The nonprofit organization, Climb Together, was created in 2024 by Nitzan Pelman, an entrepreneur in residence at LinkedIn, when the company’s researchers uncovered that referrals helped 46% of people who secured jobs on the LinkedIn platform. Climb Together is an outgrowth of Climb Hire (founded in 2019), a nonprofit that focuses on empowering individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds through training in-demand skills and support to find good paying jobs.

Several learnings informed the development of the organization:

• The importance of effectively utilizing ‘social capital’ for a successful job search and beyond through relationship-building to develop networks and unlock job referrals.
• Research from LinkedIn that access to a network of “weak ties” was instrumental during a job search.
• Key components for economic mobility were: “economic connectedness” and cross-class relationships.
• “Climbers” possess characteristics employers were looking for — they were determined, hungry for opportunity, and had the aptitude to learn technical skills quickly, but often lacked networks and the knowledge of how to identify and engage with the right “higher-status” individuals, present themselves effectively, and make compelling requests during conversations.

Climb Hire’s program focuses on helping "Climbers" understand how to approach building authentic and non-transactional relationships via:

• Cultivating the art of demonstrating curiosity and asking questions.
• Sharing their stories in a compelling and concise manner.
• Structuring and transitioning a conversation from superficial to deeper topics over the course of approximately 30 minutes.
• How to connect and establish trust with professionals from higher socioeconomic backgrounds during conversations.
• Observing how they use non-verbal cues, such as nodding or saying “aha,” to demonstrate active listening during conversations.

Programs:

• Leadership advisory — develop program strategy and external relations support for key stakeholders.
• Staff training and development—empower teams to deliver social capital training independently or in partnership with Climb Hire’s offerings.
• Alumni engagement—provide access to powerful networks for earners to help them find opportunities.

One of the main services provided by Climb Together is Goldi, an AI social capital practice bot blended with an online asynchronous course.

Resources

Climb Together

Services

Climb Hire