From drowning in decades of inaccessible PDFs to powering seamless collaboration, NELP’s content journey demonstrates how technology can truly be used to amplify social impact. The National Employment Law Project’s strategic adoption of Box in 2015 revolutionized how they manage their vast knowledge resources, ultimately strengthening their 50+ year mission of building a fair and inclusive economy.
As a nonprofit organization, NELP partners with local, state, and federal organizations to improve policies that protect workers’ rights. These efforts generate vast amounts of research, legal and policy documents, and publications, all of which serve as critical resources both internally and for partners.
A decade ago, NELP struggled with managing all of this unstructured data. A lot of pre-digital legacy paperwork had been scanned and uploaded as PDFs, making the text effectively invisible to search tools — not to mention hard to use. Valuable information lay buried in static documents that couldn’t be easily accessed or repurposed.
Today, ten years into its partnership with Box, NELP’s secure, cloud-based access and streamlined workflows support seamless collaboration. Here’s the full story.
- Box transformed NELP’s unstructured data archives into a searchable, secure knowledge base that enhances team capacity and collaboration
- Streamlined publication workflows and centralized review processes have reduced file duplication and improved version control across departments
- Mission-aligned technology choices allow NELP to work more efficiently while staying focused on advancing equity and opportunity for all workers
Dealing with decades of unstructured data
When NELP first adopted Box, the initial effort was about reducing file duplication, improving version control, and ensuring timely, mission-driven communications that could reach audiences when they were most needed. NELP initially saw Box as a secure cloud platform capable of organizing its extensive archives while enabling easy collaboration across programs and partnerships.
Box helped us transform our unstructured data into a searchable, secure knowledge base that builds capacity within our teams. It’s an essential part of how we collaborate efficiently and maintain the integrity of our work.
Over time, Box has become an integral part of NELP’s infrastructure for research, publication, and cross-team coordination. Bukola Ashaolu, Vice President of Technology, Compliance, and Risk Management, says, “Box helped us transform our unstructured data into a searchable, secure knowledge base that builds capacity within our teams. It’s an essential part of how we collaborate efficiently and maintain the integrity of our work.”
NELP’s teams now use Box Enterprise Advanced to streamline their publication workflows and manage review processes across departments. Staff have access to a secure, easily searchable space for content, which helps them maintain accuracy, avoid duplication, and centralize final reports.
Powering collaboration for worker justice
Strengthening collaboration and document management, in turn, has helped NELP’s teams focus more time on advancing worker-centered policy and research. The ability to coordinate remotely on a cloud-based content platform allows remote staff anywhere to collaborate on producing critical policy analyses and advocacy to support expanded unemployment insurance and other worker protections.
We see tools like Box as partners in helping us work more efficiently so we can stay focused on advancing our mission.
NELP plans to continue strengthening its systems for collaboration and knowledge management, including expanding access to archived resources that support ongoing advocacy and research, and exploring how Box AI can support its mission. Ashaolu emphasizes that technology at NELP is driven by trust and mission alignment: “Our technology choices always come back to people and purpose. We see tools like Box as partners in helping us work more efficiently so we can stay focused on advancing our mission.”
With a secure, evolving platform supporting collaboration and information sharing, NELP has a trustworthy digital foundation to underpin its advocacy efforts. Tools like Box help NELP’s teams stay connected and focused on what matters most: advancing equity, dignity, and opportunity for all workers.
If your nonprofit seeks smarter ways to manage content while amplifying impact through technology visit box.org today!
