People's Budget Chicago

How can budget processes bring neighbors together to build a shared vision for the future?

Participatory budgeting can take many forms – and has across the world. But when we set the goal to move beyond public input, and build a shared sense of belonging and ownership over a community's future, we can realize the power of public processes to activate civic renewal.

Community budgeting, where people come together to debate, deliberate, and talk about the vision and priorities they have for the future can create a powerful lever to grow civic trust.

Our model for community budgeting was developed by Niketa Brar during her leadership at Chicago United for Equity, and is now taught in policy programs and has been replicated in multiple cities.

Methods:

Engagement Design, focused on neighborhoods with lowest Childhood Opportunity Index scores, places with the deepest harm - and greatest knowledge - of public disinvestment.
Facilitation Design & Training, including ongoing support for a team of community facilitators across age and language for wide participation.
Data Collection & Storytelling, tracking votes across communities and producing written, audio, and video storytelling.
Co-Governance, built an ongoing feedback loop. First, we built The People's Budget Council, comprised of 2 local residents elected from each session. Next, they worked with City Councilmembers to develop a budget subcommittee for monthly reporting on the use of public dollars during the pandemic -- which also defined and required public testimony from community groups on the same topic.

This project was produced by Chicago United for Equity, with a small team of Senior Fellows. Visual design was led by Paola Aguirre (Borderless Studio) who remains a friend and ongoing collaborator with For the Many Strategies. The project's logo was designed by Kana Wakai.

This project was made possible through philanthropic support from The Chicago Community Trust. This video offers visuals of the Block Party games and strategies in action.

Part of this project's aim was to create a toolkit to replicate and grow Block Parties. This video was created to support the training resources provided, which also included guides for planning, set-up, and facilitation.

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