A program of EqualAccess

Workforce programs are broken.We're fixing them.

The system pours billions into training, the easy part, and far less into the hard parts: getting hired and staying hired. We flipped it. We already have the jobs, and we stay six months to help people keep them.

Sponsor a future → Find your door →

Built and run by EqualAccess. 35+ placements across 10+ employers, and counting.

Why we exist

The problem isn't training. It's that training is the whole plan.

Workforce development spends billions teaching skills, then treats the real goal, a job someone keeps, as an afterthought. Training is the easy part. Getting people hired and helping them stay is the hard part, and it is where we put everything.

47
overlapping federal job-training programs, about $18 billion a year. Only five had ever been studied to see if they actually work.
U.S. GAO, 2011
$155,600
the average cost to produce one graduate of Job Corps, the flagship federal training program. Those graduates earn about $16,695 a year.
U.S. DOL, 2025
49%
of the people who did land a job through a $500 million federal green-jobs program were still in it six months later. The rest were gone.
U.S. DOL Inspector General, 2012
$100B+
lost to fraud in pandemic unemployment programs, 11 to 15 percent of every benefit dollar paid out.
U.S. GAO, 2023
Here is the part nobody says out loud. A program that spends $10,000 a head and places 5% of its cohort is really spending $200,000 for every person who lands a job. We spend the same $10,000, and it buys one real job that sticks.
The old way

Train first. Hope later.

  • Spends most of the budget on training, the easy part.
  • Counts certificates and completions as the win.
  • Treats getting hired and staying hired as an afterthought.
The Doorway way

Jobs first. Support that stays.

  • We already have the jobs, through a growing network of employers.
  • Day one is a real, paid, full-time role.
  • Six months of coaching that stays, built for retention.

We don't chase jobs after training people. We start with the jobs, and we stay.

How it works

Four steps. One open door.

Sponsors make it possible. We do the hard part of matching, placing, and staying.

Step 1

Two backers, one door

Each placement is backed by $10,000: $5,000 from a funder and $5,000 from the employer who hires. That covers the job and the coaching around it.

Step 2

We find the fit

We recruit, run behavior-based executive assessments, and match people to openings that actually suit them. Right person, right seat.

Step 3

Day one is payday

No unpaid trial, no maybe. Participants start full time and paid right away, with onboarding set up to work from the first morning.

Step 4

Six months in their corner

High-touch coaching and mentorship for half a year, built for retention and growth. We count success by who stays and rises.

Where the door leads

A door opens to a job. Then a career.

Doorway starts people in real roles that go somewhere. Here are two ways the climb can look.

Building services

Porter Superintendent

Hands-on work that grows into running the whole building. Wages start at $18 to $24 an hour and climb from there.

Start herePorterKeeps the building clean, safe, and running. Where a lot of great supers got their start.
Maintenance TechnicianTakes on repairs, work orders, and building systems. Skilled, hands-on, and always in demand.
Assistant SuperintendentRuns the day to day, manages vendors, and leads the crew alongside the super.
Where it can leadSuperintendentRuns the whole building. Leads the staff, owns the systems, the owner's right hand.
Compliance and administration

Leasing Assistant Compliance Director

Front-office work that grows into running compliance for an entire portfolio.

Start hereLeasing AssistantSupports leasing and the front office, and learns the paperwork that keeps housing running.
Compliance SpecialistHandles recertifications, files, and audits. The detail work that keeps a property in good standing.
Compliance ManagerOwns compliance across a portfolio, trains the team, and keeps every deadline and agency on track.
Where it can leadCompliance DirectorSets the standard for the whole company. Leads strategy, reporting, and the team behind it.

These are example paths. Real titles, steps, and pace vary by employer, but the direction is the point: up.

For job seekers

Looking for work? You're in the right place.

No getting trained up and sent back to square one. You begin in a paid role with a real employer, and you don't walk it alone.

  • A real job, not a dead endA paid, full-time role with a real employer. No busywork, no placement that goes nowhere.
  • A coach who's actually investedSomeone in your corner for six months, helping you start strong and keep growing.
  • A fit that makes senseWe match you to work that suits how you're wired, so you can do your best from week one.
Tell us you're ready →
For employers and sponsors

Hire well and give back, in one move.

Doorway hands you motivated, vetted talent who arrive with coaching already built in. Fill the role, invest in your community. No tradeoff.

  • Talent that sticksVetted candidates matched for fit and supported for six months. Built for retention, not just a fast start.
  • Coaching on usEvery placement carries high-touch coaching. You get the upside without running the program.
  • A seat at the tableFunding partners join a monthly workshop as a guest mentor and attend the program's midpoint check-in.
Become a partner →

Ways to give

Pick how many doors you open.

Every dollar goes to a real placement and the support that keeps it.

One placement$10,000

Sponsor one

Your $5,000 is matched dollar for dollar by the employer who hires, so one placement is fully funded, day one to month six.

A handfulSponsor many

Multiply it

Back several placements at once, each one matched by the employer who hires. Watch the impact spread across a team, a building, a block.

The whole class$300,000

Fund the cohort

Power all 30 placements, with funders and employers splitting it $150,000 each. The most comprehensive job-to-career program in the city.

As a funding partner, you're invited to join a monthly workshop as a guest mentor and attend the program's midpoint check-in. Your investment, up close and in person.

For funders and partners

The smartest dollar in workforce development.

We tie every dollar to a job and the support that keeps it. Funders get a return they can point to. Nonprofits get a new revenue stream instead of another cost center.

For funders

ROI you can point to.

Your money buys jobs, not classroom seats. Every gift is tied to a real placement and the coaching that makes it stick.

  • Your gift is doubledThe employer matches every $5,000 you put in, so $10,000 funds one paid, full-time job, not a training slot that leads nowhere.
  • It shows up as wagesOne placement earns $37,000 to $50,000 in the first year alone, money that flows to a person and a neighborhood.
  • Built so the return compoundsSix months of coaching keeps people in seat, so your investment keeps paying off well past year one.
Fund a placement →
For nonprofit partners

Turn your pipeline into revenue.

Keep the training you are great at. We power what happens after it, and we make it a revenue line instead of a cost.

  • We power placement and retentionYou train. We handle vetting, employer matching, and the six-month coaching that keeps people working.
  • Funded by employers and philanthropyPlacements are paid for by employers and funders, so partnering becomes a revenue stream, not a check you write.
  • Better numbers win better grantsStronger placement and retention outcomes make your next funding case far easier to make.
Partner with us →
Placements you fund 5placements
1full cohort of 30
$25,000
Your investment
$25,000
Employer match you unlock
5
People in real, paid jobs
$208,000
First-year wages created

That's about $8 in first-year wages for every $1 you put in.

Wages estimated at full-time work near $20 an hour. The employer matches your gift dollar for dollar.

$10,000
Doorway: one real job plus six months of coaching, and the employer covers half.
$155,600
Federal Job Corps: the average cost to produce a single graduate.
Job Corps figure: U.S. DOL, 2025

The math is simple. The impact isn't.

$10,000
a paid job plus six months of coaching, half of it funded by the employer
30
participants in a full cohort, each starting paid on day one
6 months
of high-touch support, because the start is only half the win

No other entry-level program offers this level of support, structure, and accountability. Talent is everywhere. Doorway is how access catches up.

Where this comes from

A program of EqualAccess.

EqualAccess exists for one reason: to give every person access to the social capital, mentorship, and opportunity that careers are actually built on.

The Doorway Project is that mission with the door propped open. Real jobs. Real coaching. Real staying power. Same team, same standards, built so a sponsor's dollar lands as a person's first day.

Management Consulting

Talent and operations work for teams that want to hire well and build well. Doorway is one of the doors we open.

Meet EqualAccess

Ready to open a door?

Whether you're funding futures or looking for your own start, the next step is one short note.

Sponsor a future → Find your door →