Module 6: Building a wellbeing economy movement
Creating space for imagination, co-creation and experimentation
When working towards a wellbeing economy, it isn’t always clear which strategies or interventions will work or not. It asks for combining imagination, co-creation, experimentation, and ongoing learning and evaluation. This is exactly what the Washington Economic Justice Alliance set out to do, in their mission to advance equitable economic systems in Washington State.
“The rippling effects of poverty—such as homelessness, addiction, and mental illness — were on the rise and becoming increasingly more visible. Something needed to change.”
— Washington Economic Justice Alliance
The Washington Economic Justice Alliance started with imagination, creating a bold vision for dismantling poverty, led by those with lived experiences, which was then turned into a 10-year plan. From there, co-creation saw people with lived experience, grassroots leaders, and policymakers come together to co-design strategies that address the root causes of the problem, like undoing structural racisms, rebalancing power, decriminalising poverty and increasing economic opportunity. Experimentation meant that Alliance partners took 270 actions to implement the 10-Year Plan, with cross-system impacts in health and human services, employment and training, tax policy, higher education, childcare and more. Weaving through it all is ongoing learning and evaluation, through stories shared, data distilled, and lessons incorporated to sharpen the Alliance’s impact. And with tangible results! Trends show accelerated progress in closing economic wellbeing gaps for Indigenous, Black and Brown Washingtonians, children, and rural communities.
Case Study
Click on the Case Study card to explore how the Washington Economic Justice Alliance doesn't just talk transformation, but builds it - one imaginative leap at a time.
