Over the past several years, Loren Dalbert has led and co-designed initiatives that showcase effective community engagement in addressing economic insecurity solutions. These projects illustrate the potential of treating lived experience as expertise and highlight the importance of supporting communities with the necessary resources to research and design their own solutions, such as guaranteed income pilot programs.
This infographic provides a visual overview of the first year of the East Contra Costa Mobility LABs initiative.
It highlights the early stages of community engagement, including the development of partnerships, leadership development among residents, and the creation of spaces where community members could share their experiences and ideas.
The infographic captures how the initiative began building a sense of belonging and inclusion, laying the groundwork for future work focused on community power and policy innovation.
Year One of the East Contra Costa Mobility LABs initiative focused on building relationships, trust, and a sense of belonging among community members and partners.
Residents participated in listening sessions, workshops, and collaborative gatherings designed to create space for people to share their experiences and explore the challenges affecting economic mobility in their community.
During this first year, Loren Dalbert joined the initiative as a community participant.
Through his engagement and leadership within the group, he transitioned into the role of Program Manager, helping guide the next phase of the work.
The foundation built during Year One created the conditions for deeper community leadership and participatory policy design in the years that followed.
In Year Two, the initiative shifted from relationship-building toward strengthening community power and autonomy.
Residents began participating in structured community engagement and participatory research processes designed to explore solutions to economic instability in the region.
Through these conversations, community members identified basic income as a potential strategy to address financial insecurity.
These discussions led to the creation of Comment Studio, a community-driven research and policy design process that allowed residents to participate directly in shaping policy ideas.
Comment Studio used listening sessions, focus groups, surveys, and collaborative design workshops to generate insights grounded in lived experience.
Year Three focused on turning community ideas into action.
Through Comment Studio and ongoing community engagement, residents collaborated to design and launch the CoCo Go BIG guaranteed income pilot.
This phase of the initiative demonstrated how community-driven research could translate into real policy innovation.
In addition to launching the pilot, community leaders and partners organized a countywide guaranteed income campaign that successfully advocated for expanded investment in economic security programs.
The campaign resulted in a major policy milestone: Contra Costa County committed $4.25 million in public funding to expand guaranteed income pilots across the county.
Before launching the CoCo Go BIG pilot, community organizations conducted extensive engagement with residents across Contra Costa County.
This research included listening sessions, focus groups, and surveys that gathered insights from hundreds of community members about their experiences with financial insecurity.
Participants described how economic instability affects not only their ability to meet basic needs but also their mental health, family stability, and ability to participate fully in community life. Guaranteed Income Pilot Report-…
The findings helped shape the design of the guaranteed income pilot and demonstrated strong community support for programs that provide direct financial support.
The CoCo Go BIG guaranteed income pilot emerged from community research and engagement conducted through Comment Studio.
The pilot tested how direct cash support could help residents improve financial stability and well-being.
Participants received recurring monthly payments designed to help cover essential expenses and reduce financial stress.
The evaluation report documents the pilot’s design, implementation, and early insights, as well as the broader community engagement process that informed the program.
The report also highlights how community voices played a central role in shaping the pilot and advocating for broader investment in guaranteed income initiatives.
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