Working Partnerships USA is a Santa Clara County–based organization driving progressive change through grassroots power building, coalition organizing, and policy advocacy. Since its founding in 1995, the organization has worked to transform Silicon Valley’s economy and political systems so that working people—especially people of color, immigrants, and women—can share in the prosperity they help create.
Its work is organized across five core areas: economic justice, the future of work, care for all, housing and transportation, and democracy. Through these focus areas, Working Partnerships USA advances policies and collective action to improve wages and job standards across industries, expand access to middle-class careers, increase access to healthcare and childcare, advocate for permanently affordable housing, and strengthen democratic participation from all communities, especially those previously excluded from the political process. The organization leads, supports and collaborates with worker- and community-led efforts such as Silicon Valley Rising, Gig Workers Rising, and the Rescue Our Medical Care coalition to shift power away from corporate interests and toward the people who keep the region running.
Working Partnerships USA played a pivotal role in winning groundbreaking living and minimum wage laws, including the 2012 minimum wage increase in San José, which benefited more than 75,000 low-wage workers. It was instrumental in winning the landmark Children’s Health Initiative, making Santa Clara County the first in the nation to provide universal health coverage to all children, regardless of immigration status.
The organization spearheaded Silicon Valley Rising, which supported one of the nation’s largest private-sector union organizing efforts, helping more than 10,000 tech sector service workers win union representation, better wages, and improved working conditions. In 2024, they organized with community members and the Rescue Our Medical Care coalition to preserve life-saving medical care in East San José.
Through programs like the Trades Orientation Program and the Fair Workplace Collaborative, Working Partnerships USA also continues to open pathways to good jobs while holding employers accountable to uphold dignity and fairness in the workplace. Today, they have expanded their work to confront the growing impact of AI and emerging technologies in the workplace—building on a legacy of economic justice organizing to take on new tech justice fights and hold corporations accountable in a rapidly evolving economy.
From raising wages and supporting care workers, to expanding civic engagement and winning local reforms like Measure B, Working Partnerships USA is building a more equitable and inclusive future for all communities in the region.
Since its founding in 1995, Santa Clara County–based Working Partnerships USA has been advancing progressive change by building grassroots power, coalition organizing, and leading bold policy advocacy. Their primary focus is cultivating inclusive economies within the region, where every individual can secure stable employment with family-sustaining wages, attain housing, receive adequate care, and have a voice in their government. Their work is rooted in labor rights and racial and immigrant justice, and driven by the urgent need to address the growing economic inequality in Silicon Valley, and its impact on working families, now and into the future.