Situation
Roughly 11.4% of Americans live below the Federal Poverty Guideline which is roughly $12,900. Each year we spend about 1 trillion dollars of taxpayers funds on childhood poverty alone in the US and 45,000 Americans die each year due to poverty related issues. 1 in 6 children live in poverty globally and roughly 696,000,000+ people earn an average of 1.90 per day. When we think of poverty, we often think of the developing countries of the world. This is a common misconception that poverty only exists in those countries and not the western world. By alleviating poverty in America, we have the opportunity to set the stage for the rest of the world.
Strategy
We helped launch EPMT and supported in creating additional solutions to end poverty in the US, then globally. The initiative consists of 4 pillars. These pillars are: a documentary which educates people on the root and systemic issues of poverty, a venture philanthropy fund which is investing into entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities that are solving for poverty (financial literacy, food security, incarceration, etc), pilots focused on providing a basic income at the Federal Poverty Guideline (FPG) with municipalities around the US, and federal legislation which outlines the structure that would save taxpayers roughly 8 trillion dollars over 10 years by doing so. Currently, the US spends a little over 1 trillion dollars a year on childhood poverty alone. By providing a basic income at the FPG, running it directly through social security, and pairing it with this structure and bill, it costs a little over $200 million to provide this basic income which is $800 million savings for taxpayers.
Result
Social Media Strategy to engage and raise awareness of overall project which reached over 500k people.
Drafting of the “The Universal Empowerment Act” bill
Raised the profile of the entire project by getting it on front of some of the leading social impact changemakers, world leaders, influencers, investors, and donors.
Secured strategic partners aligned with the mission and vision such as CUNY Schools, Give Directly, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, CapShift, and more along with alternative funding strategies such as digital currency and recoverable grants.
Preparation and planning to launch pilots with municipalities across the US through Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) in partnership with GiveDirectly.
This would effectively lift 34 million Americans out of poverty and save 500,000 lives over the course of 10 years
Creation of White Paper connecting poverty with climate change
Sourced investments for the venture philanthropy fund and due diligence on meaningful, impactful, and progressive solutions that solve for poverty (financial literacy, food security, health and wellness, mental health, etc.)
