Next Steps with the Multidimensional Aspects of Poverty Project

The next few months are going to be exciting ones for the Multidimensional Aspects of Poverty (MAP) project, and we want to take a moment to let everyone know what is going on and how you can get involved.

What’s coming up?

On March 27, three years of research and hard work including hundreds of people in six areas across the US will culminate with the release of the results of the MAP research.  Our report, titled “Pushed to the Bottom: the Experience of Poverty in the United States,” brings an important new voice to discussions of poverty in our country.

The release will be accompanied by an event at The New School in New York City. Organized in partnership with Equity for Children, the event will bring together academics, activists, practitioners, and policymakers for an evening of presentations and discussion around the aspects of poverty in the United States. The first half of the event will be live-streamed to the ATD US Facebook page, and we hope that everyone who cannot join us in New York will participate online.

The following week, on April 4, Harvard University will host a similar discussion, with participation from members of the US MAP national research team, activists from partner nonprofits, and professors from local universities.

On April 18, our partners at the St. Mary’s Center in Oakland will bring the MAP report to the west coast. This event will complement the work they are already undertaking with the city, county, and state legislatures to pass resolutions acknowledging the importance of multidimensional poverty and recognizing the MAP Project as key to understanding poverty in the United States.

On May 10, our colleagues at ATD International will be releasing the global findings with a seminar at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. This multi-lingual seminar will bring together experts from across the international development world. Large portions will be live streamed online, and representatives from the US MAP research will be traveling to Paris to participate.

And then wrapping up a Spring full of events, on June 8, MAP will come to New Orleans for an event at the Global Green Community and Climate Action Center.

How can you be involved?

The only limit to what the MAP project can become is how much effort and energy we have to put into it.  We can change the way we understand poverty in America - but it’s going to take all of us working together.

The first step is to download the report, to read it, to react to it - we have to make sure as many people read it as possible. To download the report, on March 27 visit https://atdfourthworld-usa.org/map. Don’t worry, we’ll be sending out emails that day to remind everyone.

If you live in an area where a MAP event is already being organized, please come out and invite your friends, colleagues, family members, and elected representatives to come too.

If there is no MAP event in your area, why not organize one? This project won’t end on June 8, and we are actively exploring further events in other cities across the US and online. Do you know a group in your area that might be interested in joining in? That you think might benefit from hearing about the MAP research? Shoot Dave an email at Dmeyer[at]4thworldmovement.org and we can talk about how to set something up.

Are you feeling inspired by the political work being done in Oakland? Let us know and we would be happy to share a copy of the draft resolution they have introduced and to reflect on how we can pass similar resolutions elsewhere.

And of course, all of this will mean a big push to get as many people as possible to visit the report website (coming soon!) and download the report, and that means we need your voices on social media. We are in the process of putting together a social media guide, and starting March 27 we will be sharing this report and what we’ve learned in as many ways and on as many platforms as we can.  Interested in getting involved? Check out the social media guide here.

The next few months will be full of exciting events, marking the end of one phase of the MAP project and the beginning of a new one. We hope you’ll join us for what is definitely going to be an exciting time!