November Newsletter

November Update

Guaranteed Income in Birmingham, AL

Last week, the Birmingham City Council approved the Embrace Mothers guaranteed income pilot program, spearheaded by Mayor Randall Woodfin and his team, that is designed to provide $375 a month for a year to 110 female-identifying heads of households. Single-mother households represent about 60% of all City of Birmingham households with children.

In a country where nearly 40% of Americans cannot afford a single $400 emergency — and rising income inequality is compounded by a growing racial wealth gap — Birmingham is one of more than 60 cities across the country to partner with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) to launch guaranteed income pilot programs in their communities.

We are proud to have partnered with MGI to connect them with mayors in our network interested in establishing local guaranteed income pilot programs, including Birmingham. MGI offers technical assistance, communications support, and seed funding to establish pilots. Be sure to follow MGI's work, and let us know if you are interested in establishing a similar program in your city!

Angeleno Connect

Last March, we collaborated with our co-founder Mayor Eric Garcetti, our friends at Mastercard City Possible, and the Mayor's Fund for Los Angeles to create the Angeleno Card Initiative, which provided direct financial assistance to Angelenos who lost jobs or incomes as a result of the pandemic. By the program's end in June 2020, we provided $36,753,800 via 37,841 “Angeleno Cards” — Mastercard no-fee, prepaid debit cards — to help 104,156 Angelenos. The program's success led us to partner with the Open Society Foundations to replicate the program into 10 additional communities nationwide.

Now, the Angeleno Card has evolved into the Angeleno Connect debit card and mobile app program in Los Angeles. In partnership with Mastercard and MoCaFi, the City of Los Angeles can use Angeleno Connect accounts to disburse financial assistance directly to residents, connect people to city services, and offer free financial services to Angelenos without a bank account. Learn more here, and let us know if you're interested in exploring how a program like this could work in your city.

Congratulations to:

  • Mayors Tishaura Jones, Lori Lightfoot, London Breed, LaToya Cantrell, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Vi Lyles, Muriel Bowser, and Kim Janey for last week's New York Time's feature citing their leadership, the barriers they've had to break through as Black women in government, and the inspiration they provide to millions. Read more: These 8 Black Women Run Some of the Biggest U.S. Cities.

  • Our Advisory Council Chair Mayor Eric Garcetti for last week's launch of the Basic Income Guaranteed: L.A. Economic Assistance Pilot (BIG:LEAP) program, which will provide more than 3,200 households in Los Angeles with an unconditional $1,000 per month for one year. Learn more here.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT


And keep following us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram as we create national change from the ground up, from coast to coast.

Aaron Thomas
President and CEO | Accelerator for America

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