Designing for the Most Vulnerable Strengthens the Whole Company

The Case for Targeted Universalism

Humanitarian and corporate systems often fall into the same trap: assuming a solution that works well for one group will work for everyone. As Jina Krause-Vilmar notes in We Are Called to Rise, women’s lives are fundamentally different—the options, choices, and risks they navigate are not the same as men’s. Corporate workplaces commit an identical error, rolling out universal policies under the banner of “fairness” that ignore how different groups face vastly different levels of structural friction.

The alternative is targeted universalism, a framework coined by scholar john a. powell. In a workplace context, the organization sets a single, universal goal for all employees—such as high productivity, psychological safety, or zero regrettable turnover—but designs distinct, targeted strategies based on how different groups experience systemic friction. Krause-Vilmar’s book illustrates this through refugee women navigating extreme precarity, offering leaders a powerful insight: redesign systems to lift those facing the highest friction, and you fix hidden operational bottlenecks while building a stronger enterprise for everyone.

Macro Evidence: Targeted Integration Expands the Economy

When host nations treat refugees through a universal, one-size-fits-all legal lens, newcomers remain trapped in informal, survival-level work. However, when governments grant legal rights, work authorization, and targeted integration support to displaced populations, the entire host economy expands.

Consider Colombia’s response to the Venezuelan migration crisis. By establishing targeted legal programs (the ETPV), Colombia granted work authorization and access to social services to over 1.7 million displaced Venezuelans. According to a study by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Venezuelan migrants contributed over $529 million to Colombia’s economy in 2022 alone – accounting for nearly 2% of total national tax revenues. Similar targeted integration policies in Germany and Poland demonstrated that removing legal and linguistic barriers for refugees directly filled critical labor shortages and expanded national GDP.

The corporate lesson is clear: targeted investments designed to remove friction for vulnerable populations are not “cost centers” or charity. They can be high-yield economic catalysts that expand total enterprise capacity.

Eliminating Friction and Unlocking Hidden Talent

Refugee women burn massive cognitive energy simply reaching baseline survival, constantly balancing income against physical safety. Frontline employees, hourly workers, and primary caregivers face an analogous, less dangerous friction: unpredictable shift scheduling, lack of caregiving infrastructure, and rigid attendance policies that force them to spend significant bandwidth managing work logistics.

Targeted universalism addresses these specific points of friction. Implementing predictable, flexible scheduling software, providing subsidized emergency childcare, or establishing dedicated transportation safety measures for night-shift workers reduces late arrivals, slashes enterprise-wide recruitment costs, and stabilizes operational workflows across every department.

The same logic applies to hiring. Rigid degree requirements and narrow promotion tracks trap credentialed refugees and non-traditional talent in low-autonomy roles, obscuring their capabilities. According to Krause-Vilmar, 2 million immigrant and refugee professionals in the US are un/underemployed, representing an estimated 10 billion in lost taxpayer dollars. Building targeted pathways to recognize and re-credential internal talent unearths a massive, underutilized pool of leaders.

Co-Designing Solutions and Executive Action

When formal institutions fail displaced women, they do not wait for top-down aid; they innovate. Refugee women routinely establish informal, trust-based savings circles, such as chits, tandas, or djanggi, to pool capital, manage risk, and access funds when formal systems like banks exclude them. Employees behave the same way, quietly building informal workarounds to cover shifts, share opportunities, and navigate bureaucracy.

True targeted universalism requires co-design: granting the employees facing the highest friction a voice, and then the authority, funding, and platform to inform structural solutions. Executives must set ambitious, company-wide benchmarks, audit for structural friction by disaggregating HR and operational data, and invest in targeted interventions that dismantle the steepest barriers. As Krause-Vilmar notes, “People closest to the problem are often the ones who know how to solve it.” Design for your highest-friction employees, and you build a resilient, highly adaptable organization.