Participatory Budgeting: An Idea You Should Steal
On December 10th, PBP’s Co-Executive Director, Shari Davis was invited to join a number of problem solvers from across the country to speak at the The Philadelphia Citizen’s 2nd annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival. This festival is an annual full-day convening that brings together the most innovative urban thinkers and global thought leaders together…
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…
Leadership Change at PBP
Dear PBP supporters, I’m writing to share big news for me and PBP. In April 2020, I’ll step down as Co-Executive Director at PBP and transition out of the organization. My fellow Co-ED Shari Davis will remain as Executive Director. Fifteen years ago, I flew to Brazil to convene a discussion on participatory budgeting (PB)…
Democracy Beyond Elections
Our systemically undemocratic system of governance privileges the interests of the elite over the majority. In an age of constant feedback loops and distributed power – from smartphones to YouTube to #MeToo – access to democracy remains largely limited to occasionally electing a few leaders to decide for us. This structural inequality may work well…
Shari Davis Interview on Building a New America with Jonathan Arias
Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) Co-Executive Director Shari Davis, recently joined Jonathan Arias on an episode of the Building A New America podcast, a show that reconsiders how laws that were created centuries ago, shape our lives today. In the episode titled, “How Participatory Budgeting is Improving Democracy with Obama Fellow Shari Davis,” Shari and Jonathan…
Unleashing Student Power: PB in Colleges and Universities
Unleashing Student Power in Colleges and Universities By: Eric Billbrough Special thanks to Salvator Asaro, Alexander Kolokotronis, Jenni Innes, William Novello, Michael Menser, and Jacob Klipstein for sharing their experiences with PB and student government at their colleges and for their continued efforts to organize for more democratic campuses. As summer comes to a close,…
PB2 Results are in!
Every year PBP donors join together and do a PB process of our own – deciding together on how to spend a portion of the PBP budget for the year. It’s a PB process for PBP, PB2! Every year, PBP supporters from across the country vote online and in person by becoming donors on a…
PBP is launching a new Global PB Hub!
We’re thrilled to announce that PBP is launching a new global hub for PB practitioners and advocates, thanks to a $560,000 grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Global PB Hub will coordinate knowledge sharing, research, learning, and resource development for PB practitioners and advocates around the globe. The PB Hub will build…
New Studies: PB Increases Tax Revenue as it Grows the Number of Voices in Government
A new World Bank working paper by Michael Touchton, Brian Wampler, and Tiago Peixoto finds that PB and participatory institutions actually improve government balance sheets by boosting residents’ willingness to pay taxes.
We’re 10 years old! Can you get us this present?
I’ll admit, the past month has brought tears (of joy) to my eyes. I’m deeply proud that the Participatory Budgeting Project is celebrating our 10 year anniversary. We’ve come so far together – empowering 534,000 people in over 30 cities to decide how to spend $337 million! Thank you for stepping up to join our…
PBP Annual Report: 10 Years of Transforming Democracy
We are celebrating 10 years of transforming democracy and are proud to share our incredible victories from 2018 and our first decade of work. We can’t wait for you to be part of our vision for the future of the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP). With your support, we can create a more just and equitable…