Company Profile
Golden State Opportunity
Company Overview
Golden State Opportunity (GSO) is a nonprofit dedicated to ending poverty by providing all Californians with the tools to build financial well-being and thrive. It is led by doers who educate, engage, and empower working families. GSO’s groundbreaking, culturally relevant work in thirteen languages reaches millions of low-income Californians and connects them with the financial resources they need to survive and then thrive.
GSO has an ambitious strategic plan that will transform the organization into a national anti-poverty powerhouse by taking its model of outreach and engagement to more states, adding accountability campaigns through issue and electoral campaigns and establishing federal and state PACs as needed to achieve the goal of ending poverty by 2035. GSO will achieve this goal not only by bringing the voices and lived experiences of low-income people to the halls of power, but by bringing the full power of these communities as well.
Golden State Opportunity is an equal opportunity employer and will give equal consideration to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law.
Company History
The founder of Golden State Opportunity (GSO), Joseph Sanberg, grew up under circumstances familiar to many Californians. Raised by a single mom who struggled to make ends meet on her public-school teacher salary, Joe’s family lost its home to foreclosure after falling deeply into debt.
The federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a cashback tax credit for low-income workers, helped his family get back on its feet.
Even though his own family was able to escape the cycle of poverty, Joe knew there were millions of families like his who were living paycheck-to-paycheck, struggling to put food on the table and draining their bank accounts any time they had an unexpected expense.
Joe wants to fix the outrageous levels of inequality in this country — and help working families like his own. That’s why he led the charge for California to create its own state Earned Income Tax Credit, known as CalEITC, in 2015.
GSO was founded to ensure the success of the CalEITC and to continue the fight for financial well-being for all Californians. GSO’s flagship program, CalEITC4Me, utilizes innovative digital outreach and storytelling, grassroots organizing, media outreach, public advocacy, and mobile messaging to increase participation for both the CalEITC and federal EITC.
Today, GSO is a leading statewide advocacy organization working to end poverty and ensure everyone can meet life’s basic needs and invest in their future. GSO’s leadership and advocacy for low-income workers led California to establish the Young Child Tax Credit and expand CalEITC eligibility to include anyone 18+ and all ITIN holders, making CalEITC one of the strongest and most inclusive EITC programs in the country.
Benefits
Golden State Opportunity offers a generous benefits package, including:
Medical, dental, and vision insurance
Group and voluntary life insurance
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Generous vacation and sick time allowance
14 paid holidays a year
Monthly phone allowance
Enrollment in employer-sponsored 401k retirement plan