PLATINUM2023

Lifeworks Services Inc.

A nonprofit serving people with disabilities

aka Lifeworks   |   Richfield, MN   |  lifeworks.org

Mission

Our mission is to partner with people with disabilities to drive change by increasing opportunity and access in the community.

Ruling year info

1974

President and CEO

Gertrude Matemba-Mutasa

Main address

6636 Cedar Ave S, Suite 250

Richfield, MN 55423 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

41-0907857

NTEE code info

Developmentally Disabled Services/Centers (P82)

Services to Promote the Independence of Specific Populations (P80)

Human Service Organizations (P20)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Lifeworks is working to address the need for increased integration and independence for people with disabilities.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Fiscal Support

As an approved provider for Minnesota, Lifeworks ensures that the people we serve can select how services are delivered while complying with state regulations. With responsive customer service and user-friendly systems in place, the person served can maximize their budget and choose their support. Through a personalized experience, Lifeworks can help you get started with processing services for:
• Consumer Directed Community Supports (CDCS)
• Consumer Support Grant (CSG)
• PCA Choice
• Individualized Home Supports (formerly known as Personal Support)
• Night Supervision
• Respite

Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Economically disadvantaged people
Caregivers

Lifeworks is driven by the belief that all people can work and have a meaningful impact in their communities. We’re talking about careers with competitive wages, good benefits, and opportunities for advancement. By increasing access to job opportunities, Lifeworks helps build a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

• Pre-Employment Transition Services – For students to explore employment, including post-secondary education preparation, workplace readiness, and self-advocacy development.
• Employment Exploration – An introduction to careers, this service offers activities to learn about occupations in the community.
• Employment Development – Assists with finding a job, including résumé writing, interview preparation, community mapping, and more.
• Employment Support – Assesses individual needs and goals to provide the desired level of support, including tools for accessibility, employer education, and self-advocacy strategies.

Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Economically disadvantaged people

Lifeworks provides opportunities for people to explore interests, develop skills, and build connections. Personalized support and community engagement are cornerstones of Lifeworks service delivery – and with the people we serve leading the way, we put empowerment and inclusion into practice.

• Individual Day Support Services – Self-directed activities to build skills through hands-on learning that take place in-person, virtually, and in the community. Examples of learning activities include: creative arts, technology sessions, self-advocacy, wellness opportunities, and exploring local resources.
• Music Therapy – Guided by board-certified therapists using a scientifically backed approach, Music Therapy helps people further develop their sensory, social, emotional, cognitive abilities, and motor skills through singing songs, playing instruments, listening to music, and more.
• Self-Directed Resource Navigation – Developed for individuals facing a large change – whether that be transitioning from school to adulthood or approaching a new phase in life – this service offers a series of informational meetings designed to explore options and connect people with resources to take the next step and build a roadmap to achieving their goals.

Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Economically disadvantaged people

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of clients served

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

People with disabilities

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of individuals supported on the job

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

People with disabilities, Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

Employment

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Average hourly wage of a client directly hired by a business

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

People with disabilities, Economically disadvantaged people

Related Program

Employment

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Total number of volunteer hours contributed to the organization

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

People with disabilities

Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Volunteer hours continue to be lower than previous years; however, numbers are beginning to come back up due to lifting of Covid restrictions.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

We envision a community where people with disabilities are more broadly valued, hired by employers, receiving support, and participating in ordinary activities. Lifeworks aspires to be a person-centered, innovative, and sustainable leader in serving people with disabilities. We are aiming to help people achieve increased integration in the community and greater independence in all facets of their lives.

1. Capitalize on Technology to provide value to our customers and improve our operating and financial performance.

2. Diversify Revenue to ensure sustainability and reduce risk through fundraising, new services, and new markets.

3. Innovate the future services, processes, and relationships for the disability services sector.

4. Optimize Lifeworks to have the people, processes, and systems to drive today's and tomorrow's success.

From our humble beginnings in Dakota County supporting eight children with disabilities to the 2,500 people that we serve today, Lifeworks has made a steadfast commitment to integration and independence for individuals with disabilities in our community for more than 50 years.

As the years have gone by, Lifeworks has evolved from a small grassroots organization to the highly impactful nonprofit it is today.

With more than 30 years of experience connecting individuals with disabilities and businesses, we've helped thousands of people find and maintain jobs.

Lifeworks associates are thriving at nearly 300 businesses throughout the Twin Cities and greater Mankato area. They're working in corporate services at Allianz Life, as lab assistants at Ecolab, in customer service at Best Buy, and so much more.

We offer Fiscal Support that allows people to self-direct the services they receive. We have partnerships with community organizations, provide high-quality transportation opportunities, music therapy, volunteering opportunities, and more through our Day Services.

Lifeworks helps more than 3,000 people with disabilities strive for increased integration and independence each day. We have served people with disabilities and helped them accomplish their goals for more than 50 years. Lifeworks also has more than 30 years of experience partnering with businesses to diversify their workforce. We have piloted innovative, community-based programs, utilized multi-sensory environments, music therapy, and other methods to improve people's quality of life, and supported dozens of people to hire support staff to care for them in their homes and build their independence.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time

Financials

Lifeworks Services Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Lifeworks Services Inc.

Board of directors
as of 02/20/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. John Abbott

Varistar and Otter Tail Corporation

Term: 2013 -

Catherine Mahone

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America

Kofi Bruce

General Mills

John Abbott

Varistar and Otter Tail Corporation

Theodore Carlson

Carlson Partners

Mark Geldernick

Securian Financial Group

Patricia Riley

Retired Healthcare Executive

Ajani Lewis-McGhee

Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America

Mark Traynor

Former CEO

Nimo Ahmed

Minnesota Community of African People with Disabilities

Caryn Addante

Ecolab

Bukata Hayes

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota

Gertrude Matemba-Mutasa

Lifeworks Services

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/14/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Black/African American
Sexual orientation
Decline to state
Disability status
Decline to state

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

Equity strategies

Last updated: 02/20/2023

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.