In January 2021, Bloomberg News predicted 2021 as “The Year of the Guaranteed Income Pilots”. This prediction was in no small part led by the announcement of dozens of pilots by Mayors across the country who are part of the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) coalition. Hear more from Mayors about the work they are doing in the fight for a federal guaranteed income and the important role pilot demonstrations are playing towards this goal.

Saadia is the communications director for Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, and also advises several organizations in the economic justice space on communications strategy. Before starting her own firm, she ran communications for the Economic Security Project, where she led media strategy around guaranteed income pilots, cash policies and narrative change. Her prior advocacy work includes working in immigrant rights, global health and at the UN Refugee Agency. She is a former tv reporter and current writer, with recent bylines in Ms. and TIME Magazine.

Melvin Carter is the 46th, and first African-American mayor of the City of Saint Paul, Minnesota’s Capital City. A fourth-generation Saint Paul resident, Mayor Carter leads with an unapologetic equity agenda. The City of Saint Paul is launching the People’s Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot, which will provide up to 150 Saint Paul families with $500 per month in guaranteed income for a period of up to 18 months. The People’s Prosperity Pilot is being offered to families participating in CollegeBound Saint Paul, the City’s college savings imitative which is providing every child born to a Saint Paul resident on or after January 1, 2020 with a college savings account and a $50 seed deposit.

Mayor Libby Schaaf was born and raised in Oakland, which she proudly describes as, “The Most unapologetic Sanctuary City in America.” Mayor Chaaf is helping launch Oakland Resilient Families, one of the largest guaranteed income pilots in the country, is now accepting applications for its East Oakland group. The pilot, a collaboration between Oakland-based nonprofit UpTogether and the national Mayors for a Guaranteed Income will provide 600 families with low incomes $500 per month for 18 months, beginning with this first group of 300 in East Oakland.

Victoria R. Woodards is an American politician serving as the 39th mayor of Tacoma, Washington. She formerly served for seven years as an at-large member of the Tacoma City Council. Working with United Way of Pierce County, Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, the Urban League, Sound Outreach, and the Tacoma Housing Authority, the city’s pilot will be called “Growing Resilience in Tacoma,” or GRIT. Over a 12-month period, GRIT will provide “at least 100 families facing poverty” a monthly stipend of $500 each.

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, and finally Income Movement. Her passion for economics, and background in technology led Stacey to the basic income community where she began to understand the larger basic income ecosystem. She subsequently founded Income Movement, and organization advocating for economic justice through fostering highly collaborative coalitions and building a grassroots movement for basic income.

Mayors for a Guaranteed Income: Rise of the Pilots