According to The Brookings Institution, food insecurity has increased 460% since the pandemic began.
With this concerning statistic in mind, rideshare company Lyft made some critical pivots to leverage their network of drivers, strategic partnerships, and impact focus to help serve the most vulnerable communities.
In this episode of Cause Talk Radio, Megan talks to Lisa Boyd, Director of Social Impact for Lyft about what they’re doing to increase access to transportation to those who need it.
For several years, Lyft has conducted a program called Lyft Grocery Access to help those who were food insecure to get to grocery stores so they could get the healthy food they needed.
When the pandemic hit, Lyft quickly realized that the needs of those who were hungry looked very different than they had in the past. Instead of focusing on getting people to grocery stores, now Lyft’s efforts are focused on getting food directly to people’s homes.
Through a strategic partnership with Mastercard which committed to fund these grocery deliveries, Lyft has leveraged their Community Drivers who are willing to deliver groceries and supplies to those in need instead of transporting people.
That’s not all Lyft is doing to make an impact in their communities during this uncertain time – Lisa and Megan discuss their Jobs Access program helping people get safely to interviews and the first few weeks of employment in partnership with United Way and Goodwill as well as hyperlocal nonprofit partners.
They talk about how Lyft measures outcomes – and not just outputs – as well as how the company approaches the need for short-term versus continuous transportation.
Of course, they also touch on how Lyft is supporting communities of color including their voting access program with partners like the Urban League and Black Women’s Roundtable, and others.
Links & Notes
- (00:00) – Welcome to Cause Talk Radio
- (01:54) – Lyft Up’s Grocery Access Program
- (03:45) – The COVID Impact on the Food Space
- (05:18) – Mastercard Lyft Partnership
- (06:20) – How Grocery Access Works
- (08:07) – The Lyft Up Community Driver Task Force
- (09:41) – Lyft Community Partnership
- (12:16) – Measurement
- (13:54) – Doing Good when the Core Business is Struggling
- (18:59) – Social Justice at Lyft
- (21:33) – Jobs Access Program
