A few weeks ago, I was in DC with an inspiring group of leaders for a gathering of the Rockefeller Foundation’s U.S. Big Bets Fellowship. This four-month leadership program brings together changemakers across the country who are working to solve some of the world’s toughest challenges and who are ready to take their next bold leap.
This opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time. At One Degree, we’ve spent over a decade building technology that helps low-income families access life-changing resources, from food and housing to healthcare and legal support. What began as a radical vision to build a human-centered, tech-enabled safety net has evolved into critical infrastructure serving hundreds of thousands of people. But we’re now at a moment of transition, not just as an organization, but as a sector.
Demand for social services is rising. The systems people rely on are still deeply fractured. And while innovation is accelerating, it’s not always aligned with the realities and needs of communities. These are the kinds of challenges the Fellowship is designed to address. Not with small, incremental improvements, but with transformational thinking and bold action.
What is a Big Bet?
The Rockefeller Foundation defines a Big Bet as an ambitious commitment to tackle systemic problems at scale, whether that’s poverty or inequality. The Fellowship brings together leaders who are at inflection points in their work and are ready to reimagine what’s possible and make meaningful, lasting change.
Over the next four months, I will be part of a cohort of social impact leaders from across nonprofits, philanthropy, organizing, health, and more that are all navigating the space between where we’ve been and what’s next. The Fellowship gives us room to reflect, clarify our vision, and grow into the kind of leadership this moment demands.
How We’re Putting Big Bets into Action.
For us, this isn’t just a leadership development opportunity. It’s a strategic launchpad that is giving us space to sharpen our focus. We know the I&R (Information & Referral) ecosystem is fractured. We’ve seen firsthand how difficult it is for families to find help when they need it most. We’ve also seen how for-profit SDoH tech solutions have fallen short because they fail to center trust, collaboration, and lived experience.
So we’re asking: What’s the big bet that can truly transform how people access support?
Well, we’ve got a couple of big bets on our minds. First, we want to demonstrate that nonprofits can power regional, interoperable infrastructure for coordinated access to social services. We want to shift the frame from platform competition to ecosystem collaboration. Second, we’re building next-generation AI tools to leapfrog outdated systems and transform how people find and access support at scale. Our bet is that governments, nonprofits, healthcare providers, and tech platforms will all need trusted, underlying infrastructure to operate in an AI-powered (and agent-powered) world. This Fellowship gives us the space to test, refine, and position these ideas for transformational investment.
What’s Next?
These Big Bets aren’t abstract. They’re already in motion. And we’re using this Fellowship to double down: to clarify our vision, test our hypotheses, and unlock the kinds of transformational partnerships and investments that this moment demands.
We’re deeply grateful to the Rockefeller Foundation for believing in the potential of bold ideas and investing in the leaders who are bringing them to life.
If you’re also thinking about what your “big bet” might be, I’d love to connect. We’re all being called to lead differently, and we don’t have to do it alone.