Courtney Martin

It was another great day of provocative conversation at ThinkXChange. Here are three of our favorite insights from the breakout group on cash transfers: “Poverty is the absence of cash flow. If you want to solve poverty, give people money. That’s it. We can solve poverty if we want to.” — Anthony Barrows, managing director …

“We can solve poverty if we want to.” Read More »

BlogOctober 17, 2019
Speakers onstage at 2019 Aspen ThinkXChange
The racial wealth gap is well-documented and undisputedly real. The median white family has 41 times more wealth than the median African-American family and 22 times more wealth than the median Latino family. And things are getting worse, not better: The proportion of black families with zero or negative wealth rose by 8.5 percent to …

Real solutions for closing the very real racial wealth gap Read More »

BlogOctober 17, 2019
We are so grateful to all of the people who offered so much wisdom over the course of our two days together for the Aspen Forum on Children and Families. From parents and neuroscientists to presidential appointees and social workers–it felt like they all pushed further into the complex and deeply worthwhile questions of how …

Great Quotes on Slaying Poverty Read More »

BlogFebruary 28, 2019
The Ascend Network is full of innovators who are boldly and creatively architecting solutions to change the financial dynamic that changes family dynamics. Here are a few we recommend following: Magnolia Mothers Trust: Ascend fellow Aisha Nyandoro is leading this first-of-its kind effort to give black mothers a guaranteed income. In a black community in …

Financial Empowerment Experiments to Watch Read More »

BlogFebruary 27, 2019
According to Ascend fellow Dr. Sarah Watamura, and the research of some of her colleagues at Stress Early Experience & Development Research Center, it’s not just your life that is permanently changed by parenthood, but also your brain. We partnered with her on this easy-to-read report on it. Meanwhile, check out some of the surprises …

3 Surprises About How Parenting Affects Your Brain Read More »

BlogFebruary 26, 2019
The 2Gen movement is being enlivened by a range of cutting-edge approaches to ending poverty so families can thrive: human-centered design, collective impact processes, even neurological research. So what makes the biggest difference? Dr. Raquel Hatter, Managing Director of Human Services at the Kresge Foundation, and the moderator for our first panel, believes it’s simple: …

Parents’ Perspectives Launch 2019 Aspen Forum on Children and Families Read More »

BlogFebruary 26, 2019