Building Truth and Empathy: Storytelling and Narrative Change Informing Basic Income Policy

Cover Photo

Jun

23

11:00pm

Building Truth and Empathy: Storytelling and Narrative Change Informing Basic Income Policy

By The BIG Conference

We see that the myths of poverty persist and impact policy: the Child Tax Credit was not expanded due to concerns about parents using the money to buy drugs or not work. To reach a majority in our community and in our government who support basic income policy, we must engage in radical truth building, to dismantle and drown out myths of deservedness and meritocracy and shine a light on the current impact of our systems on everyday people. This session will talk about the history and current state of existing false narratives, why we must break them down in order to achieve broad policy, and practical ways we all can engage in this critical work.
Speakers
Tracy Smith-Carrier, Royal Roads University
Dr. Tracy Smith-Carrier is an Associate Professor and the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals in the School of Humanitarian Studies at Royal Roads University. Tracy's program of research touches upon many different fields in the social policy arena, including access to social welfare benefits, social assistance receipt, food in/security, basic income, poverty, and climate justice. Dr. Smith-Carrier is currently leading a Participatory Action Research team exploring how to advance knowledge and action on the UN Sustainable Development Goals on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Tracy is a member of Basic Income BC and the Canadian National Steering Committee for a Basic Income Guarantee. She has three daughters and currently resides on Vancouver Island.
Pierre Madden, Basic Income Montreal
I bumped into basic income in 2016 and immediately thought: That's for me! My goal ever since has been to implement Basic Income in Canada in my lifetime. Although I have been involved in the technical details such as definition, financing, etc., what motivates me is that my father would have lived ten years longer if he had had UBI. We must rely on the people alive today, with their prejudices and values, to make UBI a reality, so I don't propose appealing to those already convinced or trying to convince more. Overcoming, or rather bypassing, visceral, ideological opposition is our challenge. It's all about owning the narrative by framing the issue, or as I like to put it, Marketing UBI to the Middle Class. For more info see BasicIncomeMontreal.org
Annie Flom, Income Movement
Annie is a writer, researcher, and content creator working to change the narrative around poverty and direct cash as the communications manager for Income Movement. She initially came to basic income advocacy through her work on the documentary Inherent Good, and brings with her a diverse background of experience ranging from criminal justice to marketing.
Khea Pollard, San Diego for Every Child
Khea Pollard is the Director of San Diego for Every Child. She has several years of experience fostering collaboration, facilitating dialogue, and implementing policy to make improvements in health, human service, and criminal justice systems. Prior to joining San Diego for Every Child, Pollard was a Justice Program Manager for the National Association of Counties, serving County governments across the United States. Her work focused on the intersection of behavioral health, criminal justice reform, and racial equity.
Jhumpa Battacharya, Insight Center
Jhumpa is the Vice President of Programs and Strategy at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development. She directly leads work identifying policy and narrative solutions to racial and gender wealth inequities as well as work on mitigating the harms of mass incarceration. A former Director at California Tomorrow, Jhumpa has roots in youth organizing and youth development, and brings over 20 years of experience advocating for and creating policy and system changes towards racial and economic equity. She is a lover of music, the Lakers and fluent in Bengali
Kathrine Cagat, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income
Kathrine is the Research and Program Officer for the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. Kathrine holds a PhD in anthropology, and prior to joining MGI, conducted research on sustainable development and household and community resilience. She has taught anthropology and human ecology courses in the United States, United Kingdom, and South Korea. She's excited about contributing to work that expands people's adaptive capacities and strengthens communities.
Moderator
Joon Ae Haworth-Kaufka, Income Movement
Joon Ae Haworth-Kaufka is a writer, small business owner, community organizer, and co-founder of Yeondae, a coalition of Asian adoptees working for social and economic justice. They are a board member of Income Movement and lives in Portland, Oregon with their partner, three kids, three dogs, and two cats.
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