Participatory Budgeting (PB) Cycle 10 is underway in Brooklyn’s 39th District. We are powered up for a fully digital cycle and there are many ways to get involved and help out:
- Suggest an idea in person OR online
- Attend an Ideas Collection event to learn about ideas being suggested
- Become a budget delegate, committee facilitator or a volunteer
- Join the Youth Committee (for District 39 residents between ages 11 – 18)
- Amplify PB communications and information to build awareness
- Vote on the projects you think would best serve the community
Key roles:
Budget Delegate:
Budget delegates are volunteers who take the PB ideas suggested by community members at the neighborhood events, our website, and elsewhere, and turn them into concrete proposals to put on the final ballot. They work in committees, and are permitted to advocate for specific projects. They work in committees, which will be determined after all ideas are reviewed. Commitment: 1-3 hours a week. Committee Facilitators set meetings.
Committee Facilitator:
Committee facilitators help guide budget delegate committees through the budget delegate process – from narrowing down the initial project ideas to researching proposals and preparing information for the ballot. The main goals are to make sure that delegates move through the timeline in a timely and orderly fashion and to ensure that the committee is an inclusive space in which all delegates can participate fully and equally. Commitment: 3-5 hours a week.
District Committee:
The District Committee provides oversight and assists with planning throughout the Participatory Budgeting process. It is made up of community members from across the district who are volunteering their time (some of whom have been serving on the DC since PB got started in this district). Commitment: 3-5 hours a week.
Special Projects:
Successful PB cycle implementation pulls from a broad range of skills — graphic design, event planning, meeting facilitation, communications, social media campaigns, community outreach, language translation (Bangla, Spanish and others). Do you have experience in these areas or want to develop skills working with our volunteer committees? Join us! 1-2 hours a week.
PB Youth Committee:
Middle and high school students residing in District 39 have their own self-organized and led PB Youth Committee. They work on a range of activities from educating peers about the PB process to developing youth-led project ideas for the District 39 ballot.
If you have any questions, please contact Shahana Hanif at shanif@council.nyc.gov.
