Increasingly, young people across the world are voicing their support for a basic income as a step towards a sustainable economic transition and a more equitable future for all. Founded in 2020, the Basic Income Canada Youth Network (BICYN) has been developing the youth case for a basic income guarantee through conversations with various community stakeholders.

In this workshop, they discussed some of the lessons learned about youth organizing in the basic income movement and equip participants to build and maintain youth engagement in their own communities. Participants who attend this session learned about why mobilizing young people is absolutely essential to making basic income a reality. More importantly, workshop participants learned about emerging and better practices for sustained and meaningful youth engagement, and how to apply them to their own basic income advocacy.

Chloe Halpenny, Basic Income Canada Youth Network

Based in Ottawa, Chloe Halpenny (she/her) is the Co-Chair and Co-Founder of the Basic Income Canada Youth Network. She came to basic income through her Master’s research, where she interviewed participants in the Ontario Basic Income Pilot to explore basic income through a critical feminist lens. Chloe brings a passion for gender and economic justice to the basic income movement, additionally serving on the Board of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa, as Co-Chair of Women’s March Ottawa, and as a volunteer with Youth Ottawa and Dress for Success Ottawa. In her day job, Chloe works as a Research Associate at the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation. She holds an MPhil in Multi-disciplinary Gender Studies (University of Cambridge), an MSc in Social Policy & Development (London School of Economics), and a Bachelor of Public Affairs & Policy Management (Carleton University).

Hannah Owczar, Basic Income Canada Youth Network

Hannah Owczar is a writer and communications specialist in the department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Manitoba. She is a graduate of the Creative Communications program at Red River College, where she majored in journalism. Owczar is the co-author of Radical Trust: Basic Income for Complicated Lives, and her writing has also appeared in several major news outlets in Manitoba, including the Winnipeg Free Press and CBC News. She holds an undergraduate degree in Human Rights from the University of Winnipeg.

Kendal David, Basic Income Canada Youth Network, Carleton University

Kendal David (Calgary, AB) is one of the co-founders and co-chairs of BICYN. She is a PhD student at Carleton University with social work experience in the disability sector, community development and organizing, and research. While completing her undergraduate social work practicum placements, she grew more interested in basic income activism as a response to inadequate social policy and flawed approaches to addressing income insecurity through charity and philanthropy.

Melanie Davis, Basic Income Canada Youth Network

Originally from southern Ontario and residing on Treaty 3 Territory in Thunder Bay, Melanie Davis (she/her) brings a passion for addressing socioeconomic inequities and interest in policy development to the BICYN Steering Committee. Melanie is currently working as the Development Officer at Northern Policy Institute. She holds an MA in Political Science from the University of Guelph and a BA with a major in Political Science and minor in Labour Studies from Brock University. She strongly values community-engaged scholarship, knowledge mobilization, and incorporating the needs of those with lived experience into policy development.

Shelby Kendra Downe, Basic Income Canada Youth Network

Based in Epekwitk, Mi’kma’ki (known as Charlottetown), Shelby Kendra Downe (she/they) is a member of the BICYN Steering Committee and the PEI Working Group for a Livable Income. They have experience coordinating programs advocating for food sovereignty, public transit, and basic income. Shelby believes that income insecurity and wage slavery are some of the biggest barriers to organizing, especially in marginalized and oppressed communities. Basic income will improve communities’ capacity to self-advocate based on their own articulated principles, values, and ecological needs.

Walid Herzallah, Basic Income Canada Youth Network

Walid Herzallah is a member of the BICYN Steering Committee. He developed an interest in basic income in particular while completing his Bachelor of Commerce at Queen’s University in 2019. The cancellation of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot inspired him to publish a piece on the topic in the Queen’s Journal and write his undergraduate thesis on ‘The Merits and Feasibility of a National Basic Income Program in Canada’. Walid currently works as an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company, where he helps businesses and non-profit organizations tackle some of their most pressing problems with data-driven insights.

Walid Herzallah is a member of the BICYN Steering Committee. He developed an interest in basic income in particular while completing his Bachelor of Commerce at Queen’s University in 2019. The cancellation of the Ontario Basic Income Pilot inspired him to publish a piece on the topic in the Queen’s Journal and write his undergraduate thesis on ‘The Merits and Feasibility of a National Basic Income Program in Canada’.

Walid currently works as an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company, where he helps businesses and non-profit organizations tackle some of their most pressing problems with data-driven insights.

The Youth Case for Basic Income and Engaging Youth to Make it Happen