A Simpler Way to End Poverty
We are exploring new solutions to help people financially while also honoring their independence and dignity. We are particularly interested in the idea of cash transfers as a more efficient and respectful way of supporting people than many current anti-poverty programs. We’re also interested in consumer and worker protections to reduce predatory debt, wage theft, and other threats to income security.
Our Two Strategies
Amplify Conversations about Cash Programs
There is so much to learn about how cash transfers impact individuals and the larger economy. Yet the conversation about income security isn't just about policy; it's about real people and their relationship to money and work. Those who are most impacted by job loss and poverty must have a seat at the table.
Reduce Consumer & Worker Predation
We believe one key to poverty reduction is ensuring that everyone is treated fairly in the workplace and the marketplace. Smart policy design, enforcement, and community organizing can protect households against threats to health, wealth, and safety.
Current & Previous Grantees
Public Rights Project
General Support
The Public Rights Project empowers state, local, and tribal governments to fight for civil rights and for economic and environmental justice by providing them with talent and resources to proactively enforce their residents’ legal rights. They seek to redefine local and state public law offices as proactive rights protectors rather than only criminal prosecutors, defense attorneys, or claims processors for the city, county, or state.
The Debt Collective
Bail Debt Exploration
The Debt Collective is a debtors' union fighting for a sustainable economy in which credit is used to benefit everyone. They are creating a platform for organization, advocacy, and resistance. Their work on bail debt will be a new direction, with the potential to relieve hundreds of millions of dollars – potentially billions – of predatory financial burden.
Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration
Guaranteed Income Initiative
The Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, or SEED, is the country’s first-ever city-led Guaranteed Income initiative. SEED aims to test a simple, yet innovative, solution to poverty and inequality. Beginning in 2019, the Demonstration will provide approximately 100 Stocktonians with a guaranteed income of $500 per month for 18 months. The income will be unconditional, meaning there are no work requirements and no restrictions on how the money can be spent.
Economic Security Project
General Support, Voter Perception Research, Listen First Tour
The Economic Security Project catalyzes ideas that build economic power for all Americans, with a focus on guaranteed income. They disburse grants, identify gaps, and develop communications research to inform the movement and coordinate events to encourage investment and action from others. They support emerging leaders in the economic justice field and ensure they have the networks, know-how, and money to succeed.
Give Directly
Basic Income Study
GiveDirectly is working with leading economists to organize an ambitious experiment that will rigorously test the impact of different models of basic income over 12 years in Kenya. More than 26,000 people will receive some type of cash transfer, with more than 6,000 receiving a long-term basic income.