Closing Out Year One: Our Final Investments of 2017
As we wrap up a year that has seen new advocates for a guaranteed income emerge, new pilots around the globe, and serious conversations about the economic future of our country, the Economic Security Project is pleased to announce its final round of grantees for 2017.
Several dichotomies have emerged in the debate over guaranteed income. Does the policy solve for poverty or technological unemployment? Do we need rigorous data or compelling stories to push the conversation forward? Is this about financial stability for individuals in a five-year horizon, or a new economic paradigm in a 50-year one?
When we look at the field of people who are working to provide economic security for people today, and doing the culture changing work that will allow these ideas to flourish in the future, it is clear these are false choices. We need the data that will tell us how unconditional cash affects birth outcomes and we need the stories that can reach rural America. We need strong frames for racial justice as well as we need smart new approaches to sharing the wealth of technological advancement.
Our latest round of grantees is a diverse group of organizations, researchers, content producers, advocates and thinkers that we believe can help address the most pressing questions about a guaranteed income, and bring us a little closer to a future with economic security for all.
Congratulations to our most recent grantees, which include:
- Chesapeake Climate Action Network — Bridging economic and environmental justice, CCAN has proposed a bill for DC outlining a carbon fee-and-rebate program the would put unconditional cash into the pockets of the people. Set for a vote this spring, they will be modeling different tax rebate and “green investment” scenarios as the bill is debated.
- Chris Benner and the Universal Technological Dividend Working Group — Could technological advancement be seen as a common property, from which everyone should benefit? This new group will examine the research, framing and policy opportunities for a Universal Technology Dividend.
- Income Outcome — A feature documentary that explores the idea of Universal Basic Income through the lens of rural America, incorporating human interest stories, conversations with thought leaders, and a look at Alaska’s current system as a model for the rest of the country.
- Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage — How is the unconditional cash from the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend affecting the wellbeing of Alaskans? By looking at health and employment outcomes, this research aims to use the PFD to answer some of the systemic questions about the effects of a basic income.
- Insight Center for Community Economic Development — How can we center conversations about UBI as a tool for racial justice? As an organization focused on economic justice research and advocacy, Insight will be investigating current and potential narratives around work, race, personhood and deservedness, and the role that UBI could play in reimagining the social safety net.
- Institute for the Future — what assets, beyond income, are needed to provide economic security? The Institute for the Future will do foundational work to explore what will be key assets in the next 10 years that people could leverage to generate incomes and how these might expand existing approaches to UBI.
- Jane McGonigal — How might our opinions of UBI shift with increased empathy for our future selves? McGonigal will be investigating how to increase our ability to consider new possibilities and shift the choices we make about our own futures, through participatory games.
- Martin Kirk of The Rules — what narrative on economic security will do the most to move people to support a universal basic income? Kirk is digging into data and emerging narrative forms to identify new, creative pathways to galvanize action and support for a equitable economy.
- Open Democracy — A vital platform for news and advocacy, Open Democracy, along with Beyond Trafficking and Slavery, will expand their coverage of UBI and its relationship to freedom. They will produce a new video critically reflecting on the work of ‘modern abolitionists’ and the concept of ‘freedom as the power to say no.’
- Roosevelt Institute — What should be the role of cash in the social safety net? The Roosevelt Institute will examine the role that cash transfers might play in closing the racial wealth gap and how unconditional cash transfers could support low-wage workers.
- Sarah Cowan at New York University — Could unconditional cash improve reproductive health and birth outcomes? Cowan will be examining how cash transfers affect the reproductive lives of women, the health of their pregnancies and their newborns.
We’re proud to share that in our first year of making 48 grants to 42 institutions and individuals, 52% of our total dollars invested have gone to people of color or people of color-led organizations, and 64% to women or women-led organizations. Learn more about our other grantees here.
We’ve learned a tremendous amount in our first year, and look forward to applying those lessons to our work in 2018.
Feedback? Reach us at hello@economicsecurityproject.org or comment below.