The 61 employment social enterprises in the first cohort of the California Regional Initiative for Social Enterprise (CA RISE) provide more than jobs – they offer robust training and supportive services to help Californians overcoming the steepest barriers to employment. At the same time, the Golden State boasts a wide network of educational institutions, from major research universities to local community colleges, committed to equipping Californians with the education and tools needed in the workforce.
When these two systems work together, they can provide powerful learning and training opportunities and build a more inclusive California.
This is the opportunity that Rohan Angadi explored as a 2025 Farber Fellow supporting CA RISE’s employment social enterprise grantees. His research into ESE and educational institution partnerships revealed four key opportunities to strengthen participant outcomes and help the ESE sector at large communicate its impact.
Project Background
Over 10 weeks, Rohan examined the landscape of ESE-educational institution partnerships through 18 in-depth interviews with ESE leaders, education partners, and REDF staff, complemented by site visits to several ESEs.
Together, these conversations and observations surfaced shared aspirations for expanded certification pathways, stronger wraparound supports, more research collaborations, and deeper procurement pipelines.
This research also highlighted structural nuances that complicate this type of collaboration, including factors like capacity, networking, or misalignment in mission or goals.
For example, ESEs have traditionally partnered with educational institutions to provide just one or two services, though the range of potential collaboration is much wider. Additionally, educational institutions offer varying strengths of fit for specific types of partnerships.
18
Stakeholder interviews conducted
3
In-depth ESE site visits taken
Four “Win-Win” Partnership Opportunities
What became clear through this research is that successful partnerships will be those rooted in clear mutual benefit. For ongoing success, the opportunity must feel like a genuine “win-win” for all parties.
Rohan’s research revealed four “win-win” opportunities in particular for partnerships that ESEs can prioritize:
01
Create verticalized, stackable certification pathways.
Certification pathways help transition ESE employees into high-paying roles and support employers in finding high-potential participants. ESEs can partner with community colleges, trade schools, and nonprofits to build pathways that can stack.
For example, a pathway could provide ESE employees the opportunity to receive both an electrical certification from a trade school and a green jobs certification from a nonprofit, all to help prepare them for a career in EV charger installation.
02
Leverage in-training psychologists and social workers.
Graduate institutions have a wealth of actively-training pre-professionals who could be trained and mentored to provide therapy and social work services to ESE participant workers. Graduate students in psychology or social work need practicum hours to complete their training, and ESEs are looking to offer robust therapy and social work services to their participants.
03
Establish research collaborations with four-year universities.
ESEs have need for research proving the strength of the ESE model. University research could focus on quantitative data that seeks to understand the effectiveness of specific interventions in the ESE model (e.g., wraparound services). ESEs can use this data to advocate for additional funding and make strategic decisions, while researchers would appreciate the access to data that ESEs collect.
04
Building stronger procurement pipelines and more inclusive hiring practices.
Universities have an inherent social mission and tend to have extensive procurement and hiring needs, while ESEs are looking for reliable recurring contracts and partnerships. A collaboration with research universities, particularly in rural communities where these school systems are often major employers, could benefit ESEs, universities, and graduating ESE participant workers.
Meet the Farber: Rohan Angadi
Rohan is pursuing an MBA and MA in Education at Stanford University Graduate School of Business and Stanford University Graduate School of Education.
He grew up in Clovis, New Mexico, a rural community that shaped how he sees the world and why he cares so deeply about equity in education and employment.
Before Stanford, Rohan worked at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where he was selected for their Social Impact Immersion Program and worked exclusively on mission-driven projects.
Rohan writes about his summer:
“Coming into the Farber program, I had three primary goals: I wanted to learn directly from the experiences of employment social enterprise (ESE) leaders, deliver actionable recommendations, and build a deeper community in social impact.
Reflecting on the past few months, the Farber Fellowship program helped me accomplish all of these goals and more. My summer was defined by building relationships with ESE leaders, other Farber Fellows, and REDF staff – especially the CA RISE team. I learned a great deal from everyone’s experiences and perspectives, which gave me a stronger sense of how and where I hope to contribute.
Thank you to everyone who made this summer so meaningful. I am excited to carry the lessons and relationships from the summer with me into my second year at the Stanford GSB and beyond.”
