Initiatives
Proven Approaches
Apply approaches to hiring and selection that are proven in research and practice.
Social Impact Hiring Institute
FirstWho’s Social Impact Hiring Institute (SIHI) provides resources to nonprofits and public benefit companies to promote evidence-based methods for attracting and selecting leaders who create meaningful social impact.
A Hires A: Maintaining Start-Up Talent
A Hires A: Maintaining Start-Up Talent helps founders preserve the high standards of their earliest hires as they scale beyond their personal networks.
Center for Skills-Based Hiring
The FirstWho initiative champions a skills-based hiring approach that replaces traditional credentials with evidence of real-world ability, supporting employers with tools and guidance to build fair, scalable systems that unlock a wider talent pool.
Next Stop: Tech Talent
Next Stop: Tech Talent empowers transit agencies to build in-house digital capacity, so they can deliver the reliable, rider-friendly experiences needed to grow ridership and make public transit the first choice—not the last resort.
Steady Hand: ESOP and Co-op Hiring
In Steady Hand: ESOPs and Co-Ops Hiring, the quiet revolution of employee ownership meets the high-stakes game of talent selection, where every hire isn't just a role filled — it's a future co-owner chosen.
Board Recruitment Tech Lab
The Board Recruitment Tech Lab brings structure and strategy to nonprofit board recruitment by replacing informal, relationship-based selection with data-driven tools and behavioral assessments to build more diverse, effective, and mission-aligned boards.
Fellowship Forward Project
Fellowship Forward equips academic fellowship programs with modern tools to move beyond traditional markers of prestige and better identify true potential through structured, skills-based, and inclusive selection practices.
The Minbar Shift
The Mimbar Shift is an initiative to empower Muslim communities across America to recruit, develop, and support a new generation of spiritually grounded, culturally fluent leaders who can guide their communities with compassion, relevance, and vision.