About Us

Who We Are

The Community Partnership Group (CPG) is a diverse collective of activists from across the United States who partner with nonprofits, administering agencies, and policymakers to ensure that their work is grounded in the expertise of people directly impacted by poverty and/or anti-poverty policies (e.g., the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP). Each member of the CPG has developed their expertise through direct experience with public benefits programs—whether through participation or discriminatory exclusion—and their ongoing advocacy to eliminate poverty and barriers to access and inclusion within their communities.  The CPG was convened by independent consultants and staff on the Income and Work Supports  team at CLASP with an aim of dismantling the transactional and often traumatizing relationship between people with lived experiences of poverty and the government agencies and non-profit partners designed to support them. The CPG rejects systems rooted in oppression, classism, and white supremacy, instead centering equity through collectivism and co-creation. We believe that achieving transformational, anti-racist policy change is only possible when impacted people occupy positions of leadership and share systemic power.

What We Do 

The full CPG meets regularly to share new work opportunities, update one another about existing projects, and build community. Members of the CPG maintain relationships previously built as independent contractors, work full-time or part-time with other organizations, partner with staff at CLASP, and consult with other groups as a collective. For example, the CPG received funding to participate on an advisory committee with Share Our Strength, the American Public Health Services Administration, and other national advocacy organizations to provide guidance to states to better connect SNAP and WIC agency administrators and clients while centering the lived expertise of those who access these programs. Additionally, the CPG is working to develop a bold anti-poverty policy agenda grounded in the wisdom, insights, and expertise of people with lived experiences of poverty and benefits programs. This project will involve collaborating with community-based organizations across the nation to co-design and facilitate peer groups that explore what programs might be included in an equitable social safety net that centers Black, Indigenous, and other people of color harmed by discriminatory policies and strives to eliminate, rather than just alleviate, poverty. Examples of other projects or activities members work on include: 

• Designing, hosting, and/or participating in public presentations, facilitated discussions, listening sessions, peer groups, or webinars related to benefits access and other anti-poverty issues or policies of interest.
• Authoring blogs, briefs, or reports on anti-poverty issues or policies of interest. 
• Evaluating both internal and public-facing materials to ensure that they honor lived experiences of poverty. 
• Consulting with external partners on efforts to incorporate people with lived experiences of poverty into their policy work and practices.

CPG Members

Alice Aluoch is the director, membership and development at Global Health Council. She has over 10 years’ experience working on different continents in technology, nonprofit sector, health advocacy, and social justice. Prior to joining GHC, she served as a senior associate for grassroots expansion at RESULTS, managing the onboarding and welcoming of new advocates to the organization, starting new RESULTS advocacy chapters, and developing partnerships with like-minded organizations working on global health. She also led RESULTS efforts to elevate voices of people with lived experience of poverty with a particular focus on the African Diaspora community. In that role she led and developed the RESULTS African Leadership Cohort, which is aimed at increasing the African Diaspora representation through new advocate recruitment and leadership development. The cohort provides critical feedback and direction on ways to improve RESULTS global campaigns and consists of members from different countries including Nigeria, Kenya, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. Alice has significant expertise in building relationships with elected officials and has lobbied directly with Congress to secure numerous co-sponsorships on critical domestic and foreign-assistance focused bills. She is also a founder of Mfariji Africa, a nonprofit organization in Kenya focused on creating awareness about menstrual and reproductive rights for girls.

Barbie Izquierdo is an award-winning activist and national spokesperson with lived expertise trailblazing in the movement to fight the exploitation of people of color who have been affected by public policy. She currently is the community empowerment manager at Hunger Free America. Barbie is an expert on food insecurity and other social justice issues, an advocate, organizer, and consultant providing technical support on the engagement and inclusion of people with lived experiences. With a background of 14 years in this work, she has shared insight and storytelling regarding poverty, included in the call-to-action documentary “A Place at the Table.” She has used her lived experience and advocacy journey as a catalyst for policy change, and her mission is to help uplift dignity and bring equity into the frameworks used by policymakers, non-profit organizations, and government entities that decide the fate and “how-to” for communities with low incomes. Global Citizen, which is the world’s largest movement of action takers and impact makers dedicated to ending extreme poverty, selected Barbie as the recipient of the 2022 Global Citizen Prize: Citizen Award USA. Finally, Barbie takes pride in providing impactful public speaking driven by vulnerability, truth, and authenticity to empower and motivate thought leaders and organizations to action.

Tamika Moore is a New Jersey native who has spread her passion for youth empowerment through her non-profit organization VisionWorkz. Her mission is to help guide, inspire, and empower LGBTQ youth to see their true potential and value. She pushes to provide healthy and safe avenues for teens and adolescents to release their emotions on a creative and functional basis. Tamika has travelled the East Coast delivering her global vision of bringing the input of young people to the forefront for legislative changes involving education, programs for teens, and poverty. Tamika contributed to the LGBT curriculum in New Jersey and believes in helping to establish core values like financial literacy and professional development to help kids feel secure about themselves and their future.