Who are the Experts on Poverty?
RESULTS launched our Experts on Poverty program in 2015. The program includes a cohort of individuals with lived/living experiences of poverty from across the nation. The Experts on Poverty (also known as Experts or EOPs) receive training and support to become stronger leaders in the anti-poverty movement. They shift the narrative around those who experience poverty and highlight the way anti-poverty policies affect their everyday lives.
The program:
EMPOWERS those with lived experience to shape public policy by educating members of Congress, collaborating with other anti-poverty advocates to advance key anti-poverty policies, and weighing in with RESULTS staff on overall campaign priorities, goals, values and principles.
CONNECTS individuals with lived experience to each other to build confidence and community.
TRAINS the Experts on policy, advocacy, storytelling and organizing to become stronger advocates and to help them build the leadership skills of current RESULTS advocates.
ELEVATES the Experts in the RESULTS network, their communities, the media, with legislators, other organizations and the public to increase their influence and career opportunities.
Check out the profiles below to learn more about our current Experts on Poverty.
Interested in having an Expert on Poverty speak at your event? Fill out the Speaker Request Form here.
Maureen Bowling
Lexington, KY
“To have your own home is just one of those basic essential needs, like healthcare and food on the table. To not have that robs you a bit of your basic humanity.”
Aaron Carrillo
El Paso, TX
“I know just how critical refundable tax credits were to my family growing up, but I also know that there are gaps in the policies that means millions of families and workers are still left out. And now today as a young adult, I’m one of them.”
Pamela M. Covington
Atlanta, GA
“I am very pleased to advocate as a RESULTS Expert on Poverty. They showed me exactly how to use my story of lived poverty experience to make the greatest impact.”
Kali Daugherty
Milwaukee, WI
At tax time in 2013, I received credits that would forever change my family’s life.
Sarah Izabel
Stanford, CA
“I am an immigrant from Brazil, single-mother, brain scientist in training, and anti-poverty advocate. I support antipoverty legislation because I know what is like to not have basic needs met and how it deprives you of your humanity. I joined RESULTS and the Experts on Poverty to talk to legislators in hopes to improve the lives of people who struggle to make ends meet, to give back their dignity and humanity.”
James Lee
Charlotte, NC
“The reason I do this work, am an advocate with RESULTS, and am a part of the Experts on Poverty is because it allows me to make change through sharing my experiences with homelessness and addiction. To have come through these challenges and still survive. Now I have found my true purpose: to serve others, alongside others.”
Clara Moore
Newark, NJ
“Here’s what I’ve discovered: You can work hard, do all the right things and still teeter on the edge of poverty.”
Sharvonne Williams
Indianapolis, IN
“In order for my community to become a safer and a more supportive environment, I must be the catalyst for that change. I love being able to say, ‘Congress works for me.’ I know my voice matters. It’s important to share with my elected officials and let them know that I am worth listening to and that I can make change.”
Chaila Scott
Luling, LA
“I’m a firm believer in Dr. Martin Luther King’s statement ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’. As an advocate of social awareness and agent of change, I am driven by my ability to educate decision makers on where we fall short as a country. Through the RESULTS Experts on Poverty program I am empowered to share my story of lived experience which is ultimately considered one of my greatest contributions to our societal growth and evolution.”
Kazmyn Ramos
Indianapolis, IN
“I’m excited to join the Experts on Poverty because I see it as an opportunity to leverage my experience to advance the eradication of poverty. When you’re enduring poverty you are taught that it is shameful. Through EOP you are empowered to see your experience as a tool in your toolbox. You are encouraged to use your experience as a catalyst for change. I think that is extremely powerful.”
Ann Alvarez
Salt Lake City, UT
“It is a very powerless feeling not knowing how you will provide for your 4-month-old and 2-year-old. I’d worked at the same investment company for 5 years when life threw a curveball. We spent 2+ years at a long-term women’s shelter. Our circumstances are not our identity. The CTC and EITC were pivotal to us getting out of the shelter. It is healing for me to be joining the other EOPs to advocate for anti-poverty policies.”
Honoring La’Shon Marshall
La’Shon was a dear friend, advocate, Expert on Poverty, and tremendous leader in the RESULTS community. Join us in honoring her memory and legacy.