Over the past two days, NABIG Congress participants have heard from and asked questions of researchers, activists, community organizers, elected officials from municipal, state, and federal governments - both from the United States and Canada, artists, and philanthropists - all working to strengthen the knowledge base of the potential impact of basic income guarantee policies and to promote consideration of passage and implementation of the same. There has been an exponential growth of public discussion, press coverage, pilots, social media buzz focused on basic income, and the prospect of an actual basic income policy to be passed by government - either local or federal - no longer seems out of reach. In fact, in the US, the recent passage of a federal refundable child tax credit is seen as a basic income for families with children. Panelists will discuss a strong focus on coalition building, well coordinated and aligned strategies for organizing and lobbying, tight communication networks between pilots and other research and grassroots activists, and regular and sustained collaboration, as one of the keys to this success. Addressing the three themes of the NABIG Congress - knowledge, activism, policy - panelists will offer rich examples of the coalition building and coordinated efforts that established and maintained this close alignment, and share their reflections on how to build a movement to others hoping to get involved.

Ken  Yang manages content and marketing at UBI Works, a Canadian non-profit on a mission to make Basic Income a key federal election issue and to see it implemented nationwide.

Ken co-organized the first Basic Income March Toronto in 2019 and has since helped grow UBI Works' network to 80,000+ activists in every federal riding. He previously worked in corporate governance research at Canadian law firm Davies LLP, social cognition research at the University of Toronto, managed the commercialization of early-stage technology from the university, and co-created an Ethereum-powered crowdfunding platform during Andrew Yang's 2020 presidential candidacy.  Ken holds a JD/MBA from the University of Toronto.

Jenna Van Draanen is the co-chair of the Basic Income Canada Network and is a member of Coalition Canada. In her day job she is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington in the School of Nursing and the School of Public Health. Her current research looks at the role of poverty in shaping trajectories of mental health and substance use disorders.

Stacey Rutland is the founder of Income Movement. With degrees in English Literature, History, and Education she first landed in the classroom then to user experience research and design, eventually founding a produce design agency in Portland, OR working with Fortune 500 companies. Her passion for economics, and background in technology led Stacey to the basic income community where, in early 2019 she began to work with organizations across the basic income ecosystem. By late 2019 she established Income Movement, an organization advocating for economic justice through fostering highly collaborative coalitions and building a grassroots movement for basic income.

Madeline Neighly, Director of Guaranteed Income at Economic Security Project and Co-chair of the Guaranteed Income Community of Practice, a coalition designed to provide learning opportunities and best practices for running guaranteed income demonstrations, while pushing new ideas in the direct cash space and developing a coordinated national field. Prior to joining ESP, she was a Director of Advocacy and Policy at the Roosevelt Institute where she focused on corporate power issues. 

Gisele Huff is president of the Gerald Huff Fund for Humanity. The loss of her son Gerald to pancreatic cancer in 2018 spurred Dr. Huff to apply her talents and energy to a cause they both shared – concern about technological unemployment, the growing economic divide and the potential of UBI to help address these challenges on a broad scale. Dr. Huff served as San Francisco University High School’s director of development for twelve years, and the Executive Director for the Jaquelin Hume Foundation for over twenty years where her return on investment for launching blended learning was paramount.

John Ma is a project & product manager, ops director, team facilitator, and community organizer working in for-profit, non-profit, and community spaces. He holds a Master of Arts in Process-Oriented Facilitation & Conflict Studies, a trauma-informed & post-Jungian approach to leading toward consensus in business, family, and community settings amidst cultural and historical differences. He is an organizer for Level Up, the newly christened grassroots organization born from the California Yang Gang as well as Ground Game in Los Angeles. John was recently elected member of LA City's West Adams Neighborhood Council, heading up emergency preparedness, vaccine awareness, and outreach to the community’s unhoused neighbors.

Better Together: Reflections on the Movement, Next steps and Closing Remarks