Safety Net Tool for Economic Mobility

BestFit seeks to connect low-income adult learners to wraparound services while they pursue economic mobility via upskilling. Currently, millions of learners pursue higher education & training to achieve economic mobility, but because of nonacademic barriers, few are able to finish their programs. Collectively, government programs seek to lift Americans out of poverty by providing wraparound support & access to low-cost education/training, so individuals can obtain better-paying jobs. However, these programs remain inaccessible to millions of adults because of competing responsibilities (work, parenting, health) & inadequate access to basic needs resources. This is concerning given the role these programs have on increasing economic mobility, reducing basic needs insecurity, & improving health outcomes.

In fact, ~50% of learners enrolled in workforce education & training face some level of basic needs insecurity (BNI): the lack of access to—& affordability of—food, housing, medical, childcare, & transportation. BestFit fills the needs gap, working with education & training providers to assist learners with managing their nonacademic barriers. Our digital platform assesses factors related to BNI & automatically refers learners to services & resources they’re eligible for. This reduces the friction—time, energy, & stigma—that results in learners leaving over $20B in benefits unclaimed & underutilized each year.

BestFit’s solution is a digital platform utilizing AI/ML to automate social safety net benefits data collection, screening, referral, & case management. We specifically seek to serve learners at risk of dropping out of classes/training due to basic needs insecurity (BNI). BestFit’s tool is used to diminish BNI & provide wraparound services for adult learners pursuing economic mobility. The existing solution consists of a user–facing platform (the Eligibility Screening Tool) that enables asynchronous data collection & eligibility screening. By automating the previously highly manual & complex bureaucratic process of finding & accessing help from government & local services, BestFit decreases the administrative, cognitive, & time burden for users while also improving efficiency & streamlining processes for case managers. The technology makes processes more manageable, which increases the likelihood that learners achieve their long-term career goals & improves their customer experience. BestFit’s use of advanced data science enables a “No wrong door approach”—providing an asynchronous, more private entry point to services & reducing the stigma clients may otherwise face. At the systemic level, the solution will help governments & organizations rethink service delivery & tech design of benefits applications while providing a centralized location to track outcomes.

Our project aims to reduce the racial wealth gap for Atlanta residents, who currently experience the largest income inequality gap of any large city in the US. Individuals born into poverty in  Atlanta have <4% chance of escaping it in their lifetime. 

We’re partnering with Integrity Transformations Community Development Corporation (ITCDC), a workforce development nonprofit in Atlanta; & Kennesaw State University’s CARES department, assisting former foster/homeless learners.

ITCDC promotes positive change & self sufficiently through resource coordination, community organizing, & advocacy, with direct services including an array of pre-employment, training, & hiring programs. They’ve been serving Atlanta for 30 years & in 2023, their residents receiving services included: 

- 42% receiving federal/state assistance; 

- 49% earning <$10k/yr;

- 16% unemployed for 1+ yrs;

- 53% with neither high school diploma/GED;

- 31% formerly incarcerated.

KSU CARES Department (CAREs= Campus Awareness, Resource & Empowerment Services), “provides access to food, temporary housing, and other supportive services to foster students’ realization of a healthy, stable, and dignified life.” Estimates indicate the CARES program serves ~2,500 students annually, while KSU as a whole includes ~47k students. With assistance from BestFit’s tool, program staff are hoping to double the number of students they can serve.

Our team is well-positioned to deliver this solution because it’s derived from our own experiences, & focuses on equity- & human-centered design, rooted in research with local community stakeholders.

The concept for BestFit started with our founder’s experience pursuing her own post-secondary education & the nonacademic struggles she faced. Besides challenging academics, she had to work multiple jobs & still struggled to afford housing. Second, we’re motivated by shared lived experience that tells us that “Information access ≠ Information equity.” We believe the onus is on service providers, designers, companies, & governments to reduce the amount of friction—time, energy, & stigma—that prevents people from getting help they need.

To date, our team has conducted discovery interviews & focus groups with 300+ target users: learners & administrators from educational institutions, nonprofits, CBOs, & multi-service providers. In 2023, as one of five finalists in the U.S. Department of Education’s Future Finder Challenge (focused on novel tech supporting adult learners) we engaged with Integrity CDC to initiate V2 of our tool for those pursuing workforce development & training. We regularly worked with program staff, who provided meaningful feedback into the pain points of staff members & inner workings of similar programs. We conducted site visits, usability studies & interviews with ITCDC’s students & staff, resulting in: understanding clients’ journeys & critical touch points; observation of client/staff engagement & navigation with the program; & collection of processing documents. The product team then analyzed findings to map the full journey clients take from awareness of the program to securing jobs. 4 distinct personas were created capturing users’ range of needs. We mapped each persona’s journey, detailing action steps, thoughts, feelings, pain points, & opportunities where BestFit could improve user experience. We then sketched, prototyped, & fully incorporated these opportunities into the product as specific features.

We’ve previously built & tested part of our assessment within a traditional postsecondary context. We launched the MVP of BestFit in April 2020 as a COVID response, which included a free resource portal aggregating both on-campus + community resources & was used to refer 1000+ displaced students to basic needs resources. We also partnered with organizations to crowdsource & connect students struggling with homelessness & difficulty accessing online classes to $50k worth of laptops/wifi hotspots. Based on further research, we found it was more impactful to design a streamlined experience—digital-first + accessible 24/7, since government & community resources were unavailable when students had time (weekends & nights). 

Based on this, we built & piloted V1 of our Screening Tool—pilot partners included the largest public university & largest technical college in Georgia (combined, they serve over 56k students). In <3 weeks, 150+ students used BestFit to determine their eligibility for six federal benefits programs. Our findings showed that 70% of students were Pell grant recipients & 42% were currently/formerly housing insecure. We referred them to > $500k in federal benefits. 

Based on our previous pilot, & findings with ITCDC, we’re currently piloting BestFit with their adult learners pursuing upskilling/workforce training.

 https://best-fit.app/

https://twitter.com/bestfit_app

https://www.instagram.com/bestfit_app/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bestfit-app

Our project aims to be a force multiplier: driving equitable access to skills attainment by reducing nonacademic barriers faced by adult learners—increasing education outcomes, employment prospects, & long-term economic mobility. We address BNI recognizing that workers can't focus on their education & training if they’re struggling to meet their basic needs & care for family. 

Our platform assesses nonacademic factors (food, housing, technology, barriers to resource access, etc.) & automatically refers learners to the support they need, enabling them to focus on actualizing their goals. BestFit then uses this data to generate individualized plans, which outline bite-sized tasks learners should take to achieve their education/career goals (e.g., enroll in courses, submit benefits applications, complete intake interviews). Our tool also provides centralized case coordination for support staff, so organizations can track the true needs of learners, their progress towards goals, and analytics on learner outcomes.

Our mobile-friendly tool will be used alongside our partner organizations’ services to reduce the time, energy, & stigma learners face when applying for benefits and accessing services. Instead of being referred to multiple offices and filling out repetitive forms, users complete our screening ONCE (in < 5 minutes) to determine benefit eligibility. 

Our approach is especially innovative because it draws from a unique set of disciplines (Neuroscience, Instructional Design, Human-Computer Interaction, Machine Learning, etc.) & frameworks (ex: behavioral, equity-centered & community-centered design).Theoretical support exists for single–stop, digital basic needs interventions and for integrated non–academic support for students but no solution has combined these approaches into an effective, equitable tool. 

By using our tool, we expect learners will be impacted in the following ways:

1. Minimize their basic needs insecurity,

2. Increase their degree completion, &

3. Increase their annual income in the long-term.

For institutions (education providers/CBOs) using BestFit’s digital platform, we anticipate support staff will be impacted in the following ways:  

1. Receive a holistic view of learners — This includes the benefit/service referrals needed, demographics, key barriers/dropoff points where learners disengage, progress towards goals, analytics on learner outcomes related to support received.

2. Obtain a digital one-stop-show that increases efficiency — BestFit’s technology modernizes an outdated system, streamlines processes, & unsilos data, which increases the accuracy & speed of service delivery.

3. Reduced administrative burden — Our digital platform utilizes AI/ML to automate time-consuming case management tasks like referrals, appointment reminders, & responding to frequently asked questions. In doing so, BestFit’s tool reduces the time & labor burden for staff, allowing case managers to spend more time supporting individuals with complex cases.

We’ll measure progress towards these goals by collecting data & evaluating our work through a mix of methodologies: 

• Surveys & other user research methods: Reduced imposed cognitive burden and psychological stress applying to federal programs. Increased awareness, autonomy, confidence and likelihood of enrollment to benefits. (Ex: During previous surveys, 92% of respondents felt BestFit’s Screening Tool was very easy to use.) Educational & employment outcomes in short and longer term after receiving support through BestFit.

• User- and partner-reported data: We’ll compare individuals’ initial median income when first enrolling to their median income after receiving benefits, as well as anticipated median income with a job in their field of study.

• BestFit-generated data: We track the total # of benefits referrals made through BestFit, & the monetary value of resources received through BestFit (total amount; average amount per learner etc.)

BestFit’s tool was originally piloted with “traditional” postsecondary students & settings, & impact data confirms the tool referred low-income learners to a significant amount of federal programs benefits ($500k+ monetary value) they were eligible for, but weren’t previously receiving. With funding from Partnership for Southern Equity, we were also able to conduct a qualitative assessment of students’ experience: 92% of respondents felt BestFit’s Screening Tool was very easy to use. We’ve also researched the implementation of similar programs (intensive case management + financial assistance), as well as data tables from a public policy institute on higher education & economic mobility; findings helped us better understand realistic & potential outcomes by addressing learners nonacademic barriers (such as basic needs insecurity) — supporting increased program completion & positive impacts on annual wages .

With our recently launched pilot with ITCDC, our initial impact data (in the first few weeks) indicates we’ve referred users to $3,295 in benefits, with the average being $659 per person. The average SNAP benefit for users is $419. 

Furthermore, research directly links fulfilling nonacademic needs to program completion & economic mobility, particularly for at-risk student populations. Findings recommend closing the unmet financial need gap by ensuring students access all types of financial support from federal, state, & local resources. The US Government Accountability Office finds that these resources are significantly underutilized by eligible low-income students: “among 3.3m potentially SNAP eligible low-income students […], 57 percent did not report participating in SNAP in 2016.” 

Decades of existing literature have established that higher levels of educational attainment are strongly correlated with higher wages, higher overall lifetime earnings, and improved job stability—measures that control for current and future basic needs security. Postsecondary attainment is also associated with income growth, upward economic mobility over time, and the ability to gain self–sustaining employment at wages that make future utilization of public benefits unnecessary.

Full Time:2

Part Time:2

Contractors:2

BestFit’s team created the original solution in 2018, but we have worked extensively through customer discovery to identify our potential customer segments & understand their pains & gains around obtaining assistance for basic needs support. Through research, iterative development, & user feedback over the past six years, it has continued to adapt to the current platform.

At BestFit, we make an intentional effort to include varied perspectives within our team, from  a wide range of backgrounds & lived experiences, to best inform our company culture, procedures, & product development. Our goal is to promote meaningful engagement & authentic relationships among our team members, as well as with the communities we serve, so we can provide the most responsive solutions. 

We’re proud of our efforts to ensure a diverse & inclusive team environment. Our current team demographics:

67% identify as women;

75% of women are women of color;

50% are parents/caregivers.

We also work with Code Switch Consulting—a Black-owned small business—for team extension services. Although they’re technically consultants, our working relationship closely mirrors that of traditional software development teams. (e.g. we work in sprints, do weekly standups, have architecture planning meetings, conduct code reviews, etc.)

Our approach to collaboration always starts with centering communities we support.  As a tech company, we recognize if we aren’t diligent and intentional about centering equity, dignity, & privacy, we risk perpetuating injustices. Our technology does not collect unnecessary personally identifiable information. Additionally, we believe that users should know: 1) Why we’re asking for particular data 2) What it will be used for 3) What the implications of providing this data might be. 

BestFit’s current goals to improve DEI focuses on: 

1. Providing our team with data ethics and equity training, which our CEO already completed

2. Upholding data privacy for our users: All tools that we design/create remain confidential and anonymous unless a user opts into sharing information. 

As we grow, BestFit’s DEI strategy includes: 

• Regular discussions/evaluations between team members & leaders promoting inclusive decision making

• Encouragement of participation in continuing education/programming to enhance knowledge, explore new topics, & expand professional networks

• Consulting external experts to educate us in areas we lack expertise

We are a SaaS (Software as a Service) company. Our digital solution streamlines how organizations connect clients to wraparound supports and public benefit services to improve accessibility, service delivery, and program outcomes. Our primary customers are organizations in the social services sector, such as nonprofits, community action agencies, and local governments. The ultimate beneficiaries or end-users are the individuals and families these organizations serve, including low-income households, adult learners, individuals experiencing housing or food insecurity, or post-secondary students. 

We empower our customers—community action agencies, nonprofits, and social services organizations—to improve their impact by simplifying eligibility screening, case management, and data reporting. Our tools help them serve more clients efficiently, ensure compliance with funding requirements, and achieve better outcomes for underserved populations.

Products and Services: We offer a suite of cloud-based tools, including:

• Eligibility Screening Software: Streamlines client intake and assesses eligibility for multiple federal and state programs.

• Case Management Platform: Centralizes client data, tracks progress, and enhances coordination among staff.

• Reporting and Analytics Dashboard: Simplifies compliance reporting and helps organizations analyze their impact.

We have a B2B revenue model. Organizations or customers pay a tiered monthly or annual fee based on the scale of their operations and the specific features required.  This model ensures affordability for smaller organizations while supporting scalability for larger ones.  The end-user (i.e. low-income learner) never pays any costs to use the platform.

In order to sustain the project to date, our team has focused on a mix of earned income & (primarily) non-dilutive funding. So far, we’ve raised ~$647,000 to fund the tool, with the majority of funding coming from non-dilutive grants, fellowships, & pitch competitions. Our major funders include: US Department of Education, National Science Foundation, Roddenberry Foundation, Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, Lumina Foundation, Arch Grants, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, & Gitlab Foundation. Our only equity investor is Techstars Social Impact Accelerator (Spring 2020; standard investment structure).

Ultimately, we aim to expand our sales operations to create sustained earned revenue; we believe BestFit can be used across a wide range of industries (ex: education, community health, workforce development, social services, government agencies) & contexts (ex: nonprofits, training programs, apprenticeships, continuum of care, etc.) with customers using our technology to  increase their capacity to screen and refer clients—reducing time & labor intensity and improving direct service quality. Additionally we aim to grow to serve users beyond Georgia, with a long-term goal of scaling up to national service.

While we work towards that, grant funding helps us increase financial stability by allowing us to hire more team members, particularly software engineers. By bringing on additional experts, we will be able to fill in knowledge gaps, expedite the deployment of our tool, & make key improvements to our product architecture & backend infrastructure. Ultimately, this gives us the foundation we need for long-term financial sustainability & enables us to deploy our platform: 1) with more partners, 2) with larger partners, 3) more quickly, and 4) at a lower cost to BestFit. With proven impact data via our pilot, we’ll bring greater awareness to investors and potential customers as we aim to use this pilot as a case study.

BestFit is at a critical inflection point (indicators of demand, validated product idea), and we hope that participating in the Challenge will help us navigate this critical stage—leading to long-term sustainability & scaling our impact. 

Our goals for participating include: 

1. Scale our service delivery beyond small-scale pilots.

2. Identify key resources & best practices that will help us achieve #1.

3. Greater exposure and possible network for our solution via the pitch event.

Truist Foundation & MIT Solve resources are well-aligned with these goals & would provide the resources, subject-matter expertise, and financial support required to achieve these goals.

- Consultants: Assist us as we make strategic business decisions. Help our executives lead through organizational changes/scale.

- Subject-matter experts: Provide help as we grow our revenue model and respond to RFIs/RFPs published by different prospective customers.

- Cohort support: Sharing ideas and best practices with like-minded visionaries to enhance impact &reach.

- Financial support: We need to improve our financial operations so we can better understand our cost drivers and establish a sustainable pricing model. We also seek assistance with financial modeling.