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Our Story
Amplifi co-designs technology tools to simplify the complex process of connecting people to needed and available resources.
Amplifi, a non-profit organization, grew out of the work of social services agency Imagine LA, which for nearly two decades, sought to end family homelessness and poverty via providing its innovative Family Mentorship & Partnership Model services to over 1,000 families. In 2020, with increased focus on economic mobility, Imagine LA partnered with USC's Center for Social Innovation to better understand the complex landscape of public benefits. Together they mapped the labyrinth of benefits and tax credits, uncovering billions of untapped dollars and systemic barriers. Out of this research, the Benefit Navigator was born - a trusted online tool to empower caseworkers and families to open pathways to lasting economic mobility.
Since 2023, the Benefit Navigator and the LA Disaster Relief Navigator have helped 25,000+ households in Los Angeles and beyond identify $200+ Million in critical resources. Focused on accelerating this impact nationwide, in mid 2025 Imagine LA became Amplifi to work with service organizations and their cities, counties, states and disaster response agencies to deploy human-centered technology that connects people to life-saving, poverty-busting resources.
Pilot Results
$31M
in benefits identified in first 7 months
44%
more benefits found compared to non-users
24%
income increase for families using the Navigator (vs. a 16% decrease in control group)
$15,770
average per person in additional benefits & tax credits
Timeline of Growth and Evolution
2007–2022
Imagine LA, Amplifi’s founding organization, supports families navigating the complexity, fear, and “benefit cliffs” of the social safety net. An opportunity to simplify complex systems is identified.
2019
Launched Economic Mobility Initiative (funded by the Carl & Roberta Duetsch Foundation and Bank of America) to address career pathways, financial fitness, childcare, and navigating benefits.
2020
Commissioned USC study of all federal, state, and county benefits. Findings: overwhelming complexity, underutilized benefits, and harmful benefit cliffs.
2021
USC recommends a single resource for benefit eligibility and transparency. Prototype Benefit Navigator wins USC Social Venture Competition + Min Family Challenge.
2022
Secured Hilton Foundation and other funding. Minimal Viable Product (MVP) co-designed with Imagine LA and many lived experience advisors. Beta-tested with Los Angeles Department of Public and Social Services + 5 local government and non-profit agencies.
2023
Initial Pilot with 10 agencies + third-party evaluation with control groups. Results compelling (see Commitment to Learning). Product refined and version 2.5 launched.
2024
Expanded pilots with 55+ agencies. Over 100 user feedback sessions drove product refinements. Created an AI benefits navigation Chatbot with NavaLabs, funded by the Gates Foundation.
2025
January: In the wake of the LA wildfires, we created the LA Disaster Relief Navigator with Better Angels.
Benefit Navigator 2.5 Pilots grow to 60 agencies. Benefit Navigator adds dashboards, new benefits, and expanded resources for foster youth, immigrants, renters, and families.
Successfully piloted AI Chatbot with six agencies. Launched Agentic AI Application prototype with Nava Labs and First 5 Riverside County.
Created and launched Benefit Navigator 3.0 with new UX and nationally scalable architecture, available as a Software as a Service (SaaS). Began expansion beyond Los Angeles to Riverside and Alameda Counties and targeted national regions.
Developing ways to help users navigate complex, changing benefit application and re-certification eligibility rules resulting from HR1 OBBBA.
2026 & Beyond
Expansion across California and the nation. Integration of iLab prototypes into Benefit Navigator California statewide pipeline. With NavaLabs, awarded $1.5M Google.org GenAI Accelerator to prototype prefilling benefit applications using Agentic AI.
Our Story
Imagine LA began nearly 20 years ago as a mentorship program for families emerging from homelessness. From the start, we listened first, building trust and centering lived experience. Over time, our work evolved into the Family Partnership Model—encompassing mentorship, case management, and economic mobility support—recognized nationally by the Aspen Institute.
Yet data showed families were still trapped in poverty. In 2019, we launched the Economic Mobility Initiative to understand why. The answer was clear: the complexity and fear around public benefits and “benefit cliffs” kept families from earning more and moving ahead.
In 2020, in collaboration with USC’s Center for Social Innovation, we mapped the labyrinth of benefits and tax credits, uncovering billions of untapped dollars and identifying systemic barriers. Out of that research, the Benefit Navigator was born—a trusted single tool to make the complex simple, empower caseworkers and families, and open pathways to lasting economic mobility.
Initial Pilot Highlights
$31M
in benefits identified in first 7 months
44%
more benefits found compared to non-users
24%
income increase for families using the Navigator (vs. a 16% decrease in control group)
$15,770
average per person in additional benefits & tax credits
Our Story
Imagine LA began nearly 20 years ago as a mentorship program for families emerging from homelessness. From the start, we listened first, building trust and centering lived experience. Over time, our work evolved into the Family Partnership Model—encompassing mentorship, case management, and economic mobility support—recognized nationally by the Aspen Institute.
Yet data showed families were still trapped in poverty. In 2019, we launched the Economic Mobility Initiative to understand why. The answer was clear: the complexity and fear around public benefits and “benefit cliffs” kept families from earning more and moving ahead.
In 2020, in collaboration with USC’s Center for Social Innovation, we mapped the labyrinth of benefits and tax credits, uncovering billions of untapped dollars and identifying systemic barriers. Out of that research, the Benefit Navigator was born—a trusted single tool to make the complex simple, empower caseworkers and families, and open pathways to lasting economic mobility.
Initial Pilot Highlights
$31M
in benefits identified in first 7 months
44%
more benefits found compared to non-users
24%
income increase for families using the Navigator (vs. a 16% decrease in control group)
$15,770
average per person in additional benefits & tax credits
Our Team
Jill Bauman
MPPM/MBA, Yale
CEO Amplifi, Co-founder Benefit Navigator
Brit Gilmore
MSSE, USC
Co-Founder of the Benefit Navigator
Stephen Rockwell
Chief Innovation Officer
Karen Van Kirk
MSMS, MIT
VP Product Implementation and Data
Erika Guzman, MSW
Director of Operations
Paul Huntsberger
Director of Software Engineering & Enterprise Architecture
Alejandro Gonzalez
MSW, Simmons
Senior Customer Success Manager
Makha Mthembu
MFA, USD
Operations Coordinator
Lincoln Hoey Moore
Product & Data Engineer
Jennifer Berry
Special Projects
Michael Kramberg
Finance Director
Our Board
George Phillips, Jr.*
Chair, Board of Directors
Attorney - Partner, Phillips Law Partners LLP
Troy Brown
Secretary, Board of Directors
VP, Director of Recruitment,
Enrollment & Marketing, UWLA
Lindsay Dunn
Treasurer, Board of Directors
Executive VP, City National Bank
Caroline Goldzweig, MD*
Chief Medical Officer, Cedars-Sinai
Leilani Reed*
Imagine LA Program Graduate
SEIU Local 2015, Executive Board Member
Expert Consultants
Soledad De Gregorio, PhD
Public Policy, USC
Policy Expert Advisor
Rob Santillano, PhD
Research Partner
Patrick Fernandez
Data Science Consultant
Ryan Efendy
Senior Developer
Catherine Geanuracos
Civic Tech Start Up Consultant
We work with best-in-class partners.
Technical Partners
PolicyEngine is is a non-profit organization that builds free, open-source software tools designed to model and evaluate public-policy effects within the tax and benefit systems.
The Benefit Navigator’s eligibility screening calculations are powered by PolicyEngine, a highly trusted policy rules database that ensures we provide all our users with up-to-date accurate estimates on their benefit and tax credit amounts.
Nava Labs is the philanthropically funded innovation lab of Nava, a leading nationwide provider of custom civic technology. We are honored to work with Nava Labs on two leading-edge AI pilots – a trusted benefits information chatbot funded by the Gates Foundation and a generative AI prototype to assist with completing Benefit Applications funded by Google.org.
CivicMakers is a leading human-centered design firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area that helps communities and organizations come together to tackle shared challenges. Amplifi partnered with CivicMakers to enhance the Disaster Navigator—a tool originally created in response to the 2025 LA Wildfires. CivicMakers reviewed its design, outcomes, and feedback from users and stakeholders to strengthen the tool and prepare it for use on a national scale.
Better Angels is taking a bold, holistic approach to tackling the homelessness epidemic in Los Angeles by harnessing new models of intervention, community engagement, advocacy, and world-class technology.
Better Angels was a vital technical and strategic partner helping create the Disaster Navigator in response to the LA Wildfires. Drawing on deep expertise in technology and innovation, Better Angels helped deliver a practical, scalable solution that brought needed resources and relief to those impacted by the LA Wildfires.
Philanthropic Partners
Philanthropic partners have been with us every step of the way. While we aim to become a sustainable enterprise as we scale - we are grateful to the funders that make this work possible!
Advocacy Partners
Results That Matter
Our pilot results confirm what case workers and families told us from the beginning: the Benefit Navigator is game-changing. By simplifying the complex and providing trusted, transparent information, it increases access to benefits, reduces fear surrounding earning more income, and strengthens both family economic mobility and the caseworker’s ability to serve.
60 Agencies
400+ users
15,600+ clients
$184M+
in new benefits & tax credits identified
$10.5K
average additional value per household
75%
of clients identified new benefits
43%
of clients identified new tax credits
25%
increase in earned income (vs. 16% decrease for control group)
In The News
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Orange Slices
April 16, 2025
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LA TIMES
February 6, 2025
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News/Press
Orange Slices
April 16, 2025
LA TIMES
February 6, 2025
Let’s Connect
To learn more about the Benefit Navigator contact info@amplifi.org or hit the button below.