Celebrating this year’s biggest wins: revitalizing democracy in 2020

Happy Holidays from all of us at PBP! After a busy 2019 launching exciting new projects like Democracy Beyond Elections and PBCan, and working with incredible communities like students in Merced and educators in NYC, we took some time in November, during our staff retreat, to look at the big picture.
We want to extend a big thank you to all of you who made Giving Tuesday a huge success. We've raised over $11,000, bringing us more than halfway to our $20,000 fundraising goal for December 31. Give today – let’s re-ignite democracy together!
2019 Highlights
This year has been full of big wins for us!
PBP Co-ED and Obama Fellow Shari was in Chicago in November, meeting personal heroes (like Billy Porter, pictured at right) and growing her leadership skills. We love an ongoing win!

Help us launch PBP into 2020 with a contribution:
Your gift will be matched dollar for dollar thanks to a couple generous donors.
Can we count on you to transform democracy in 2020 and beyond?



Download a sign to join the conversation!
Fill in the blank with your commitment and post it with the hashtag #participatorybudgeting
Featured in TIME for Kids - “Kids Decide”
Our Co-ED’s Shari and Josh were featured in a recent TIME for Kids article on how participatory budgeting is empowering young people and serving as a model for wide participation. Check it out and share with all of the parents, kids, and educators in your life! Read the full article >>
Coming soon: An Online Resource for PB in Schools
It’s no surprise that some of the most innovative, impactful, and a creative participatory budgeting project proposals we have encountered have come from PB in schools. Young people have a particular talent for seeing what is possible, and PB in schools is an opportunity to channel that energy into some pretty incredible work.
That's why we have been hard at work in the PBP Lab, creating an online course for educators who are ready to plan and implement PB at their school. We anticipate offering a pilot course in Spring 2020. We can’t wait to introduce this work to educators in the field, gather feedback, and launch later this year!
If you have questions, or you are an educator and want to be a part of the pilot program, please email Antonnet, antonnet@participatorybudgeting.org
In the News:
Reimagining public safety by spending more for people and less on police budget will actually decrease crime, Milwaukee Independent | In this striking Op-ed Rick Banks of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC) and Devin Anderson of the African-American Roundtable make the case for divesting from policing and investing in community power. As they put it, “[t]he city should also dedicate a portion of these funds to be allocated via participatory budgeting, a process that would seek input from all residents on how the funds should be spent.”
Participatory Budgeting Underway in 49th Ward, Roger’s Edge Reporter | Chicago’s 49th ward just held their tenth year of participatory budgeting voting! This amazing process is underway and gives residents as young as 14 a chance to vote on proposals to improve their communities.
School Lab Funded By Participatory Budgeting Debuts On UES, Patch | Love to see the projects planted through participatory budgeting processes bloom! “Students at an Upper East Side public school will have the chance to learn about issues such as sustainability and enhance their science skills at a brand-new lab facility funded through participatory budgeting.”