FirstRoot Participatory Budgeting Conference 2022
Collaborate to empower students around the world to use participatory budgeting to make an impact in their schools and communities!
We’re back with a Virtual and In-Person event that you do not want to miss!
Virtual – Friday, May 6th 5pm EDT – Saturday, May 7th 9am EDT
In-Person – Saturday, May 7th 9am EDT – 5pm EDT
Grand Hyatt Washington, DC
1000 H Street NW, Washington, D.C – 20001
The FirstRoot PB Conference will feature keynote speakers and engaging sessions on the topics of civics, financial literacy, community engagement, technical implementations, and more, consisting of 1-hour long online and in-person sessions over the course of 24-hours.
The conference will take place May 6th and 7th, 2022, online and in Washington, DC.
The conference is for anyone interested in making a difference in their communities through the power of collaborative financial decision making. It is an invaluable event for students, educators, and change-makers!
Why? FirstRoot is on a mission to put the power in the hands of the most important stakeholders – students! Through participatory budgeting, students have the power to make a difference not only in their schools, but also in their communities and the world at large. Power may come from money, but change comes from you!
Meet our Speakers
Whitney Quesenbery
Maryland, USA
Designing Invitations to Democracy
Whitney is passionate about democracy as a design problem and improving the voter experience. She combines a fascination with people and an obsession to communicate clearly with her goal of usable accessibility for all. As the Director of the Center for Civic Design, she is proud that the Center’s best practice guides for designing elections make it easier for voters across the country to cast a ballot.
Luke Hohmann
California, USA
Introducing Participatory Budgeting in School
Luke is one of the world’s leading experts on applying Participatory Budgeting at scale. His experience includes applying PB in large enterprises, cities such as San José, CA and Lublin, Poland, schools and families. In his keynote he shares an overview of FirstRoot and how our 5D PB process is transforming project-based learning for financial literacy, civics, and design thinking.
Laura Levine
Washington, D.C., USA
Jump$tart Coalition
Christopher Selth
Redfern, Australia
Building Local Capability
Chris Selth is a Social Entrepreneur and Co-founder of Beckon Capital. Beckon Capital is an investment management business delivering capital and capacity building to economically sustainable enterprises and projects that have direct benefit on people and communities.
Andrea Ferrero
New York, USA
Find Your Rhythm with Finance
Andrea Ferrero is the Co-Founder & Executive Director of Pockets Change, a nonprofit that builds financial skills through Hip-Hop education. She’s spent the last two decades making change in classrooms and communities around the world. Pockets Change received the 2022 Innovation in Financial Education Award from the National Jump$tart Coalition for their work helping learners of all ages find their rhythm with finance. Join Andrea for a conversation about taking care of your wants & needs.
Giovanni Allegretti
Lisbon, Portugal
Designing Invitations to Democracy
Planner and senior researcher at the Centre of Social Studies of Coimbra University, Giovanni Allegretti researches on participatory processes and insurgent citizenship practices. he coordinates the European Project “PHOENIX: the Rise of Citizens’ Voices for a Greener Europe” in 10 countries. In 2014-2019, he was co-chair of the Independent Authority for the Guarantee and Promotion of Participation of Tuscany Region (Italy). As a consultant, he works in more than 50 countries for several international institutions.
Andrew Miller
Wakefield, United Kingdom
Using Numbers to Change our Perception of the World
Andrew Miller is the founder of Business Enjoyment. A business coach, multiple author and TEDx Speaker, Andrew has significant experience in both running businesses and helping people with deep seated beliefs and emotional hangups. Most business gurus focus on building 6 or 7 figure businesses, possibly at the expense of something else. Andrew works with business owners to help them be successful and actually enjoy the journey at the same time.
Nicole Baker Fulgham
Washington, D.C., USA
Impact Investing
Nicole Baker Fulgham is the Chief Impact Officer at the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. She is a visionary leader with a track record of leading and managing innovative, transformational change with large institutions. She a passion for racial and social equity. With extensive experience ranging from the public school classroom, university level leadership, policy and research, management consulting, and national non-profit leadership, she has created, implemented and supported successful large-scale initiatives and organizations that have positively impacted the lives of students, families, and communities.
Patrick Geddes
California, USA
Transparent Investing
Patrick Geddes is the author of the book Transparent Investing, published in 2022. Patrick also co-founded the money management firm Aperio Group, which grew to $42 billion in assets by the end of 2020. He retired from his role as CEO in 2021. Prior to Aperio, Patrick was the Research Director and CFO at Morningstar. He has also taught graduate level portfolio theory at the University of California Berkeley Extension.
Amy Conrad
Colorado, USA
Rightsizing Expectations: Defining the Personal Finance Ecosystem
Amy Marty Conrad serves as the managing director, insights at the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE). Conrad spent many years overseeing K-12, college, and adult education programs, developing strategies to help educators and partners nationwide build more effective financial education classes and programs. In her work with the NEFE insights and impact team, Conrad focuses on making scholarly research useful for the work of practitioners, advocates, and other stakeholders.
Jeremy Vollen
Maroubra, Australia
Algorithmic Approaches to Participatory Budgeting
Jeremy is a current PhD student in Computer Science at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. His research lies at the intersection of algorithms and collective decision-making, with a particular focus on guaranteeing representative outcomes. Before beginning his PhD research, he assisted with research in Economics at the University of Zurich and worked as an economic consultant. He studied Computational & Applied Mathematics for his Bachelors degree at Rice University.
Greta Ríos
Empowering Citizens Through PB in Mexico City
Greta Ríos is a Mexican activist for democracy. In 2011, she founded Ollin, an NGO that works for making sure that the rule of law is the only rule that applies in Mexico. Greta and Ollin have been recognized as the leading experts in PB in Mexico City.
Aamnah Khan
New York, USA
The People’s Budget: Participatory Democracy on the Local Level
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Aamnah Khan is a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. Aamnah organizes within her own neighborhood, Kensington, focusing on the needs of immigrant women and youth. She is a recipient of programming funded through participatory budgeting and a passionate advocate. Aamnah served as a delegate, facilitator for the Arts, Culture, & Community Subcommittee, and co-chair of the District 39 Committee. She is a member of the NYC Civic Engagement Commission PB Advisory Committee.
Diana Stein
Florida, USA
The Language of Money- What is Financial Literacy ?
Diana Stein is the founder and CEO of Student Finance League, Inc. Born in Toronto, have traveled and worked in 35 countries and settling in Miami, Florida. Diana is a member of the United Nations Association, focusing on domestic violence and refugee issues. She is also a member of the South Florida Human Trafficking Task Force, New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition, Women’s Fund, Palm Beach and Broward Human Trafficking Task Force, and the Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She was endorsed by a US Presidential candidate for her work in economic education and empowerment for survivors of crime. Diana is married with 4 children (4 under 5) and lives in Miami.
Anita Lankford
Texas, USA
The Importance of Collaboration
Anita R Lankford, is an Agile Coach for USAA in San Antonio Tx. Her passion is being an includer who takes the time to hear and receive feedback from all parties involved in the project. She enjoys working on projects and helping to develop a product that customers are eagerly wanting. She is married to Sidney and has a son, Sidney Jr. Her outside activities consist of church, volunteering at the nursing home and enjoying her family.
Simone Júlio
Olhão, Portugal
Participatory Budgeting World Atlas 2020-2021
Simone Júlio holds a degree in Economics from Oporto University, a Masters in Tourism and Urban Culture from Algarve University and a Higher Education Certificate in Macroeconomics from Birkbeck University of London. She worked as an analyst for Bloomberg LP, in the London office. At OFICINA, she has dedicated a significant part of her time to the design, implementation and evaluation of participatory democracy processes and territorial and institutional planning instruments. She has collaborated in the two editions of the books Hope for Democracy and Participatory Budgeting World Atlas.
Phillip Kundishora
Zimbabwe
Participatory Budgeting in Africa, UN Habitat Report
In response to increasing requests from African cities, UN-HABITAT, in partnership with Environnement et Développement du TiersMonde ENDA-Ecopop (Senegal), the Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa (Zimbabwe), and El Centro Internacional de Gestión Urbana (Ecuador), is working toward building the capacity of local governments in Africa for the introduction and application of participatory budgeting.
JOIN US!
Register below for virtual or in-person tickets.
The FirstRoot Participatory Budgeting Conference is a diverse, inclusive, accessible, and equitable event where all speakers, staff, volunteers, and participants whatever their gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, sexual orientation or identity, education or disability, feels valued and respected. We respect and value diverse life experiences and heritages and ensure that all voices are valued and heard. We’re committed to modeling diversity and inclusion for the entire participatory budgeting movement, and to maintaining an inclusive environment with equitable treatment for all.