19th Annual NABIG Congress Schedule

Opening Remarks & Mayors for a Guaranteed Income: Rise of the Pilots

During this Keynote Session, hear from a Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI) coalition 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.
Speakers: Mayor Libby Schaaf, Mayor Victoria Woodards, Mayor Melvin Carter, and Saadia McConville, Director of Communications

Opening Reception

Giving attendees and panelists the opportunity to mingle, network and engage in deeper conversations is key experience in any conference. Join us on Kumospace and connect with people in the basic income community. During this Opening Reception we have one room with an Artist Gallery where you can look at art related to or inspired by basic income and talk to the artists themselves. The link to the Kumospace for our event is in emails sent to registrants. See you there!

Inherent Good Film Screening & Filmmakers' Circle

In 2017, filmmakers Steve Borst, Rennie Soga, Chris Panizzon and Trae Crowder set off to make a film about universal basic income. They documented stories across the south, from small town Celina, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi to highlight the power of monthly cash. Watch this important film, then be part of a special panel discussion with the filmmakers.
Speakers: Rennie Soga, Steve Borst, Trae Crowder

The Ethical & Legal Pitfalls of Basic Income Pilots: A Case Study from Ontario

This round table discussion will review the ethics surrounding the launch, roll-out and cancellation of the Ontario Pilot and discuss what legal protections should be in place to protect future pilot participants.
Speakers: Craig Foye, Dana Bowman, Mike Perry

From Nairobi to Swansea: International Perspectives on the Basic Income Movement

An international panel will share their findings and experiences with basic advocacy and pilot programs in their respective nations.
Speakers: Beth Martin, Kendal David, Caroline Teti, Jonathan Williams

Feminism, UBI and the Politics of Caring Labor

How would a Universal Basic Income impact the movement for women’s equality? Choosing policy interventions to close the gender gap must consider that women still disproportionately bear the burden of childcare and other caring labour.
Speakers: Anca Gheaus, John Walker, Serkan Simsir

Economic and Ethical Arguments for Basic income

Basic income is defended, in one paper, as a superior mechanism for financial stability compared with existing macroeconomic policies; and in the other paper, as a more egalitarian and freedom-supporting form of property ownership than contemporary capitalism. Short paper presentations followed by discussion with the audience.
Speakers: Alex Howlett, Karl Widerquist

The Art of Storytelling: Personal Stories and Basic Income

Academics and activists discuss the importance of telling personal stories in basic income advocacy. Featuring recently released and forthcoming books on Basic Income.
Speakers: Dr. Evelyn L. Forget, Elaine Power, Hannah Owczar, Jamie Swift, Leah Barrett Werner

UBI 101

Designed to present the fundamentals of universal basic income guarantee policies, this panel will offer a general definition of UBI, a survey of the most common variants, a brief overview of its history, and a summary of the most common arguments both for and against basic income policies. The major part of the session will involve fielding questions from the audience.
Speakers: Michael Anthony Lewis, Soomi Lee

Quebec and Atlantic Canada: evidence of employment commitment under the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit; From Social Tax Expenditures to Basic Income

Papers to be presented:
‍Examining productive activities while receiving the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) in Atlantic Canada: Implications for Employment Commitment and a Universal Basic Income [Pascoe-Deslauriers]

Social protection and tax expenditures in Quebec: an assessment of the current state of affairs [Provencher]

Case Study Pilot During COVID

Gabe Scheck, Chief Advancement Officer from LIFT, will share the team’s learnings from providing integrated financial, education and employment coaching along with direct unrestricted cash payments to families.
Speakers: Gabe Scheck, Helah Robinson

Activism as Art

In this presentation, artist and activist Keiko Sono will look at different genres of art such as Social Practice Art, Community Art, Political Arts and connect how UBI advocacy could fit into these frameworks. The goal is to open up possibilities for deeper expression of advocacy, outreach to the general public, access to funding, and more.
Speaker: Keiko Sono

Lunch and Networking

Join us on Kumospace and chat with other conference attendees about the amazing sessions you participated in during the first hours of the conference. This is a fun, casual space to network and hear more from fellow audience members and panelists.

KEYNOTE: The Intersectionality of Basic Income

In this important and timely panel discussion, we will focus on the intersectionality of basic income with the social and environmental justice work happening across North America to inspire deeper collaboration and coalition building as we fight for economic justice and an income floor for all to stand on.
Opening Remarks: Annamie Paul Speakers:, Mitchell Beer, Sheila Regehr, Amy Durrence, Rev. Liz Theoharis

Empowering Investments in our Futures: The Youth Case for Basic Income

Through this interactive workshop, the Basic Income Canada Youth Network will discuss the importance of basic income to youth and why engaging them is essential to the movement.
Speakers: Chloe Halpenny, Hannah Owczar, Kendal David, Melanie Davis, Shelby Downe, Walid Herzallah

Micro Pilots: Grassroots Led Direct Cash Demonstrations

Basic income pilots don’t have to be massive efforts led by elected leaders or large foundations. Small, micro-pilots have sprung up across the country, led by individuals who feel compelled to help their community members with direct cash. Hear from two grassroots community members who have led such efforts and get inspired!
Speakers: Anna Young, Sylvester Ani Jr.

Visual Storytelling and Building the Movement: Filmmakers’ Forum

Film is a powerful tool for telling the stories that motivate grassroots growth and political engagement on any topic. Basic income has been the subject of multiple film projects over the last three years. Hear from the filmmakers behind the documentaries Inherent Good and My Yang Gang Diary, as well as the docuseries Bootstraps, as they talk about the process and inspiration they experienced while creating these important films.
Speakers: Deia Schlosberg, Conrad Shaw, Chris Panizzon, Ching Juhl

Approach and Experience: High Impact Grassroots Organizing

Learn more about the philosophy and approach for high impact grassroots organizing and hear from organizers on the ground as they talk through their past event organizing and best practices for engaging local communities in the movement for basic income.
Speakers: Stacey Rutland, Sass

Artists Now! Artists and Guaranteed Income Pilots

In this session we will hear from Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) in San Francisco and Springboard for the Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota who have both launched guaranteed income pilots focused on artists. Together, with artists, they will explore ways in which to truly include artists at the table when designing basic income programs, whether targeted toward artists or universal.
Speakers: Deborah Cullinan, Laura Zabel

From Idea to Reality: Getting to Guaranteed Income

Recent research of The Jain Family Institute focusing on 1. the identification and disbursement architecture to implement a federal basic income policy; 2. the role of basic income policies and which existing programs they can and cannot replace. Discussion between authors and other experts in the field
Speakers: Elaine Magg, Stephen Charles Nuñez, Sidhya Balakrishnan, Matt Darling

KEYNOTE: Pilots, Data and the Drive Towards Cash Policies

Reports from the field of current and past UBI pilots inform a more general discussion of the role of UBI pilots in informing organizing, advocacy, and policy-making efforts.
Speakers: Amy Baker, Dr. Sarah Cowan, Stacia West, Adam Roseman, Dr. Evelyn Forget

Social Hour & Networking

This is an opportunity to have follow up conversations with panelists and audience members from some of the sessions that most excited you. During this hour, you can also join Antonios Triantafyllakis in a Writing Workshop: Future Stories. Find the room in Kumospace and get creative with other attendees.