With the boom of tech startups and the digitization of incumbent industries, there is a talent shortage in Silicon Valley But no sector has felt that shortage more than the non-profit space.
Wethos is looking to change that. The company was founded by Rachel Renock, Claire Humphreys and Kristen Ablamsky with the express intent to connect freelancers with non-profit organizations fighting for causes they care about.
Wethos was founded in 2016 during the height of the presidential election. The three cofounders were working at a large ad agency in NYC and found themselves wanting to get involved in causes they care about. Realizing that non-profit employees are often overworked and under-resourced, and seeing that the vast majority of young people want to use their professional skills for good, Wethos was born.
The platform itself is not altogether revolutionary. In fact, there are plenty of networks that connect freelancers, as well as full-time job seekers, with positions at companies. But Wethos is one of the only platforms that focuses on matching freelancers not only with a side job, with with the causes they care most about.
Within the first six months of launching, Wethos attracted more than 1,000 freelancers.
Riding that momentum, Wethos has now partnered with Rise to Run, an organization focused on helping progressive young women (on either side of the aisle) run for office for the first time.
Given how strapped many NPOs are for cash, Wethos is entirely free for organizations seeking talent. Engineers, graphic designers, social media managers and copywriters who land jobs on the platform are charged a 15 percent fee.
Wethos has raised $1 million and currently has 300 non-profits and 1,500 freelancers on the platform.