Leap Fund

Leap Fund is creating solutions that lift people over the benefits cliff, creating a path towards self-sufficiency and financial independence. Leap Fund has seen workers across the country turn down income that they have earned at their jobs, out of fear of hitting the benefits cliff (essentially: earning a dollar or two more an hour, but as a result, losing public benefits that were worth much more than the income increase). We're changing things for workers receiving public benefits that are afraid of this financial catastrophe affecting them: We have built a calculator that can predict individualized cliffs, and a financial vehicle that allows users to defer their income until they earn enough to replace what they'll lose in benefits. Leap Fund is creating products that empower optimism, financial and career growth, future planning, and security for working families that need it most. Leap Fund won The Workers Lab Innovation Fund (2020), was an +Acumen CivicX Accelerator: Future of Work venture (2019), and has been graciously supported by the Robin Hood Foundation (2019-present). Leap Fund was both created during a fellowship, and incubated at Blue Ridge Labs @ Robin Hood (2018-2019). Want to see benefits cliffs described more fully? We made benefitscliff.com to make it easier to understand the concept, as well as some of the research, and the proposed legislation.