At REDF, we’re committed to building pipelines to quality jobs. Last time, I shared REDF’s definition of a quality job: a job that meets seven core criteria including a living wage, benefits, safety, worker voice, predictable hours, flexible time off, and opportunities for advancement.

Now, REDF Impact Investing Fund (RIIF) is putting that definition into practice through our Growth & Mobility Fund, launched in early 2025 with support from the Quality Jobs Fund (a collaboration between the New World Foundation and the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco). The fund deepens RIIF’s investment in employment social enterprises while sharpening our focus on job quality, ensuring that capital flows toward organizations creating and improving quality jobs.

Central to the Growth & Mobility Fund is the new Quality Job Offerings assessment, a comprehensive set of questions developed by REDF to evaluate what an organization offers to workers across each of the seven job quality elements. Based on the responses, we generate an overall score and highlight how the organization performs in each category.

That score does more than measure performance; it directly informs the borrower’s interest rate with us at RIIF. The higher the job quality, the lower our interest rate. This allows RIIF to align capital with strong employment practices and reward organizations that are leading the way.

But our goal isn’t just to recognize where enterprises are today; it’s also to support meaningful progress. The initial score serves as a baseline, and each year, we reassess each organization. Businesses that improve their practices qualify for additional rate reductions over time.

Making a Scorecard: Inside the Quality Job Offerings Assessment

To make the Quality Job Offerings Assessment as transparent and useful as possible, we developed a visual scorecard and a sandbox tool that allow enterprises to see where they stand, model potential improvements — such as adding benefits or improving scheduling — and immediately understand how those changes would affect both their score and their interest rate. The aim is to not only provide an incentive but also make that incentive tangible by helping organizations connect specific practices to financial outcomes.

Still, even with clarity on what to improve, many enterprises face real constraints when it comes to implementation. That’s where technical assistance can be of help. The Growth and Mobility Fund provides targeted support to help organizations access the funding, resources, or expertise needed to put those improvements into practice.

Together, the assessment, scorecard, incentive structure, and technical assistance form a complete system — one designed not just to define what a quality job looks like, but to make it easier for enterprises to deliver on that vision.

Want to explore the assessment? Download the sandbox version of our Quality Jobs Assessment now!

Download the Quality Jobs Assessment (.xls)

What’s Next in Our Pursuit of Better Jobs?

The Growth & Mobility Fund and the Quality Job Offerings Assessment are just one step in REDF’s broader effort to rethink how capital can advance economic opportunity. By building a system that defines, measures, and supports job quality, we’re helping ensure that employment leads to long-term stability and upward mobility — and that employers know what policies and procedures can help move the needle to create economic power for employees.

Over time, we aim to move beyond simply assessing employers’ offerings to understanding what workers actually experience, and how exactly those experiences shape long-term outcomes. As we continue to refine the Quality Job Offerings Assessment, our goal remains the same: to expand economic power for those too often left out of traditional systems. And we believe better jobs are one of the most powerful ways to get there.

If you’re interested in learning more, stay tuned here. We’ll continue sharing updates as the Growth & Mobility Fund evolves and as we learn from putting this model into practice.