We are a nonprofit organization that works with communities to enable them to decide together how to spend public money. We create and support participatory democratic processes, such as participatory budgeting, that deepen democracy, build stronger communities, and make public budgets more equitable and effective.
We educate stakeholders and advocate for equitable, accessible and significant participatory democracy practices.
Our campaigns and advocacy team is here to help you learn about, advocate for, and WIN participatory democracy through community education, advocacy support, and campaign strategy partnership. We collaborate with grassroots community organizations, elected officials committed to sharing power, and schools and districts across the U.S. and Canada to bring real power over real decisions to life.
The Participation Lab develops and tests innovative resources and tools that make participatory democracy practices, including participatory budgeting, easier and more effective. We also work to deepen, measure, and communicate the impact of participatory democracy. This work includes developing civic engagement tools such as trainings, guides, videos, and technology to address common challenges in participatory democracy.
We support participatory democracy practices by developing and piloting resources and tools.
Want support getting started? We help plan and run participatory budgeting processes.
Our Technical Assistance team helps design, strengthen and facilitate equitable and innovative PB and PD processes in North America through implementation support. We offer capacity building and support to PD implementers and their partners, including project planning and management, individually tailored training, coaching, materials, and other support.
Since 2009, PBP has collaborated with grassroots and government partners to launch PB processes in over 40 cities, empowering more than 739,000 people to directly decide how to spend over $400 million in public funds.
