Over 13 million Americans have zero or negative wealth, and vast racial inequities in wealth persist. Baby Bonds are a way to ensure every young adult has some wealth to invest in their future. Baby bonds are publicly funded trust accounts established at birth for children, particularly those from low-wealth families. Upon reaching adulthood, beneficiaries can use the funds for purposes such as education, homeownership, or entrepreneurship.

Connecticut was the first state to create a Baby Bonds wealth building initiative. In this episode, we hear from two guests. One is David Radcliffe, who was the policy director for the Office of Connecticut State Treasurer, where he championed implementation of the first-in-the-country “Baby Bonds” program. David grew up in a small factory town in the Appalachian foothills of western Pennsylvania. David is now the State and Local Policy Director with the New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy.

And the second guest is Amit Khanduri, Director of Programs at the Georgia Resilience & Opportunity (GRO) Fund, where he leads efforts to narrow wealth inequality in Georgia — including through GRO’s Baby Bonds program. In Georgia, an accelerated baby bonds program has launched where young adults receive an investable lump sum (“Baby Bond”), a $500/month guaranteed income, and financial advising services.

In this premiere episode of our Real Solutions podcast series we hear from 10 leading advocates from organizations around the country fighting for a fair and just society! In the three-part conversation, the speakers delve into three critical questions:

• In a moment of such dramatic attacks on communities and public institutions, why not just focus on defense? What is the power of putting forward real solutions even when it may feel impossible to achieve them?
• What are real solutions and what values do they need to embody? What ‘north star’ vision of the future do they move us towards?
• How do we need to organize differently to advance real solutions in this moment? Who is the ‘we’ that needs to be activated?

Guests include: Christina Livingston, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment; Gordon Mar, National Union of Healthcare Workers; Ivan Luevanos-Elms, Local Progress; Irene Kao, Courage California; Lucas Grindley, Next City; Rithika Ramamurthy, Climate & Community Institute; Saqib Bhatti, Action Center on Race & Economy; Sara Hudson, Nonprofit Quarterly; Tony Samara, Right to the City; and Zach Lou, California Green New Deal Coalition