We’re forging tools to shape markets to be more equitable and inclusive.

THE POWER OF PUBLIC OPTIONS

Public options are goods and services provided, authorized, or procured by the government, that are available to everyone and co-exist with private options.

Public options fill gaps in markets for essential goods and services–from groceries to banking– that have been neglected by private actors. They spur competition in marketplaces that currently fail to deliver and that restrict choices for everyday families. Public options can be responsive and accountable to communities, allowing communities to have a say in shaping markets that serve them.

MAKING PROGRESS THROUGH COMMUNITY

The Public Options Community of Practice (POCP) is a group of practitioners, campaigners, and experts across geographies and sectors from energy, healthcare, banks, and more, who are united in their desire to advance public options.

In this community, we share learnings and resources; highlight and celebrate successes; and work through challenges we’re facing in building collective power through public options.

KyungSun Lee

She/Her/Hers

Program Manager, Coalition Building & Organizing

As the Program Manager of Coalition Building & Organizing at the Economic Security Project, KyungSun spearheads the Build the Field’s team work to build coalitions and organize diverse stakeholders to advance guaranteed income and public options. She is a proud immigrant, macro-focused social worker, and organizer working to advance ideas and policies that center equity and people above profit. Previously, she worked at Missouri Jobs with Justice, a statewide grassroots advocacy organization where she helped pass a city-wide paid family leave policy and co-organized a state-wide coalition to protect the ballot initiative. She also worked with the Mayor’s Office of the City of St. Louis and the Mayor of Ferguson to advance cash pilots in the Greater St. Louis region. Based in Washington, DC she has a Bachelor’s in Interdisciplinary Studies focused on political science, economics, and public health, and a Master’s of Social Work focused on Social and Economic Development with a policy specialization.

Harish I. Patel

He/Him/His

Vice President, Build the Field

Through organizing, leadership on racial and gender justice, and a commitment to connecting on-the-ground perspective to policy, Harish I. Patel moves big ideas forward that have the power to transform our economy. Previously Harish founded and served as the director of Economic Security for Illinois. Harish started his career working in community organizing and then shifted to craft policy at innovative nonprofits such as New America Chicago and Accelerate Change. He co-founded Chicago Votes, a non-profit organization that has played a critical role in the passage of a few landmark voting rights laws in recent years in Illinois. Harish is a New Leaders Council fellow, a former small business owner, and a proud immigrant. Harish holds a Masters Degree in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Becky Chao

She/Her/Hers

Director of Antimonopoly

Becky Chao is the Director of Antimonopoly at the Economic Security Project. She organizes resources, ideas, and people across policy, grassroots, academic, and philanthropic spaces to build a sustained, robust antimonopoly movement—so that we can reclaim and redistribute power from corporate monopolies to communities of color, workers, small businesses, and everyday people. She directs the Antimonopoly Fund, which has moved over $11 million into the field since its launch; organizes convenings to create a shared sense of identity and build the field; and oversees other activities to drive structural change, shape the narrative, and create the conditions for antimonopoly action.

Her work has been driven by an interest in exploring how corporate power, law, and policy structure people’s lives and society at large and building a fair, democratic, and egalitarian political economy. She was previously a fellow and policy analyst at New America’s Open Technology Institute, where her research and advocacy focused on antitrust and tech/telecom issues, privacy, and broadband competition. Prior to joining New America, she worked on antitrust cases and merger review across a variety of sectors as an honors paralegal at the Federal Trade Commission.

Hannah Gregor

She/Her/Hers

PROJECT MANAGER, BUILD THE FIELD

Hannah Gregor is the Project Manager at Economic Security Project who plays a pivotal role in the success of the various Build the Field portfolios. She leads discrete operations projects, fosters communication and collaboration among team members, and supports the execution of the BTF deliverables in the Guaranteed Income and Antimonopoly work. Hannah first became involved in social justice through electoral organizing in Iowa which inspired her to pursue a policy-focused social work degree at the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. Her previous roles have spanned across disability justice, drug reentry courts, and economic policy research.