Empowerment in Action: The Journey of How the Community Partnership Group Redefines Anti-Poverty Policy Through Lived Experience
By Parker Gilkesson Davis, Teon Hayes, Jesse Fairbanks, and CPG members Alice Aluoch, Barbie Izquierdo, and Tamika Moore
In the often-exclusive policy landscape of Washington, D.C., the Community Partnership Group (CPG) at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) seeks to change how policy is made and implemented. The CPG, a peer cohort of activists with lived experience navigating or being excluded from benefits programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), embodies the famous quote by Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley:
“The people closest to the pain should be the closest to the power, driving and informing the policymaking.”
In 2019, CLASP sought to shift its work on public benefits to incorporate the perspectives and leadership of activists with lived experience navigating or being excluded from programs. This became the Community Partnership Group or CPG. This decision represented a new direction not just for CLASP, which wanted to change how policy was made and implemented, but an overall policy landscape that too often excludes the voices of those with lived experience. Comprised of individuals who have firsthand knowledge of poverty’s challenges, the CPG works closely with CLASP staff to shape policy and advocate for centering people with lived experience in the policy advocacy ecosystem. The group’s consistent collaboration rejects a deficit-based approach, which treats people living in poverty as a problem to be solved, and instead embodies an asset-based approach that values the insights and capabilities of those directly affected by poverty.
Traditionally, funding and policy decisions have often been dictated by external funders who, despite their best intentions, may not fully grasp the nuanced realities and strengths of those living in poverty. These approaches tend to focus on the limitations or needs of individuals without recognizing their existing assets and potential. An asset-based approach, however, recognizes and values the inherent strengths, insights, and capabilities of individuals directly affected by poverty. This paradigm shift is critical, as it empowers individuals as co-creators of the policies and practices that affect their lives, rather than viewing them merely as recipients of aid. Guided by a vision for community engagement that centers collaboration, the CPG aims to influence funders and policymakers to rethink how they support communities. Instead of imposing solutions, the asset-based approach involves listening to and learning from those with lived experiences to design interventions that are not only effective but also sustainable and respectful of the community’s own goals and visions.
This paper is not just the story of the CPG; it is a celebration of resilience, a testament to unity in diversity, and an ode to the relentless pursuit of equity. It traces the CPG’s journey from inception to impact and highlights not just what the group does but why it matters. This paper also examines the inevitable challenges and hard lessons that come with building something new and calls for a future where people experiencing poverty are at the center of the policy decisions that affect their lives. The CPG believes that meaningful partnerships between allies and impacted people that reject classism, racism, and other harmful systemic injustices serve as the bedrock of all successful efforts to advance economic and racial justice. Through healing-centered relationships with community members, advocates and policymakers can advance policies that are both effective and equitable, sustainable and liberatory.