End Poverty in California has launched a new effort designed to bring the voices of working-class individuals to the forefront of policy making. Through video storytelling, digital amplification, and community-powered events, the campaign shares a simple message: show up for the working class, listen regularly, and develop policies that reflect their wants and needs. Spotlight spoke with EPIC President Devon Gray and Head of Storytelling and Narrative Greg Kaufmann about the new project.

“Democrats have never had a problem with getting good crowds or talking about policy ideas. But they do have a problem with showing up regularly for working class people and listening—making it routine—and developing proposals based on the real stories we are hearing on the ground. And for all our talk of inclusivity, too often we speak in a language that people don't connect with—as if we are drafting a post for our LinkedIn followers, or speaking with nonprofit and philanthropic elites; too many buzz words and talking points, too much jargon and consultant-driven language.”

“In the last two years, recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—or food stamps—have had over $150 million in federal funds reimbursed after having their benefits stolen from their EBT cards. 

However, as part of Congress’s short-term spending bill signed into law in December to avert a government shutdown, federal funds to reimburse SNAP theft victims are no longer available.”

EPIC has released ‘Poverty and Power,‘ a documentary that captures the listening sessions EPIC did with Californians across the state, giving them the opportunity to speak for themselves about the problems they face and the solutions they’d like to see. As the film begins a nationwide tour this year, Kornbluth and EPIC President Devon Gray spoke with Spotlight about how it came together and what it hopes to accomplish.

Devon Gray knows what he’s up against. Gray is the president of End Poverty in California, or EPIC, a nonprofit founded in 2022 by former Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs, who is now a special adviser to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Since early last year, EPIC has been on a listening tour around the state, hearing stories from people experiencing poverty.

Policy decisions do appear to be “deeper than that,” digging into entrenched beliefs about what poverty in America means, according to Gray. “What are the conditions in the culture that empower and protect policymakers who make these objectively harmful decisions?” he asks.

Gray says EPIC still has many fights ahead, like pushing a bill that would reform some of the penalties for unpaid parking tickets, including eliminating vehicle tows, changing the registration-hold policy, and improve parking ticket payment plans.

At the center of a semi-circle formed by tables during the recent Humboldt County stop sat EPIC President Devon Gray in tan slacks with the sleeves of his white dress shirt rolled up. In a calming tone he explained that the stories being shared in the room would help inform the policy changes EPIC will lobby for at the state Capitol.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Devon Gray, President of End Poverty in California (EPIC), an organization that elevates the voices of people experiencing poverty by creating and implementing bold policies rooted in their needs. Learn more about Devon and EPIC’s work to build people power and center community perspectives below.

“In the end, what is happening in Napa is happening throughout the state and nation. In too many industries it is acceptable and even encouraged to simply extract wealth off the backs of workers —particularly poor workers of color — without sharing that wealth in any way that is even remotely equitable or that provides economic mobility. It makes the claim that hard work will lead to success in America, or that our nation is a meritocracy, patently absurd.”

“New Census data recently confirmed what many advocates saw coming: We squandered one of the greatest achievements in antipoverty policy this nation has ever known.

In one year, we went from a record low poverty rate of 7.8% – and child poverty being cut nearly in half to 5.2% – to the largest ever single-year rise and the child poverty rate increasing by a stunning 138%. In California the poverty rate for children under age 18 rose from 7.5% to nearly 17%.”

“On March 10, when a long-neglected levee broke and flooding devastated the town of Pajaro in California's northern Monterey County, the government failed at all levels to respond as more than 3,000 people evacuated.”

“Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s recent proposal to strip Medicaid coverage away from people who do not meet new work-reporting requirements puts more than 10 million people in Medicaid expansion states at high risk of losing coverage.”