Urban Innovation

Audible’s founder, Don Katz, has made creating urban equality a defining purpose for our company. Inspired by Newark’s spirit of innovation and resilience, we work hand-in-hand with the local community to bring meaningful change to downtown and beyond.

Many of our efforts are centered around Washington Park, where we’ve worked with the City of Newark, Rutgers-Newark and other educational, corporate, civic and cultural institutions to increase walkability, safety and beautification for the whole community. We’ve leveraged our presence, reputation and network to spark investment and development on behalf of the city. We’ve also contributed to the creation of Newark’s free public Wi-Fi network in Washington Park and Military Park, the expansion of city greenspaces, and the Sensory Lab installation, which included scheduled programming (concerts, classes, camps and more) for residents of all ages.

Audible restored and transformed a city landmark—a historic 80,000 square foot church—into a state-of-the-art technology center while preserving many of its historic elements, including its distinctive stained-glass windows, organ pipes and bowling alley. Don Katz also started Newark Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that has invested in local companies and brought more than 90 promising tech startups to Newark, bringing more jobs and increased foot traffic along with them.

Outstanding candidates are closer than many companies think. We’re passionate about developing a talent pipeline and recruiting from the communities we call home. Our Future Leaders program gives Newark high school students hands-on skill development through internships, where they work side-by-side with Audible employees. Our development workshops, collaborations with nonprofits like Per Scholas that train people for tech sector jobs, and customer care community recruiting help build a strong pool of qualified local candidates for Audible and other companies in Newark.

Two in five customer care employees are hired through Audible’s recruiting efforts in Newark and collaboration with community and workforce organizations, including Newark Works, Covenant House, Veterans Administration, and Newark Public Schools. The program prepares job seekers for the hiring process with résumé reviews and mock interviews, and boosts their job readiness with workshops on effective communication, critical thinking, and time management. Not only does this help candidates build the skills necessary for careers at Audible, it gives them the tools they need to succeed at other Newark companies, strengthening the city’s future as a center of innovation.

We want our employees to support the local economy and be active members of the community. We created the Live Local program to provide all Audible employees living in Newark with a $500 a month post-tax subsidy toward their housing expenses. The program has tripled the number of Audible employees who live in Newark and infuses an estimated $424,000 annually into the local economy for every 10 Live Local participants.

Audible also provides employees tickets to NJPAC and Prudential Center events, including NJ Devils hockey games, and Newark Museum of Art memberships to encourage employees to explore the city’s cultural institutions and support local artists and makers.