The BIG Conference kicks off the evening of Sept 16 with a screening of the first two episodes of the docuseries Bootstraps. Join us at The Tomorrow Theater in Portland, Wednesday evening and watch the powerful, moving series that follows families from across the country as they participate in a groundbreaking pilot. The local film documenting the The Nest pilot in Seattle will also be highlighted. Join us!
Join UsThe Basic Income Guarantee Conference (BIG!) is the only annual conference in the U.S. focused on all things basic income. On September 17-18, 2026 we will be celebrating our 24th BIG event, which will include collaborative sessions, panel discussions, interactive activities and highlights from Oregon cash efforts, as we dig deep into the most critical issues we face as a society, and a movement. Join us!
Join Us
Great Venue, Dynamic Speakers
The 2026 event will be hosted in the Portland, Oregon at the historic Montgomery Park. Film screenings, hikes in Forest Park, live performances, and even shopping at the Adidas store are all activities built into this year's BIG Conference. Join meaningful discussions and workshops about Participant Power Building and Public / Private Partnerships, while also having fun as you dig into the great experiences that Portland has to offer.
The BIG Conference is a dynamic two day event. See some of how we incorporate innovation and community into the our Conference design to foster meaningful experiences and conversations.
From policy efforts or pilot best practices to storytelling cohorts and artist installations, bringing a broad set of perspectives to the programming landscape is foundational to the BIG Conference.
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Lunch breaks, collaboration sessions, and receptions are planned for people from across the community to connect with each other. These are opportunities for casual conversations, networking and deeper debates about all things basic income.
Conference organizers work closely with panelists, artists and more to design sessions that allow for audience participation and interaction with the ideas being covered.
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The BIG Conference is a community designed, annual convening led by Income Movement and USBIG. These two organizations lead the fundraising, design and convening of committees necessary for the success of BIG each year.
2026 marks the 24th annual BIG Conference. This year’s BIG programming is co-designed by over 80 organizations and advocates across our broader community to collectively shape the topics, speakers and activities that will make up the two day event. The venue will include dynamic spaces to support collaborative sessions, interactive activities, practical workshops, and peer conversations alongside keynote speakers and panel discussions. We will focus on topics prioritized by the community, including: developing high impact coalitions, building on policy opportunities, building pilot participant power, intersectional justice work and and more.
The BIG Conference (formerly the North American Basic Income Guarantee (NABIG) Congress) has been held every year since 2002 with the exception of 2020, to promote networking and exchange of ideas among scholars, activists, and policy makers. The first eight Conferences were organized by the US Basic Income Guarantee Network (USBIG) in conjunction with the Eastern Economic Association meetings. Beginning with the 2010 Montreal Congress, NABIG was co-sponsored by USBIG and the Basic Income Canada Network (BICN) and alternated annually between Canada and the United States. In 2021, Income Movement joined as a key organizing entity, and the conference moved to an annual event in the United States. By 2023, the in-person convening grew to more than 350 community participants across dozens of interactive sessions, reflecting the rise of pilots across the county and the growth of basic income as a legitimate policy.
Conferences have been supported by hosts such as the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, New York City, Centre for Research in Ethics at the University of Montreal, the University of Toronto, the University of Manitoba, and McMaster University, with financial support from foundations such as the Economic Security Project, Gerald Huff Fund for Humanity, Income Movement, Aidkit and with the cooperation of other organizations including the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction, Low Income Families Together, the Roosevelt House, and the Basic Income Earth Network. As the conference has grown in recent years, it had cemented itself as a critical strategic place for building the national movement for basic income in the US.
