You Have a Billion Dollars to Alleviate Poverty. Now . . . Go!

In the United States today, the strongest predictors of one’s life trajectory are where you are born, your race, and your parents’ income. America’s promise of effort and merit being the determinants of achievement and success seems broken to far too many Americans — especially those from low-income communities. Income inequality is at a historically high level. Community members and leaders across the country recognize that this is unfair to individuals and also threatening to our democratic principles and economic prosperity.

How could a philanthropist make the biggest improvement on social mobility with an investment of $1 billion?

Recently, I took on a fellowship with The Bridgespan Group to help answer the question: How could a philanthropist make the biggest improvement on social mobility with an investment of $1 billion?

While it is an easy question to ask, it is anything but easy to answer. We already spend hundreds of billions in public and private funds each year on programs meant to alleviate poverty and encourage mobility. Given the amount already spent and the scope of the challenges, some would say that $1 billion is just a drop in the bucket — too little to have an impact. Additionally, philanthropists largely don’t make big investments for social change due to heightened risk of failure, greater scrutiny, and lack of information on where to focus. So some would ask, why bother? But that is precisely why the question is worth asking.

Philanthropic investments focused on large-scale impact should by definition be catalytic — unlocking significant and sustained resources and efforts. And a new, bold, and even audacious approach is definitely needed.

Philanthropic investments focused on large-scale impact should by definition be catalytic — unlocking significant and sustained resources and efforts. And a new, bold, and even audacious approach is definitely needed. Said another way: “Everything is impossible until someone does it.” I and my colleagues at Bridgespan remain optimistic that philanthropists can play a unique and critical role in catalyzing dramatic change across systems and sectors, but it’s never been done before — hence the “bet.”

There are several challenges we already know any meaningful bet will need to overcome. First, most solutions that we know of today have limited impact or are subscale to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people living in poverty. Second, we lack the systems and infrastructure to adequately collect basic data, experiment, learn, and improve the delivery of government and nonprofit programs. And third, even when good solutions exist, we lack effective markets and policies that could bring those solutions to scale.

So we are working to put together a kind of road map for how to invest in a better future. Building on the Brookings Institution’s Social Genome Project, we’re starting with an overview of “what matters most” to help an individual attain social mobility, including building skills, addressing barriers, and transforming communities. We are also highlighting a broad set of tools philanthropists can use to support enduring impact, beyond giving money to nonprofits. And finally, we’re developing a few investment opportunities (bets) that lay out how to spend $1 billion to drive change at scale on this issue.

Different issues call for different types of investments — from spurring innovation, to funding capacity to rigorously research what practices and programs have made real changes in people’s lives, to catalyzing public will and policy change, or sparking personal behavior changes.

Each of our bets combines different approaches. Different issues call for different types of investments — from spurring innovation, to funding capacity to rigorously research what practices and programs have made real changes in people’s lives, to catalyzing public will and policy change, or sparking personal behavior changes. We are exploring avenues for policy advocacy, stronger relationships between philanthropy and government, and driving market forces through the use of social impact bonds.

While we are working hard on producing big, bold ideas, we realize others will have even better ideas. If you have an idea, we’re eager to hear from you. You can get information on how to send us a two-page proposal here. (Our call for submissions has ended. Thank you to all who contributed ideas.)

It’s worth it. What if your idea is the one that changes the world?

James H. Shelton, III is the Chief Impact Officer at 2U, an educational technology company that partners with leading colleges and universities to deliver the world’s best online degree programs. He also is former Deputy Secretary at the US Department of Education, where he oversaw the Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) and Promise Neighborhoods programs. Prior to that, he served as program director for education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is currently a Fellow with The Bridgespan Group.