As a widely-cited source for small-business data, Homebase helped Americans -- including policymakers, economists, and journalists -- grasp the impact of Covid-19 on business and the economy. It also built a financial resources site for both businesses and workers, partnered with lenders to facilitate Paycheck Protection Program loan applications, and offered a range of small-business resources, including support from certified HR professionals, symptom-screening tools, and a re-opening toolkit.

Founded by former White House economic adviser Mike Rosenbaum, Catalyte uses predictive analytics to remove bias from hiring and diversify tech teams. It finds promising talent from unconventional backgrounds using skills assessments rather than resumes. Then, it trains candidates for free and hires them to work with client companies. In May, Catalyte launched RetrainAmerica, a national exchange to connect newly unemployed workers with retraining opportunities. The program builds on Catalyte’s existing reskilling platform for companies retraining workers and bringing on high-aptitude talent from other industries.

At the start of the pandemic, New York, like many states, was struggling to find the appropriate response strategy. The state hired Cloudticity to build an AWS cloud solution for organizing its response. The resulting Healthcare DataHub automates data ingestion, allowing the New York State Department of Health to view near-real-time data analytics. As a result, the department is now able to accurately report on risks, intelligently manage equipment inventories and ICU bed capacity, and provide up-to-date insight to effectively drive the response.

In the past 12 months, Kaizen has supported quality education by partnering with school districts to bring high-speed internet to low-income and rural households in San Mateo County, California. The company’s pilot program aims to bridge the digital divide that has left so many without access to the internet. Kaizen chief executive and founder Dao Jensen also serves on the board of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women, which aims to build women’s confidence with education, mentorship, and coaching.