Meet Joe

J oseph N. Sanberg is a progressive entrepreneur who is working through both the public and private sectors to end poverty and make people’s lives better.
Joe has been one of the nation’s leading advocates for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for low-income families. In 2015, he successfully lobbied legislators in his home state of California to create the state’s first EITC. Then-California Gov. Jerry Brown’s top adviser Nancy McFadden called Sanberg the “spark” behind the state’s efforts to pass and implement the new program. When the state didn’t allocate enough money for outreach, Joe created CalEITC4Me. This community organizing program has connected working California families with more than $4 billion of state and federal Earned Income Tax Credits.
In 2018, Joe founded Working Hero PAC, a people-powered political organization to support elected leaders and candidates who champion policies that will help end poverty. Working Hero endorsed 17 candidates around the country, holding community events to with them to elevate the issue of poverty in Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Arkansas, California and Missouri. In 2019, Joe also created Working Hero Action to expand his successful model of EITC outreach beyond California, and advocate for policies that will help all Americans afford their basic needs.
He is Co-Founder of Aspiration.com, an online financial company built for everyone. Aspiration serves people at the heart of their financial lives - their banking account - in a trust-based model that empowers people to choose whatever fee they think is fair (even zero) and enables them to bank, invest, and spend in accordance with their values. Aspiration's approach has made it the fastest-growing and most beloved consumer financial company in America.
Joe understands that businesses should be tools for solving problems. He is a leading investor in a number of industry changing companies including: Blue Apron, the largest fresh meal-kit company in the United States, and IVY, the leading social university.
Joe also serves on the board of the Sierra Club Foundation, the Economic Innovation Group, and the Jefferson Awards Foundation, which engages over 1 million young people each year in volunteerism and public service. He serves on Board of Trustees of the University of California, Riverside School of Public Policy. Joe also volunteers at Casa Teresa, a homeless shelter for pregnant women in Orange, California.
A native of Southern California, Joe is a graduate of Servite High School in Anaheim and Harvard University. He lives in Los Angeles with his rescue dog Bruce.

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Vision

When we’re living in a constant state of financial stress, we can’t be our best selves and live as we were meant to live.
I know first-hand what financial stress can do to a family. I grew up in a low-income household. My mother worked so hard to create a better life for me and my brother, and I was so fortunate to get a ton of financial aid to go to Harvard at a time when our house was being foreclosed upon.
But there are millions of kids growing up today who will not have the same good luck that I had. The opportunities that people have in life shouldn’t be the result of luck.
That’s why I’m committed to bringing financial security to everyone. If you believe as I do that our lives have meaning, and every human being has value, then we all ought to be able to live to our full human potential.
This is the moral calling of our time, and the charge of our generation. We know how to bring financial security to everyone – all we’re lacking is the will.