About
Mobility Experiences
Our Purpose
Economic mobility is widely considered to be a cornerstone of American life – available to all who set their sights on it. But in reality, economic mobility has been declining steadily since the 1940s. This has stunted national economic growth, exacerbated inequality, and prevented millions of Americans from reaching their potential. It has also meant that most children who grow up in poverty remain at the bottom of the economic ladder. Mobility Experiences aims to support efforts across the country to reinvigorate economic mobility, to ensure that future generations have the power to access opportunities that will advance prosperity and well-being for all.
Mobility Experiences:
A Research Series on Pathways to Economic Mobility
Our research included a meta-analysis of over 230 peer-reviewed studies exploring the impact of programs and life experiences on incomes, a survey of over 4,000 people across the United States, and in-depth interviews to gather detailed insights from Americans earning low and middle incomes. The research sheds new light on:
28 key life experiences
that contribute to advancing economic mobility within one’s lifetime, measured by lifetime income, and the degree of impact of each life experience;
The perceptions of Americans
as to the importance of each of these 
life experiences
The flow of investment
of public and philanthropic dollars into these life experiences and the common features of programs that have succeeded in enabling greater economic mobility.
Mobility Experiences
serves as a tool for
Alignment of funders, government and civic leaders, policymakers, service providers, and community groups around a broad, evidence-based, economic mobility agenda;
Greater, and more effective, mobilization of investment toward these life experiences;
Narrative change efforts targeting prevailing misperceptions of economic mobility’s drivers.
Authors
Camber Collective is a strategy consultancy with offices in Seattle, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Paris. We partner globally to address today’s most urgent challenges — systemically, sustainably, and equitably. We work with governments, major philanthropies, multilateral institutions, nonprofits, and socially minded corporations to identify systemic and sustainable solutions that enable communities to lead healthy and prosperous lives. Mobility Experience is led by Marc Allen, who heads Camber Collective’s Shared Prosperity practice. Marc brings 15 years of experience shaping investments, programs, and policies that advance economic and social inclusion. A regular public speaker and contributor on issues of economic security, economic mobility, and civic and democratic governance (e.g. Just Economy Conference, Prosperity Summit, Skoll World Forum), Marc's teams also features in diverse journals and media (e.g. Stanford Social Innovation Review, The Guardian). His recent partners include the Gates Foundation, Families & Workers Fund, Urban Institute, World Bank, USAID, Johns Hopkins University, State University of New York, Dēmos, Prosperity Now, New Door Ventures, and other delivery organizations. Authors and key contributors to the Mobility Experiences research and field-building effort at Camber Collective include: Joseph Zhang Jenny Huang Morgan DeLuce Tess Hendelman Chris Chang
Contributors
Contact Us
If you have any questions about Mobility Experiences, please email us at: [email protected] For media inquiries, please email [email protected]
