Changing societal norms requires thinking a little bit differently.

The company once focused on education, but now, with recession fears growing, it wants to help more local and state agencies administer benefit programs. Beam’s platform offers tools for rent relief and other programs.

After administering over $180M in financial assistance, Beam, formerly known as Edquity, is rebranding and expanding to serve government, philanthropy, and community partners with automated infrastructure in a single platform

Eric Schmidt’s philanthropic organization has launched a program meant to spark innovation for access to benefits for low-income residents. Funding, technical help and partnerships are all part of the effort.

In Partnership with Ballmer Group, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Schmidt Futures has named twelve innovative organizations as recipients of the Social Safety Net Product Studio grant, a $13 million initiative to accelerate innovation and open access to over $100 million in safety net benefits for low-income families across the country.

The gov tech accelerator's new 12-startup cohort spans a wide range of work in transportation, civic engagement, benefits management, diversity initiatives and more. The companies will work with CivStart for two years.

Colleges are establishing basic needs hubs, affordable housing options and safe parking programs.