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What do you think about our democracy?
Please take this 4-minute survey to let us know your thoughts on the state of our democracy and participatory budgeting, to help improve our work at PBP. As a thank you, we’ll send you our “Democracy is not a Spectator Sport” magnet (just provide your mailing address at the end of the survey). Take the Survey Now! Looking…
Read MorePBP News: International Conference, Trainings, Youth Leaders, and Scaling Up
Get these updates in your inbox: Sign up for our newsletter Join us at our 2018 conference We are proud to partner with a team of civic innovators to present the Innovations in Participatory Democracy Conference on March 8-10, 2018 in Phoenix, AZ. The conference will bring together more than 250 community leaders, government officials and…
Read MorePB Trainings Fall
Our democracy is in trouble. Participation is down, voters don’t believe that government is working for them, people don’t think that their voice counts. If we don’t disrupt this cycle of cynicism, it will keep getting worse. Participatory budgeting (PB) is a tool to for action. It’s an opportunity for real people to have real…
Read MoreWelcome back-to-school-PB!
Today’s lesson: How to learn democracy by doing democracy As schools reconvene from summer break, more and more are empowering students to directly decide how to spend a portion of their school budget through participatory budgeting (PB). One of the best ways to teach democracy is by doing real democracy; PB in schools does exactly…
Read MorePB 101 Training in NYC, November 30 2017
You know that participatory budgeting (PB) is a better way to empower communities. You know that PB engages them in finding solutions. You know that PB builds new connections that make communities more resilient. PB makes increases trust in government and reduces corruption by making budgets transparent. PB is making healthy, actively engaged communities. ……
Read MoreGet involved with the Innovations in Participatory Democracy Conference
The Innovations in Participatory Democracy Conference will bring together more than 250 community leaders, government officials and staff, practitioners, researchers, funders, young leaders, and technologists to explore innovations that empower community members to make real decisions and directly participate in government. Our conference kicks off just as 10 public high schools wrap up two weeks…
Read MoreTell the Mayor: Support PB in NYC today!
Dear PBNYC Supporter, Now is the chance to make real democracy available for all New Yorkers! I’m writing to ask you to join your neighbors in supporting a letter calling for an expanded and more inclusive Participatory Budgeting in New York City (PBNYC) process. After six successful years, PBNYC has established itself as the largest…
Read MoreTaking PB to Scale
Participatory budgeting (PB) has been successfully implemented in districts, cities, and school districts across North America, allowing members of these local communities to directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. From wards in Chicago, to schools in Phoenix, to across the city in Boston, we’ve seen hundreds of local-level PB success stories…
Read MoreParticipatory Budgeting in Elementary Schools: You’re Never too Young for Democracy
With the 2017-18 school year just around the corner, it’s time for fresh ideas to improve your local schools. One new model comes from New York City’s Primary School 139, with some special help from Participatory Budgeting Project’s Executive Director Josh Lerner – and his son Miro. P.S.139 is a large Title I public elementary…
Read MoreThis is Josh’s dad – can you help me celebrate his birthday?
Today is my son Josh’s 39th birthday. When he was a kid, every year for his birthday I bought him what he wanted more than anything in the world: Legos. I’ve been proud to watch Josh move from building things with Legos to now building a better democracy through participatory budgeting (PB). Now that he…
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