The best plan to help refugees might also be the simplest

Leaders in North Carolina’s Transylvania County are investing in home-based childcare by creating a network of caregivers and providing them with financial and technical assistance. The program gives parents affordable options in a rural community where it can be hard to find openings at childcare facilities.

To combat unemployment, the Girls2Women Initiative runs 6- to 12-week training programs for girls and women in underserved communities in Nigeria. During this time they learn skills they can use to find a job or start their own business in industries like graphic design, decor, and tailoring.

The ADAMÂ Bakery trains and employs refugees in Uganda to make bread. This way they can earn a living while also feeding unaccompanied minors in the refugee settlements.

Minnesota's Office of Cannabis Management entered into compact agreements with tribal nations in 2025, allowing tribes to operate cannabis dispensaries beyond reservation boundaries. Seven tribally owned off-reservation dispensaries are now open, with more planned. These dispensaries are serving as significant job sources as Waabigwan Mashkiki, White Earth Nation's cannabis company, has created 200 jobs alone in one of the state's poorest counties. Other states including Virginia and Wisconsin are now looking to Minnesota's framework as a model for their own tribal cannabis policies.

Amid an ICE enforcement surge that destabilized housing for immigrant families in Minneapolis, residents organized a grassroots rent relief effort that distributed about $14 million across 40 community funds. The community-driven response bypassed typical income restrictions and eligibility requirements by relying on trusted neighborhood relationships, which contributed to a dip in eviction filings in January and February. Their organizing effort also pressured state lawmakers to pass a $40 million emergency rental assistance bill.

A group of Kenyan coastal women used a blue economy grant to establish a mud crab-fattening enterprise in Jomvu Creek, generating up to $310/month in collective income and planting nearly 1 million mangrove seedlings.

Point-of-sale-based agency banking helps make digital finance more accessible and inclusive, allowing small businesses to act as banking agents, offering services like cash withdrawals and bill payments through fintech platforms. This integration has been particularly impactful in regions without bank branches. The integration of fintech throughout Nigeria has not only led to more autonomy in personal finance but has also created significant employment opportunities.

The Denver Basic Income Project provided people experiencing homelessness with no-strings-attached monthly stipends that they could spend however they’d like. At the end of the pilot, twice as many participants were in stable housing, more of them were working full time, and the nights that participants spent in shelters decreased by half.

A guaranteed income program in Cambridge, Massachusetts, provided 130 single caregivers who made below 80% of the local median income with $500 cash payments, no strings attached. The 18-month program, Cambridge Recurring Income for Success, helped participants increase their savings, cover emergencies, and spend more time with their children.

Babban Gona is an agriculture company that helps smallholder farmers in Nigeria produce bigger yields and increase their incomes. The company offers training, fertilizer, herbicides, and seeds in exchange for some of the farmer’s harvest. When the produce sells, the farmers get some of the profit and a bonus if it sells for more than expected.