Basic income is rooted in the belief that human beings deserve to have their basic needs met, and that giving people unrestricted, direct cash every month is the best way to ensure we have a system that accomplishes this. Monthly basic income would create an income floor for everyone to stand upon, so that no one is left behind, whether they are working or not. Unrestricted cash is a step towards a dignity economy, where each of us is trusted and empowered to decide what’s best for ourselves and our families. When people have their basic needs met, they can go beyond merely surviving and begin thriving.
Income Movement is a leader in the movement for a federal basic income. And like many movements for meaningful social change, this is a marathon, not a sprint. To better understand our trajectory, we’ve created a roadmap of where the movement has been, where it is, and where we’re going.
We must organize the most passionate basic income supporters to help lead this movement at the local, regional and national level. Creating a strategic roadmap with targeted initiatives provides opportunities for people to work towards larger goals by taking action, promoting basic income, rooting the work in the experiences of everyday people, and demonstrating publicly.
Critical work includes bringing together social justice and basic income organizations, experts and influencers to guide the larger movement towards strategic outcomes. Together, we identify key language and tools for educating the public on basic income, develop a shared roadmap, and coordinate across initiatives and events to maximize impact.
Fundamental to our movement is establishing basic income as a legitimate political issue by defining the support base and highlighting its importance to voters. We track direct cash programs and basic income legislation and connect grassroots and organizations to opportunities to advocate and persuade those in power to adopt pro-basic income stances.
The concept of basic income has begun to move from radical to practical at a rapid pace, with progress fueled in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic fallout. As millions of people across the country continue to struggle to make ends meet and Congress struggles to provide sustainable solutions, direct cash policy and basic income has been recognized for its efficiency and ability to quickly stabilize income without cumbersome red tape. The past year has seen an explosion in guaranteed basic income pilot programs: over 80 pilots are active or planned in the U.S., including in major cities like Atlanta, New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A critical roll of grassroots coalition building, and programs like guaranteed basic income pilots is to root the movement in the experiences and needs of our community members. Centering program and policy design in the human experience is central to actualizing a new economic system rooted in dignity, trust, and freedom.
Income Movement is meeting this moment by supporting grassroots organizers, increasing awareness and educating the public about basic income, organizing direct actions to apply pressure to elected officials, and coordinating diverse coalitions as we build towards the goal of an income floor for all by the year 2030.
Income Movement guides and nurtures the basic income ecosystem. There are several groups working on basic income policy or running pilots locally, but we are the only group providing a strategic vision and implementation of grassroots organizing at the national and local level, harnessing the tremendous energy for basic income in pilot cities and beyond.
We bring thought leaders and organizations together to build effective programs and initiatives, connecting social and economic justice organizations with the basic income community to grow the ecosystem and compress the timeline for the passage of federal basic income. From large-scale Day of Action initiatives and online and in-person events, to building the critical tools and resources for effective advocacy, we offer tangible ways for everyone to get involved in the fight for economic justice.
Basic income work must be human-centered work. At the heart of what we do are the voices of our community. Too often, policies are crafted by people in positions of privilege who have limited lived experience with the issue at hand. That’s why so much of our work is rooted in centering and uplifting the experiences of everyday people: we offer interactive tools to coordinate conversations between basic income advocates and their elected officials, as well as with local and national media, so that their voices are at the center of political discourse around poverty and our economy.
Income Movement knows that basic income isn’t a silver bullet capable of solving all of society’s ills. It is, however, a deeply intersectional policy that has the potential to make solving many of our problems easier. We coordinate a diverse network of partner organizations to form a wide-reaching coalition, bridging across racial and gender justice, housing rights, mental health advocacy, worker’s rights, children’s development, criminal justice reform, and so much more. By uniting like-minded organizations, we are tapping into larger resources, wider audiences, and increased momentum towards the shared goals of economic, racial, and gender justice via a basic income for all.
"Income Movement is the only organization growing and nurturing the grassroots community for basic income, helping elevate the voices of everyday people to inform national strategy and policy design. Their role is critical to this movement’s success."
Stacey (she/her) first landed in the classroom, then in user-experience product agencies, and eventually to the non-profit space. Her passion for economics and human-centered program design brought her to the basic income community where, in early 2019, she began to work with organizations across the basic income ecosystem. Stacey's focus on collaborative coalition-building and the fostering of a thriving grassroots movement for basic income led her to create Income Movement.
Chelsea (she/her) is an artist and community organizer who came to Income Movement through her committed belief that everyone deserves to thrive and be empowered to live their dreams. Her years of experience fostering rescue animals and being an activist gave her insight to the world of problems that everyday people are trying to solve. She loves running her art practice HELLSEA, taking care of her animals, and drinking bubble tea.
Erica (she/her) is the initiative manager of Income Movement and focuses primarily on our Pilot Community Engagement Program (PCEP). She has a Masters in Peace and Justice from the University of San Diego with a focus on program design and evaluation and Human Rights Advocacy. She also holds a Bachelors (honors) in psychology from Rollins College where she focused on social psychology, sociology and physiology.
Alaia (she/her) has more than 15+ years’ experience working at the intersection of foundations, corporations, and nonprofit organizations in the area of fundraising and partnership development. She is thoughtful, practiced, and collaborative, and passionate about stewarding long-term relationships with socially-responsible foundations, and philanthropic leaders to strategically drive social change.
Kimberly is passionate about realizing a world where all can thrive, especially artists. As a trained chef, she brings her experience from the kitchen and loves to help keep the fires of the movement stoked. Kimberly is always happy to chat to hear your thoughts and ideas about this movement and how Income Movement can help its volunteers help make a difference.
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Saadia advises several organizations in the economic justice space on communications strategy. Before starting her own firm, she ran communications for the Economic Security Project, where she led media strategy around guaranteed income pilots, cash policies and narrative change. Her prior advocacy work includes positions in immigrant rights, global health and at the UN Refugee Agency. She is a former TV reporter and current writer, with recent bylines in Ms. and TIME Magazine.
Michella (she/her) has more than 5 years of experience leading the development and implementation of communication content, strategic plans and events (conventions, workshops, etc.) designed to increase community engagement. Her passion is creating and delivering effective and compelling messages that align with the values of an organization and supporting and empowering community members to tell their own stories in authentic ways the helps them be active participants in systems change.
Andrew (he/him) is the former president of the Service Employees International Union, and now serves as its President Emeritus. He has been a senior fellow at Georgetown University, Columbia University, is a Senior Fellow at the Economic Security Project and has been a sitting member of the Income Movement board since 2021. He is author of Raising the Floor: How a Universal Basic Income Can Renew Our Economy and Rebuild the American Dream.
Chris (he/him) is the producer of more than 20 films, including Political Animals, White Rabbit and Mama Bears. In 2020 he produced Inherent Good, the first US documentary film focused on UBI and its impact on individuals and communities, highlighting the flagship guaranteed income pilot Magnolia Mother's Trust.
Crystal (she/her) is the VP of User Experience at Wind River & CEO and founder at Particle Design, a user experience firm leading the design of products for Fortune 500 companies across a wide range of industries, including automotive, hardware, mobile, healthcare and more. She has sat on numerous boards, supporting innovative start ups and nonprofits.
Gisele (she/her) is founder of the Gerald Huff Fund for Humanity, an organization working to raise awareness of universal basic income and to promote its understanding, acceptance, and implementation. Her roots are in education, where she was Executive Director of a private foundation with a demonstrated history of making high risk, high return investments in non-profit, national organizations working on transforming K-12 education.
Joon Ae is a writer, small business owner, community organizer, and co-founder of Yeondae, a coalition of Asian adoptees working for social and economic justice. She comes from a career in higher education where she focused on liberation pedagogy and believes in our collective capacity to shift communities for the better.
Founder, Income Movement. Stacey's (she/her) desire to work in an organization centered on collaborative coalition-building and the fostering of a thriving grassroots movement for basic income led her to the decision to found Income Movement.
