politics, government, and public affairs. He started as a field organizer on Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, served as a Confidential Assistant at the U.S. Department of Education, and then served as the speechwriter to United States Secretary of Labor, Hilda L. Solis. He then spent four years at Civitas Public Affairs Group, a leading national public affairs firm. Adrian had a brief but beloved stint in Hollywood working under the mentorship of acclaimed Latino entertainment executive, activist, and entrepreneur, Moctesuma Esparza. Adrian holds a degree in rhetorical studies and political science from California State University, Long Beach and grew up in East Los Angeles.

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    Monique Baptiste

    Vice President of Global Philanthropy, JPMorgan Chase

    Monique Baptiste is the Vice President of Global Philanthropy. As part of this work, Monique supports JPMC’s $350 million global investment in education and workforce training systems to promote economic opportunity and reduce inequities in labor market outcomes from groups that have historically faced significant barriers to accessing opportunity. This includes leading efforts to promote second-chance hiring opportunities for individuals with criminal backgrounds in key cities across the country. With a background in urban policy and economics, Monique has worked in the field of workforce development for over a decade. Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase, Monique served as Vice President of Programs at the Newark Alliance and Director of the Greater Newark Workforce Funders Collaborative, where she was responsible for connecting private philanthropy to innovative workforce development initiatives targeting low-income workers. In 2008, Monique ran one of the largest workforce readiness and training organizations in New Jersey, serving more than 500 low-income residents annually from throughout northern New Jersey, including YouthBuild serving opportunity youth. Monique’s service to urban communities also extends deeply into economic development. In 2004, Monique served as the Deputy Director of the Community Economic Development Division of La Casa De Don Pedro—a comprehensive non-profit in Newark, NJ, and has also served as a consultant to a number of local governments and public school districts to assist with securing resources to complete both human services and infrastructure projects to improve quality of life for communities. Monique has an undergraduate degree in economics and political science and a graduate degree in public policy from Rutgers University.

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    Adam Roseman

    Co-Founder and CEO, Steady

    After growing up with a single mother who worked nonstop to make ends meet, seeing his father work to generate multiple incomes to fund his life in retirement and seeing the massive-and-growing income challenges in the U.S., Adam is happy to be working with a passionate team on building Steady, launched in 2018, empowering millions of American LMI (low- and middle-income) workers with better data to increase their incomes.

    Steady is currently helping its two million members to supplement their incomes and receive ongoing digital advice on how to reach their income potential and improve their overall financial health, guiding over $500 million of incremental and attributable earnings for its members in 2019.

    Adam is passionate about facilitating income enhancement and spent nine adventurous years focused on economic development in developing markets, including co-founding and exiting a cross-border content and analytics business and co-founding an investment advisory business, which invested in and supported entrepreneurs driving job growth in under-developed regions of the world with a focus on emerging Asia.

    Adam started his career with a decade in investment banking, working in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions, primarily at Lehman Brothers and Barrington Associates (sold to Wells Fargo). Adam has also served on numerous corporate and non-profit boards, including the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles and Orange County.

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    Donald Lowman, Jr.

    App-Based Driving Expert

    Donald Lowman, Jr., has driven for Uber for nearly six years and is part of the DJ Squared Consultation Group. He is considered to be in the top 2% of drivers in the world as a Diamond Uber Pro driver with over 15,000 rides and over 12,000 five-star rides. Donald is a professional consultant by trade, having worked in management and sales management for years. He serves as an advocate for other drivers and provided extensive support in the refinement of Steady’s technology. Donald is a lover of sports and serves as a youth football and wrestling coach and mentor. He is a devout Christian and a member of the largest Baptist church in Philadelphia. He and his wife of 18 years (together for 30+ years!) have a son and daughter.