Carmen Rojas, CEO of The Workers Lab, founded the workers lab because she wanted to help ensure that upward mobility remains a possibility in the American economy. Rojas spoke about the experience of her immigrant mother, who was offered workplace training, benefits, a living wage, and a no-interest loan to buy a house through her job cleaning an office building, all of which allowed her "a footstep into the middle class." Rojas worries that this path is being eroded for most low wage American workers. The mission of The Workers Lab is to ensure that workers have mobility and opportunity, and are able to live with dignity and provide for their families. The lab raises money from philanthropic institutions and labor unions, and uses that money to help get ideas off the ground. Individuals or organizations that are granted money from The Workers Lab, which awards about $250,000 each year, receive access to entrepreneurs, branding expertise, and legal assistance.