For generations, economic mobility has been considered a cornerstone of American life – despite the reality that it’s been slipping out of reach for many for decades. Through our signature initiative, Mobility Experiences, we’re building a movement to make the American Dream a reality for all.
We are coordinating with place-based coalitions, funders, non-profit organizations, and local governments to expand economic opportunity in communities across the United States. Through Mobility Experiences – a research series and economic mobility framework that highlights the 28 life experiences with the most proven impact on lifetime income – we’re building the knowledge, infrastructure, and capacity to strengthen economic mobility for all.
The Challenge
Economic mobility is a cornerstone of the American story, but upward mobility has been in steady decline since the 1940s. That decline has kept millions of Americans from achieving economic security and building wealth, while leaving many people born into poverty near the bottom of the economic ladder throughout their lives.
The economic mobility field has expanded well beyond jobs and education, now encompassing contributing factors like health, transportation, housing, social networks, and many others as critical drivers of a person’s economic opportunity. However, as more stakeholders enter this field, their ability to stay coordinated, have a common language, and share a measurement framework becomes more challenging. We’ve heard this directly from communities: ~150 state and local organizations have sought our support to address these issues — capital left fragmented without a coordinated funding agenda; coalitions missing the shared, issue-focused framework they need to bring in the right voices; and program impact that’s hard to demonstrate without a shared set of outcomes to measure against.
Our Role
Camber’s field building efforts in the economic mobility space have focused on closing the gap around those missing pieces while also retaining our core commitment to human-centered action. Camber plays a field-building role for economic mobility in three ways:
Elevating Field-Level Knowledge: We conduct seminal research on economic mobility and lead the dissemination of that research across the field. Our research and knowledge products sharpen how stakeholders think about the design and impact of economic mobility programming and provide a foundation others can build new tools and interventions on. We share this work through national, public convenings, but we are equally committed to reaching those on the frontlines of the work, prioritizing community-based forums that put our research directly in the hands of practitioners.
Strengthening Program and Investment Effectiveness: We support non-profit organizations and funders to strengthen how their existing programs are designed and measured. We work with community-based organizations and their partners to design shared theories of impact and measurement frameworks, aimed at helping them better understand their own priorities in the context of existing efforts. We also work with funders to understand the investment landscape – identifying areas with existing investment where partnerships can amplify impact or areas of underinvestment where action is critically needed.
Building Community-Led Coalitions: We help place-based, cross-sector collectives to align around a shared set of outcomes so they work in more coordinated and symbiotic ways. For communities with no economic mobility infrastructure, we establish the building blocks for an economic mobility coalition by aligning investors and community partners around a common set of goals, cross-sector outcomes, and agenda. For communities with established coalition partners, we help to refine and expand strategies to maximize impact and funding.
Impact to Date
- Since publication, the Mobility Experiences research reports have been downloaded more than 10,000 times.
- Nearly 150 organizations and municipalities have engaged with the Mobility Experiences to inform their programs and policies.
- Through our direct technical assistance in 15 communities, more than $120M+ in funding has been unlocked, supporting 200K people.
Partner With Us
We work with changemakers across the social sector—from local non-profits to global multilaterals—to drive measurable impact.