Black Economic Equity Movement (BEEM)
BEEM (Black Economic Equity Movement) is a guaranteed income research pilot that provided $500 per month for 12 months to 300 Black young adults, ages 18-24, living in specific under-resourced areas of San Francisco and Oakland, California. The program pairs no-strings-attached cash with optional financial coaching and peer support to address the effects of structural racism, poverty, and stress on Black emerging adults' financial, mental, and physical health. It was designed and led by the nonprofit MyPath in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Oregon Health & Science University, and UC Berkeley as a randomized controlled crossover trial. The project was funded primarily through a five-year, roughly $9 million cooperative agreement from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), whose funding was briefly suspended in 2025 amid federal DEI-related grant terminations before being reinstated after litigation. Enrollment ran from late 2022 through mid-2023, and payments to the full cohort concluded around 2025.
Guaranteed Income, Black Young Adults, Race-Targeted Eligibility, Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial, NIH-Funded, Bay Area
Headquarters
- Organization Name
- MyPath
- City
- San Francisco
- State / Province
- California
- Country
- United States
Contact
- Website
- https://beemproject.org/
- Phone
- +1 415-206-0846
- BEEMProject@ucsf.edu
Status & Funding
- Organization status
- Active
- Program status
- Inactive
- Application status
- Timed
- Number of recipients
- 300
- Funding type
- Government, Research Pilot
Benefits
- Currency Type
- Fiat
- Currency
- USD
- Total Amount
- 6,000 USD
- Avg. Per Month
- 500 USD
- Payment frequency
- Monthly
- How long the program lasts
- 12 months
- Distribution Type
- Prepaid Debit Card (CFR Focus Card)
- Benefit details
Participants receive $500 per month loaded onto a fee-free Community Financial Resources (CFR) Focus Card, a reloadable prepaid debit card with online banking access. Due to the study's randomized crossover design, half of participants received payments immediately for 12 months while the other half waited 12 months before receiving their own 12 months of payments, with the full study spanning 24 months. All participants had optional access to six one-on-one financial coaching sessions with a MyPath-certified mentor, monthly peer discussion groups (MyMoney Hour), and MyPath's MyMoney fintech education platform. Bay Area Legal Aid provided optional benefits counseling to participants. Cash payments came with no work requirements or spending restrictions.
Eligibility
Overview
- Eligibility details
Eligibility was limited to Black/African American young adults ages 18-24 residing in designated Qualified Census Tracts within specific areas of San Francisco and Oakland, CA (tracts where at least 50% of households earn below 60% of Area Median Gross Income or where the poverty rate is 25% or higher). Applicants who identified as White reportedly received an automatic ineligibility message, underscoring the race-based eligibility criterion, which has been the subject of an ongoing legal challenge filed in 2023. Selection occurred through online screening, a follow-up phone screening, and then a monthly random lottery drawing (about 40 selected per month over 7 months) among eligible applicants. Recruitment and enrollment ran from November 2022 through June 2023, targeting roughly 200 participants from Oakland and 100 from San Francisco. Applications are now closed and the study is no longer accepting participants.
Demographics
- Minimum age
- 18
- Maximum age
- 24
- Race / ethnicity targets
- Black / African American
Financial
- Income as % of Area Median Income
- -506,025 %
Geography
- US states covered
- California
- Countries covered
- United States
- Cities covered
- San Francisco, Oakland
- Residency of Target Geography
- Yes
Participation
- Research / data sharing
- Required
- Complementary program enrollment required
- Financial Mentoring (optional), Peer Discussion Groups/MyMoney Hour (optional), MyPath MyMoney fintech platform (optional), Benefits counseling via Bay Area Legal Aid (optional)
- Research / participation requirements
BEEM is a UCSF-led (with OHSU and UC Berkeley) randomized controlled crossover trial funded by an NIH Common Fund cooperative agreement (~$9M over 5 years). Participants complete quarterly surveys and are part of a research cohort examining impacts of guaranteed income plus optional financial mentoring on financial well-being, mental health (e.g., depressive symptoms), and unmet health-service needs, and whether effects persist after payments end. Principal investigators include Sheri Lippman (UCSF) and Marguerita Lightfoot, with Margaret Libby (MyPath founder/CEO) as a co-investigator. As of this research (July 2026), no public final results/evaluation report was located; a peer-reviewed study protocol has been published (Frontiers in Public Health, 2023) but outcome findings do not yet appear to be publicly released.
Application Process
- How to apply
Applications were accepted online via an enrollment form on beemproject.org during the recruitment window (November 2022-April 2023). Applications are now closed; the program is not currently accepting new applicants.
- Selection process
Selection occurred in three stages: (1) an online screening/enrollment form, (2) a phone screening for applicants who appeared eligible, and (3) a monthly random lottery drawing, with about 40 eligible individuals selected per month over 7 months and contacted to schedule an in-person enrollment appointment.
