The JLWalker Project is the brainchild of Jonathan Walker, a schoolteacher who wanted to help Philadelphia schoolchildren stay off the street after school. The nonprofit provides mentorship while introducing kids to the business of fashion.

With RUN, running payroll is easy as pie. It feels like I've grown my business to a whole new level.

Jonathan Walker, CEO
The JLWalker Project

Challenges:

  • Running a small nonprofit with inconsistent funding meant sometimes not having enough money to run payroll.

How ADP helped

  • With RUN Powered by ADP, you can run payroll as often as you need.

An unexpected service

A few years ago, one of my sixth-grade students was caught walking to school smoking marijuana, and he was removed from his family and put in a home. I wanted to help other kids stay out of trouble, but there weren’t many after-school activities for kids in my area. That’s when I decided to start the JLWalker Project. We take kids from the inner city in Philadelphia, mentor them and teach them to put on fashion shows and how to sell clothes.

I’m the only person on my payroll, but I decided I wanted to be a little more legit about paying myself, filing taxes, and dealing with 1099s. I used the ADP mobile app as an employee at a previous job, and I remember it being a pretty cool platform. They felt familiar to me, so I decided to work with them.

My representative, Sarah, is always there to answer my questions. One day, I asked her what to do when I have no money to pay myself. I’m a teacher during the day and a brand-new parent, and I’m just not skilled enough to always find the resources for grant dollars, so there are months where I don’t have enough money in the bank to run payroll. She answered my question, but then she did something I didn’t expect: She offered to introduce me to a gentleman she knew who could help me get grant money year-round.

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