How it Began

Every year, Justworks awards a grant through the Spring Forward Fund to one amazing nonprofit customer, this year's recipient was Step Up Tutoring in Los Angeles. 

Step Up Tutoring is a California based nonprofit advancing student success through virtual, high-impact tutoring and mentorship for elementary and middle school students in under-resourced communities. The organization recruits and trains dedicated tutors to deliver personalized academic support, build student confidence, and foster successful habits. By leveraging innovative strategies and technology, they provide a scalable, cost-effective model that drives academic gains and meaningful relationships. Step Up’s overall vision is a world where every young person has the support to learn, grow, and achieve their dreams.

“At Step Up Tutoring, we have built an effective, cost-effective, and scalable model for delivering one-on-one high-impact tutoring. We do so by leveraging innovative technology and a unique human capital solution. We recruit and train mission-driven volunteers to serve as tutors as well as college students paid through the Federal Work-Study program. We support our program through philanthropic fundraising and the Spring Forward grant was a perfect opportunity from a grant perspective, because it was focused on a concrete project that is aligned to one of our core priorities: expanding our reach in Los Angeles,” said CEO Sam Olivieri. 

The Spring Forward Fund is a continuation of our company mission: to help small businesses grow with confidence. By providing access to comprehensive benefits through Justworks, Step Up can focus on what matters most: creating impact in their community. The funds from Spring Forward will help Step Up accelerate that impact.

Streamlined HR management for multi-state compliance

Step Up knew they needed to transition to a PEO as they began expanding their team outside of California. They realized that hiring employees in other states came with its own set of HR challenges to navigate. 

“Before Justworks, we were managing our own payroll and dealing with each state individually, which was a lot to take on for a small organization to be cost effective. As we grew, we looked at PEOs as an option to manage that, because now that we have 20 employees, the admin burdens across state lines increased. We went through a comprehensive analysis of different vendors and Justworks was chosen,” said CEO Sam Olivieri. 

By choosing Justworks, they were relieved to find that many administrative burdens were taken off their plates, as they were able to remain compliant as they continue to grow.

Comprehensive benefits made simple

Once Step Up switched to Justworks, they were able to provide their employees with an array of benefits that met their individualized needs. 

“The benefits have been huge–we can easily add new benefits for our team, like medical and dental, supplemental insurance, and a 401(k) and employee match. These have been turnkey being under the Justworks umbrella, allowing us to access more affordable benefits instead of having to enter the market alone. Justworks has been a big boost and meets our team's individual needs,” said Sam Olivieri. 

Through Justworks, Step Up was able to not only bring affordable medical and dental benefits to their team, but also provide supplemental benefits that they may not have been readily available without the help of a PEO. 

Cost-effective solutions for mission driven growth

A core ethos of Step Up is that when someone commits a dollar towards the mission, it should go directly towards student learning outcomes. Justworks cost-effective solutions for benefits administration allows for mission driven growth within the organization. 

Sam notes, “Our primary considerations for Justworks were costs and the ability to deliver benefits, such as medical and dental to our employees. We didn’t have a comprehensive solution for that previously. Taking care of employees is important for advancing our mission and we are grateful to Justworks for helping make that possible.” 

Justworks makes compliance and benefits simple

Justworks allows nonprofits like Step Up to easily expand their team and grow in other states, while still maintaining their core mission and goals. Scale your business and build your team — no matter which way it grows. Access the tools, perks, and resources to help you stay compliant. Get started now.