To Eradicate Poverty, Listen to the People Who've Experienced It | Andrea Pickett | TEDxPortsmouth

People experiencing poverty have valuable insight into how social policies play out
when implemented. Spoiler alert — they don’t always work as they’re intended. Top
social scientists, economists, and politicians have spent decades addressing the “War
on Poverty” by drafting social programs and policies meant for people experiencing
financial insecurity. Yet we aren’t any closer to finding lasting solutions. Andrea Pickett
shares her experience with being under-resourced and what it means to tackle poverty
through human connection and advocacy. She believes that to create social programs
that work, we must offer a “seat at the table” to people who use them. Andrea Pickett holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology with a focus on public policy, which she earned while full-time solo parenting and working for the Portsmouth Housing Authority. In her work, she draws on her own experience with poverty to relate to the community she serves, helping others access resources that made stability possible for herself. Andrea works to give people experiencing poverty a voice to weigh in on issues that directly impact their daily lives, offering them “a seat at the table.” In the words of Muhammad Yunus, she hopes that “one day, our grandchildren will go to museums to see what poverty was like.” This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx