Trickle Up

History

Trickle Up was founded by American philanthropists Glen and Mildred Robbins Leet in 1974 with ten participants in Dominica. The name refers to trickle up economic theory and opposes Reagan era trickle down economics. In 1997, Trickle Up moved from the Leets’ basement into its first office, and by 1999, Trickle Up has supported women to start 82,544 businesses in 115 countries.

Starting in 2004, Trickle Up opened regional offices in West Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Currently, its offices are in New York City, Mexico City, and Kolkata.

Programs

Trickle Up's programs use the theory of change behind BRAC's Targeting Ultra Poor (TUP) Program - The Graduation Approach. The core elements of this programmatic approach include participatory design, seed capital grants, sustainable livelihood development, market assessments, technical and life skills training, and coaching.

Trickle Up does not directly implement programs, but works with locally based nonprofit or government partners for their local knowledge and support with targeting and implementation, and in turn, provides technical assistance and capacity building for these organizations.

Evidence

In 2015, Banerjee et al. published a study on a randomized control trial confirming the effectiveness of graduation programs to reduce poverty and contribute to sustainable development. The study took place across six countries with 21,000 participants.

Since then, economists like Esther Duflo have confirmed how graduation programs aim to address poverty traps and sustain results for participants after programs end. Trickle Up was also part of the consortium of the Innovations for Poverty Action randomized control trial examining the results of graduation programs for refugees and communities facing forced displacement.

Recognition

Trickle Up is a two-time recipient the InterAction Disability Inclusion Award and has held Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council since 1987.

References

References

1. "For a world free from extreme poverty".
2. (2021-07-14). "Helping the Poor to Create Successful, Life-Changing Businesses {{!}} Tufts Now".
3. Kristof, Nicholas. (2019-05-29). "Opinion {{!}} Cash, Food and Health Care All Help the Poor, but Something’s Still Missing". The New York Times.
4. "Partnerships".
5. Banerjee, Abhijit. (2015-05-15). "A multifaceted program causes lasting progress for the very poor: Evidence from six countries". Science.
6. "Lecture 3: Poverty Traps: Graduation Programs".
7. "The Impact of a Graduation Program on Livelihoods in Refugee and Host Communities in Uganda {{!}} IPA".
8. "Call for Nominations: InterAction 2022 Disability Inclusion Award".
9. (2014-12-03). "List of non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council as of 1 September 2014". United Nations - Economic and Social Council.