In a time when people’s trust in democracy is being deeply challenged, we are excited to be able to increase our work to support new participatory processes across the South.

Southern communities are among the hardest hit with legislation aiming to limit democratic involvement, such as the restrictions on voter participation in North Carolina that were struck down by the Supreme Court last year as racially motivated. Participatory budgeting enables communities to articulate and organize around their priorities and fosters communication in important ways.

Thanks to a grant from the Fund for Democratic Communities, PBP will be able to focus on connecting with Southern communities to grow more participatory budgeting processes!

To do this work, PBP has hired Valerie Warren, a longtime community organizer with extensive project and campaign management experience. She will be providing technical assistance to the city of Greensboro, NC as they embark on their second PB cycle. In addition, she will be developing relationships and providing trainings and technical assistance to communities interested in implementing PB.

The first training to be offered will be PB as a Campaign Tool, which will be taking place on March 7 from 6:30 – 8 pm (ET). If you are interested in this training, please register here. This training will take place online, and is for people familiar with participatory budgeting who would like to learn more about how to use it within a campaign. The webinar will feature speakers with experience in bringing PB to their communities and highlight the many resources PBP has available.

Register for the webinar now!