Who We Are

Laura Keen — Program Lead

Laura is the U.S. Program Director at GiveDirectly. In collaboration with trusted local experts, Laura and her team oversee the entire operational process —from program design to outreach and enrollment to payment delivery — ensuring rural households receive dignified and timely cash assistance. With a strong background in fundraising, program management, and a commitment to data-driven solutions, Keen has been instrumental in building and implementing innovative cash models across the United States. Her work emphasizes the importance of tailoring cash programs to meet the specific needs of vulnerable populations, ensuring that interventions are both effective and equitable. 

Aristia (Tia) Kinis — Research Lead

OpenResearch’s Director of Strategy & Partnership is a compassionate leader with 15 years of experience in nonprofit research who believes in gathering comprehensive data to fill pivotal knowledge gaps. She played a key role in OpenResearch’s Unconditional Cash Study, the largest and most comprehensive basic income trial conducted in the United States. The study’s human-centered findings revealed that the cash relief provided families with much-needed breathing room, helped them meet their basic needs, and increased their agency to set goals and take steps toward achieving them. By sharing data and insights, Kinis aims to spark conversations about promoting economic pathways, particularly in often-overlooked rural communities, and inform solutions grounded in the realities of everyday life.

Allen Smart — Rural Expert

A national leader at the intersection of philanthropy and rural communities, Allen Smart has lived and worked in both low-income rural and urban places across the United States as a grantmaker, writer, researcher, and presenter. Now retired, he continues to advocate for stronger, more community-aligned rural philanthropic practice through PhilanthropywoRx, advising funders and nonprofits on rural strategy and effective partnership with local communities. Allen holds graduate degrees in public health and communication, and he regularly writes and speaks nationally on rural philanthropy and rural health — an advocate (and occasional provocateur) for getting rural right.

Joanne Schneider — Philanthropy Expert

Joanne is founder and principal at Ripple Philanthropy Strategies. She has almost two decades of experience helping individuals, families, and organizations find joy and meaning in philanthropy. Previously a Director at Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, she guided funders in defining priorities, identifying nonprofit partners, and managing grantmaking across diverse issue areas and geographies. Her background spans the Skoll Foundation, American Express, Morgan Stanley, the Jewish United Fund, and the Peace Corps. She holds a BS from the University of Michigan and a MBA from Columbia Business School, and currently serves on the board of Friends of the Alameda Free Library.

Natalie Foster — Advisor

Natalie Foster is the co-founder of the Economic Security Project, and the author of The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America’s Next Economy, outlining a new American social contract where essential needs — such as housing, healthcare, and an income floor — are guaranteed by the government. She draws on her roots as a preacher’s daughter from Kansas to champion policies centered on dignity and community.

Jeff Ubois — Advisor

Jeff Ubois serves on the boards of Invest In Open, Better World Libraries, and Internet Archive Europe. He co-founded Lever for Change, a open competition philanthropy program which distributed more than $2.5 billion, and served as program officer in the philanthropy, democracy and discovery programs at the MacArthur Foundation.

Michael Tubbs

Michael Tubbs is the former mayor of Stockton, California, where he piloted the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration, an early mayor-led guaranteed income program. He founded Mayors for a Guaranteed Income in 2020, launched End Poverty in California, and serves as a special advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom for Economic Mobility and Opportunity. He is currently a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of California in 2026.

Aisha Nyandoro

Aisha is the founding CEO of Springboard to Opportunities, a resident-driven approach to ending generational poverty. She launched The Magnolia Mother’s Trust, the longest running guaranteed income program in the United States, and has become a national advocate for federal guaranteed income policies. She also co-founded the Guaranteed Income Community of Practice.

Mackinnon Engen

Mackinnon is the Executive Director of Watsi, a nonprofit building a crowdfunding platform for life-changing healthcare around the world, and a global health and humanitarian leader with 20+ years of experience across the UN, NGOs, and academia.

Paul Rauchenbush

Paul is the President and CEO of Interfaith Alliance, where he brings together people of many faiths and beliefs to defend an inclusive democracy and advance civil rights and religious freedom. An ordained Baptist minister and longtime interfaith leader, he has helped shape national conversations about faith in public life.