America Works California, Inc.

America Works lifts people out of poverty using its unique brand of intensive, personalized employment services. Called "a company with a conscience," it was founded in 1984 by social activist and entrepreneur Peter Cove, a Boston native who wanted to put his ideals about poverty and the American dream into practice.

Peter Cove and America Works' President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Lee Bowes have become the nation's leading experts on welfare-to-work social programs. In the early 1990s, they were instrumental in educating Congress about the merits of linking private sector employment with welfare reform. Their efforts contributed to the passage of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act. This bill, passed by a Republican-controlled Congress and signed into law by Pres. Clinton, was meant to "end welfare as we know it."

Today, America Works' guiding principle is the belief that the best way to lift people out of poverty is to help them find jobs - real private-sector jobs. In other words, it believes that work first works best.