Caitlin Lewis, founder and director of Work for America, started her career in local government in New York City. Lewis launched the nonprofit in November of 2024 and has helped placed former federal workers in new roles around the country in the wake of federal workforce reductions over the last year.
As mass layoffs and resignations hit federal workers like Williams, Caitlin Lewis stepped in to help.
Her nonprofit, Work for America, launched in November of 2024 to help local governments recruit talent to fill gaps in staffing. Through its Civic Match platform, the goal is to help former federal workers find new roles at the state and local level. The Work for America team has gone from two people to 15 in the last year, and the vast majority have come from prior careers in state, local and federal government. Four employees came directly from federal government roles.
"We never imagined the volume of need that was going to occur," Lewis said. "What is so unique about this job seeker population is how unexpected the layoffs were for so many of them. Government has long been a place of stability and meaning making, and so much of what we understand the government job to be was really upended in that moment."
Lewis, the daughter of a forest firefighter and a youth prison counselor growing up in California, said she became civically engaged at a young age. That engagement led her to local government in New York City in the de Blasio administration, first in the mayor's office and then in housing and economic development. Work for America was informed by that experience.
"In a place like New York, it really showed me how when you have the right people in the right roles in government, that the public sector really can move mountains, and when you don't, the basics start to fall apart," she said. "And unfortunately we've seen that occurring in communities across the country where there hasn't been the ability to get the right talent to lean into critical roles."
Williams quickly landed a job at Work for America after taking deferred resignation. She is now a product and data manager with the non-profit.
In the last year, Work for America has placed nearly 200 job seekers, 150 of which are former federal workers, in roles across the country. Over 12,800 jobseekers have signed up for Civic Match since President Trump's election, representing more than 30 federal agencies.
"For many, it's been a year of chaos and confusion. But we saw for our customers- cities and state governments across the country- that there was a true opportunity to capture the incredible talent that was going to be exiting Washington," Lewis said.
Nate Haight turned to Civic Match as sweeping cuts took place at USAID, where he spent a decade of his career. Haight started out as an intern, then contractor, and by last year had been working as an education advisor and contract and grants specialist in its Latin America and Caribbean Bureau. Last February, he was told his job was under review and would most likely be cut.
"I particularly loved my work in the education sector. It was really meaningful being able to go out and see the impact that the programs were having around the world," Haight said. "I was invested in the work and I saw the difference that it was making."
He opted to take the deferred resignation offer from the government and found a new role through Work for America's platform, knowing competition would be steep locally given how many other former federal workers were looking for jobs. Today, he's in Indiana with his wife and four children, working as a grants administrator for the city of Indianapolis and Marion County.
"I think the satisfaction and fulfillment that I've been able to find already working in local government, I just want to encourage others to to give it a shot as well.. and to encourage everyone to keep their their head up and know that all of the skills and experiences that they've they've gained they're going to be able to make a tremendous impact wherever they end up landing," Haight said of his fellow former federal workers.
In the months to come, Civic Match is rolling out new features including AI-powered match scores for candidates, improved location targeting for jobs, city-specific pages and more.
Hope Rahill, a former political appointee in the Biden Administration who left her role as the Trump Administration moved in, is now director of people and culture at Work for America. Rahill said while the group has had success in placing candidates, many former workers are still looking for work and coming up on a year of "unemployment or underemployment."
"There are still so many people looking for work," Rahill said.