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This Aspen Institute report, “FROM THE BOTTOM UP: Toward a Strategy for Income and Employment Generation Among the Disadvantaged,” by Fred O’Regan and Maureen Conway (March 1993), details an interim study on local programs aimed at poverty alleviation and employment generation in the United States. Key areas covered in the report include:
- Background and Purpose: The report argues for proactive policy measures and direct program interventions to address poverty and unemployment, emphasizing that poverty alleviation is intrinsically linked to economic growth and competitiveness. It introduces the Local Employment Approaches for the Disadvantaged (LEAD) program, an action-research initiative to learn from existing successful local programs.
- Major Assistance Strategies: It categorizes existing local initiatives into four main areas:
- Self-Employment: Discusses microenterprise programs that provide credit and/or training to individuals who cannot access conventional financial services, targeting the working poor, unemployed, and AFDC recipients.
- Employment Promotion and Preparation: Examines programs focused on job training and referral, primarily serving the persistently unemployed and at-risk youth, and AFDC recipients. This includes competency-based skills training, enterprise-related training (businesses that also serve as training centers), and outreach/counseling/referral programs.
- Employment Creation/Retention: Explores initiatives that create jobs directly or indirectly, such as community enterprises (businesses started to employ disadvantaged individuals), business incubators, industrial retention programs, and flexible manufacturing networks.
- Business Related Community Finance: Addresses the critical credit gap for small and micro-businesses and community enterprises, showcasing non-profit revolving loan funds and regulated lenders like community development credit unions and community banks.
- Initial Findings and Characteristics of Success: The report highlights that successful programs view disadvantaged citizens as potential producers and owners, linking poverty alleviation directly to broader economic development. These programs often evolve into “development systems,” are sector and market-based, strive for sustainability, and promote synergy among clients. Critical success factors include exceptional leadership (“social entrepreneurs”), patience in development (programs take years to mature), and appropriate, flexible financial and technical assistance.
- Support Strategies and Next Steps: The report discusses strategies for expanding, linking, replicating, and creating new programs. It advocates for a decentralized, regionally focused approach to assistance, arguing against a “cookie-cutter” national model. It suggests that the Federal government should act as a catalyst and facilitator rather than a chief implementor, leveraging resources through partnerships with private and philanthropic sectors. The LEAD Program’s next steps involve further case studies, examining intermediary models, and regional meetings to define a national strategy.
The report emphasizes that there is no single “silver bullet” for poverty alleviation due to the diversity of client needs and local contexts. It stresses the importance of capacity building, information dissemination, and continued innovation in the field.
