Participatory Budgeting Workshop

June 2023 Workshop Postponed

Participatory budgeting (PB) is a form of decision making that grants everyday people control over a portion of a public budget. Although most often adopted by cities, PB can be used in any organization that has a budget: schools, nonprofits, government entities, and even businesses. In this half-day workshop, attendees will learn the basics of PB and how it can be used to promote social equity, increase organizational transparency, and increase stakeholders’ trust in your organization. The workshop provides hands-on learning through a mock PB process, and participants will leave equipped with tools to implement PB in their organizations.

Learning outcomes:

1. By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to define participatory budgeting and its essential steps
2. By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to discuss how participatory budgeting could benefit their organization/community
3. By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to compare and contrast a participatory budgeting process to other public budgeting processes

Workshop Host

Vincent Russell, PhD

Vincent Russell, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at Western Carolina University. Prior to entering academia, he was a community organizer who led the first successful grassroots campaign to implement participatory budgeting in the United States. That work garnered national attention, including an invitation to the White House from then-President Barack Obama’s administration. Now an award-winning scholar and educator, Vincent specializes in communication activism research and teaches courses on intercultural communication, interpersonal communication, public speaking, and organizing for social change.