Leah Hamilton will present both quantitative and qualitative findings from interviews with participants of a unique 5-year basic income pilot taking place in New York - HudsonUP. Sid Frankel will present the Canadian experience with the strategic use of basic income pilots to advocate for a basic income policy. The presentations will be followed by a discussion of the specific features of pilots most useful to such advocacy efforts, the key lessons learned from past advocacy efforts, the unique role the findings from such studies have had on past and current policy drives, and special considerations for designing effective basic income programs.

Sid Frankel is an associate professor in the Faculty of Social Work at the University of Manitoba, with research interests in poverty reduction policy (including basic income) and the non-profit sector.  He is a board member of the Basic Income Canada Network and a founding board member of Basic Income Manitoba. Recent publications include Frankel, S. (forthcoming).  Poverty, the pandemic and human rights, Canadian Human Rights Yearbook and Frankel, S. (2020). Basic Income Advocacy in Canada: Multiple Streams, Experiments and the Road Ahead. In Richard K, Caputo and Larry Liu (Eds.)Political Activism and Basic Income Guarantee International Experiences and Perspectives Past, Present, and Near Future. (pp. 139–162). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43904-0_8.

Leah Hamilton, Appalachian State University

Leah Hamilton, MSW, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Appalachian State University, Senior Fellow at the Jain Family Institute, and Faculty Affiliate at the Social Policy Institute of Washington University in St. Louis. She teaches social welfare policy and conducts research related to economic justice and basic income. Her book, Welfare Doesn't Work: The Promises of Basic Income for a Failed American Safety Net was released by Palgrave MacMillan in 2020. Currently, Dr. Hamilton is Principal Investigator for basic/guaranteed income pilots in Hudson, NY and Atlanta, GA.

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Pilots Informing Policy - Case Studies from the Field