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Dear Friends,
It’s been a big year – here’s what we’ve been up to so far
Building federal support for PB
We’ve been to the White House twice this year, to open up more federal funding and resources to help PB grow.
First, we joined more than 60 government officials, community leaders, and civic technologists in Washington DC, to map a future for PB in the US.The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, and the Democracy Fund hosted an event which built on the 2014 convening that PBP co-hosted with the White House.
Then, we joined dozens of federal agencies, private sector partners, and nonprofit organizations to launch the White House’s new Opportunity Project, an ambitious open data initiative. We’re working to plug this new community data into participatory budgeting processes across the US, to help participants make more informed decisions.
We will continue to work with the federal government to open more budgets to meaningful civic participation, so that individuals will have a real say in how their taxes are spent.
Do you have ideas for how to help PB grow? Submit your idea for PB2 – where you directly decide how to use a part of PBP’s budget to increase the impact and effectiveness of PB.
Thousands vote for stronger communities.
More people than ever before are voting in PB in over a dozen cities, from NYC to Long Beach and Chicago to Greensboro! As thousands cast their votes to directly decide public spending, they are changing the way government works.
When PB makes government accessible to more people, communities use the process to grow their power.
PB is a tool for youth empowerment. Our friends at the NYC nonprofit Brotherhood/SisterSol used PB to enable Harlem youth to win funding for their ideas and learn how to build community power
PB is a tool for innovative experiments that make communities healthier and less wasteful. PB Cambridge’s “Food Rescue Freezer Van” project is expected to double the capacity of meals to be rescued and distributed, ranging from about 3,500-7,000 healthy frozen meals.
PB is a tool for democratic learning. We’re supporting students at the City University of New York to launch PB at their university, to decide how to spend school funding.
Learn more about this work and connect with these leaders and innovators at our 4th International Conference on Participatory Budgeting – May 22 in Boston and Cambridge, MA.
We’re throwing a party!
We’re getting together Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass to celebrate the growth of PB across North America and in NYC with local leaders who have made it possible:
- The New York Women’s Foundation; Philanthropic Partner
- The Fortune Society; Organizational Ally
- Joan Bakiriddin; Community Activist
Still not enough opportunities to spend quality time with your friends at PBP? Come work with us!
Support young leaders.
We’re fundraising to make our PB Conference accessible to everyone.
So far we’ve raised more than half of our $15,000 goal to bring young people to Cambridge and Boston to learn about PB and share their experiences as leaders in their schools and communities.
Can you join dozens of other PB supporters to help us close this gap now?
Warmly,
Participatory Budgeting Project
We’re a non-profit organization that empowers people to decide together how to spend public money.
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Want to introduce your friends to PB? Start here by watching the 4-minute, award-winning video “Real Money, Real Power” to learn about how PB works to empower local residents!
Our work is only possible due to generous support of individuals, public funding, and our foundation partners:
