I was so excited to connect with Jennifer Lumpkin and Molly Martin for this episode. Molly and Jennifer both work for a project called PB Cle, which was designed to create a structure where the federal pandemic money given to Cleveland could be determined how to be used by Clevelanders themselves through a process called Participatory Budgeting (PB).

What's so cool about this process is that it's a tried-and-true structure that can be used at any level: from giant municipalities working with millions of dollars down to your own classroom because, perhaps, you're budgeting for time and energy and not necessarily money. 

We get into the specifics and also the philosophy of Participatory Budgeting-- the importance of expanding democracy, creating equity, flattening power structures. 

Take a listen to these two community organizing powerhouse women and get inspired to take even the smallest actions in your own learning spaces or municipalities to expand democracy. Especially in a world where it feels our democracy is becoming increasingly unstable. The time is now!

Show links

Jennifer Lumpkin is a community organizer and supporter in coalitions and efforts across the City of Cleveland. Jennifer founded Creative Community Builders, LLC in 2016 after organizing in Cleveland and Washington, D.C. with a foundation on legacy farming and intercultural solidarity. Her organizing and partnership practice, My Grow Connect, is rooted in supporting the development of sustainable communities through creative relationship building, cultural organizing and mindful resource connections.

Molly Martin works for the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless to support the organization’s advocacy and organizing work and their mission to eliminate the root causes of homelessness. Molly grew up in Cleveland and is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She is passionate about homeless civil rights, housing justice, and deepening anti-racist commitment through policy advocacy and community organizing. She is an Advisory Board Member of Cleveland VOTES, a democracy-building organization strengthening our community’s civic muscle, and she is a Coordinating Committee Member of Participatory Budgeting Cleveland, a grassroots coalition of Cleveland residents actively organizing for a participatory budgeting process in Cleveland.

Jennifer Lumpkin is a community organizer and supporter in coalitions and efforts across the City of Cleveland. Jennifer founded Creative Community Builders, LLC in 2016 after organizing in Cleveland and Washington, D.C. with a foundation on legacy farming and intercultural solidarity. Her organizing and partnership practice, My Grow Connect, is rooted in supporting the development of sustainable communities through creative relationship building, cultural organizing and mindful resource connections.