One Degree

The group launched in 2012 with the financial backing of Fast Forward and Comcast NBCUniversal. ³ It has locations in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, New York City, Florida, Michigan, Colorado, and New Mexico. ⁴ As of 2023, the organization claimed 3.3 million people had used its apps and websites. ⁴

One Degree has mostly left-leaning donors that includes Dignity Health, Sunlight Giving, Echoing Green, and the Knight Foundation. ⁵ The organization asserts its support for “equity-centered technology,” and says it aims its work at “dismantling structural racism.” ^{6 5}

Background

One Degree focuses on using apps and websites to connect low-income people with government social services. The organization also assists social workers and case managers. ^{7 8}

The group launched in 2012 with financial backers that included Fast Forward, a tech investing organization, and Comcast NBCUniversal. ⁹

Users of the online One Degree platform can apply for a housing subsidy, find a crisis counselor, connect with youth nutritional programs, and get a referral to an immigration lawyer. ¹⁰

The organization primarily functions in the San Francisco Bay Area, but also has offices in Los Angeles; New York City; the New Mexico counties of Grant, Hidalgo, and Catron; Summit County, Colorado; Gainesville, Florida; and Detroit, Michigan. ¹¹

One Degree founder and CEO Rey Faustino has argued the social safety net isn’t ready for the job displacement of low-skill workers that is likely to be caused by automation and artificial intelligence. Pointing to evidence that about seven in 10 low-income adults own a smartphone with Internet access, Faustino asserts that websites and apps can help alleviate the effects of displacement. Technology, he said, can be used to help low-income people navigate through thousands of government health care, food assistance, welfare programs and legal services. ¹²

Political Activism

One Degree CEO Rey Faustino signed onto an open letter with numerous other left-leaning organization leaders asking President Donald Trump to rescind an executive order that banned travel into the United States from seven majority-Muslim countries. The Skoll Foundation enlisted organizations to sign onto the letter. ¹³

Faustino was a panelist for a Harvard Ash Center event on how technology can improve democracy, joining other panelists from left-leaning groups, the Center for Tech and Civic Life, Democracy Works, and Smart Chicago. ¹⁴

One Degree claims that “equity-centered technology” will promote its vision of a social services system that “promotes race and class equity and prioritizes the needs of people over corporations.” The organization further contends it is “integrating equity into every aspect of our work toward dismantling structural racism.” ⁵

Effectiveness Measurements

One Degree operates two websites: One Degree, which links people to social services, and One Home, which links people to affordable housing. It also has Android and iOS apps. ⁸

One Degree CEO Rey Faustino said he was initially pleased to find that one year after launching the organization, 40,000 people visited the website. However, he later determined this was a “vanity metric” because not enough of those people were signing up for social services. So, the organization pivoted its measurement to tracking longer-term outcomes such as whether users were accessing benefits. The website and app also personalized the information to help keep track of users. ¹⁵

As of 2023, One Degree says that since its 2012 founding, about 3.3 million people have used the apps and websites. ⁴ The group says that about 55,000 people per month use the platform, this includes social service recipients, case managers and social workers. ⁴

The organization’s 2021 survey says that of the people seeking help through One Degree, 76 percent were people of color, 77 percent were female, 64 percent had children in the household, 32 percent had previously been homeless, and 26 percent were currently homeless. ¹⁶

Funders

In 2020, Dignity Health, the largest healthcare provider in California, contributed $200,000 to One Degree. Tipping Point Community, a San Francisco Bay area charity for the poor, gave $87,500 to the organization, and Sunlight Giving, associated with WhatsApp co-founder Brian Acton, gave a $50,000 grant. ¹⁷

Other funders for the group include Google.org, Northern Trust Bank, Echoing Green, Fast Forward, the Knight Foundation, Y Combinator, Kresge Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker Family Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the Yelp Foundation, the Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund, the California Community Foundation, the California Endowment, the Goldhirsh Foundation, and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. ^{5 18}

Leadership

Rey Faustino is the CEO and co-founder of One Degree. Faustino was previously a teacher and later became the site director at BUILD, a college-access nonprofit organization. He previously worked for the Y Combinator; Echoing Green; and Education Pioneers. He received Harvard’s Emerging Global Leader Award. ¹⁹

Rea Panares is the chief operating officer of One Degree. Before becoming the COO, Panares was the deputy chief of strategy and impact for the organization. Panares was previously a senior advisor at the Prevention Institute, which focuses on community prevention. She was formerly the director of minority health initiatives at Families USA. ¹⁹

Steve “Spike” Spiker is the chief of programs and technology. Spiker previously was the chief data officer for Alluma. He also previously worked for Measures for Justice. Spiker co-founded and was the executive director of OpenOakland, an open government nonprofit. The Obama White House honored him as a “Champion of Change.” He was previously director of research and technology with Urban Strategies Council based in Oakland. ¹⁹

James L. Yocum is the chairman of the board of directors for One Degree. Yocum is president of Coastal Oak Systems and was previously senior vice president at Connecture, a data management firm that worked with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. ¹⁹