Robin Hood
Wes Moore discusses his journey from troubled youth to combat veteran to philanthropic leader and the innovative ways that Robin Hood is tackling the systemic roots of poverty in New York City.
On the role data plays in fighting poverty: “Robin Hood has always been and will always be a data-driven organization, but let’s be clear about what data we’re looking for and what data is going to move us. And let’s be clear about what data is actually going to measure – what success actually looks like. I think it’s incredibly powerful to talk about the fact that we are now hitting, even nationally, record unemployment numbers. It still does not give me peace or solace when I consider the fact that the majority of people who are living in poverty actually have been working at least a portion of the past year.”
On the systemic causes of poverty: “We’re not dealing with something that is an easy thing to solve. We’re dealing with something that is intertwined. We’re dealing with something that is absolutely nasty, and it has no limits [to] where it will go. And it’s all-encompassing and traumatic and painful for the people who have to live this every day.”
