Bank account name: The Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN)
Bank and bank address: CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent ME19 4JQ, United Kingdom
IBAN number: GB19CAFB40524000031789
Swift number: CAFBGB21XXX
Account number: 00031789
Sort code: 405240
And there are two options for membership:
To become a life member, pay a single fee of 90 British pounds.
To become an annual member, decide on your annual fee (see the suggestions below) and set up a standing order, either to Paypal or to the bank account.
Suggested scale:
Annual Income
Membership fee
0-£20,000
£10 per year
£20,000-£40,000
£20 per year
£40,000-£60,000
£30 per year
£60,000-£80,000
£40 per year
More than £80,000
£50 per year
For any questions related to BIEN’s financial affairs, please contact the treasurer, Dr. Malcolm Torry, at treasurer@basicincome.org
All members have the right to vote at BIEN’s General Assembly meetings, to stand for election to the Executive Committee, and to vote for the Executive Committee.
Please note that membership takes effect 22 days after the application for membership has been sent and a fee has been paid, and only sooner than that if the Executive Committee makes such a decision in a particular case (see paragraph 9, 1, b of the constitution). No new memberships will be approved either at the General Assembly or during the week before it.
B(I)ENefactors
The donation level at which a person becomes a new B(I)ENfactor is £360. If they wish, B(I)ENefactors’ names are listed on the website, but they have no special role in BIEN.
B(I)ENefactors
Stephen Stillwell (US), Víctor Gómez Frías (ES), Joel Handler (US), Philippe Van Parijs (BE), Helmut Pelzer (DE), Guy Standing (UK), Eduardo Suplicy (BR), Robert van der Veen (NL), Richard Caputo (US), Rolf Kuettel (CH), Jeanne Hrdina (CH), Wolf D. Aichberger (AT), Einkommen ist ein Bürgerrecht (DE), Ahn Hyo Sang (KR), Al Sheahen (US), Daniel Schmidt (DE), Gunmin Yi (KR), Cho Sung Hee (KR), Adriaan Planken (NL), Steven Grimm (US), Julius Nadas (US), Luc Gosselin (CA), Jon Altman (AU), Annika Lillemets (SE), Aktive Arbeitslose Österreich (AT), Robin Ketelaars (NL), Neil Howard (IT), Amanda Renslow (US), Ryan Renslow (US), Bruno Gantelet (FR), Ali Mutlu Köylüoğlu (TR), Cecilia Soto (MX) and Nicholas Rodie (AU), Marcelo Lessa (BR), Alessandro Jochem (BR)
A General Assembly of BIEN members is held once a year, and constitutes the Annual General Meeting of the Charitable Incorporated Organisation registered in the United Kingdom.
2020
Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the Charity Commission agreed that charity governing bodies could decide not to hold Annual General Meetings during 2020. As the 2020 BIEN congress had been cancelled, the Executive Committee decided not to hold a General Assembly during 2020, but instead to fulfil as many of the normal functions as possible by postal ballot, with results to be announced on the date on which the General Assembly would have been held.
Sarath Davala is an Indian sociologist based in Hyderabad, India. He co-founded India Network for Basic Income and Mission Possible 2030 – both organisations working on basic income related issues. From 1993 to 2000, he was an Associate Professor at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. Between 2010 and 2014, he was the Research Director of the Madhya Pradesh Basic Income Pilot Project. He is the co-author of the book: “Basic Income: A Transformative Policy for India”, which summarised the findings of the MP BI pilot study. He is currently co-leading another basic income pilot with waste collectors in the city of Hyderabad, India, a project initiated by University of Bath, and supported by European Research Council. Sarath is also collaborating with different agencies to innovate solutions to reach cash the last mile in the rural parts of India.
Vice Chair
Hilda Latour
Hilde Latour has a background in biomedical sciences and cultural anthropology and years of experience in program- and knowledge-management. She is a life member of BIEN, board member of Basisinkomen Nederland (dutch BIEN) and co-founder of Mission Possible 2030 – Basic Income the key to SDG. As a Guest lecturer at the blockchain minor – International Financial Management and Control at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, she explores the boundaries of paradigm shifts, such as Building Commons on the blockchain, a new narrative for Basic Income
UN Liaison
Diana Bashur
Diana Bashur, MA: After working for the UN and other international agencies in development and political analysis in New York, Vienna and Damascus, Diana returned to university to research a different approach to peacebuilding. Currently at the University of Vienna, she is researching Basic Income as a tool for peacebuilding with a focus on the Middle East and a particular interest in its potential for social cohesion. Diana was elected BIEN Secretary in August 2021 and UN LIaison in August 2024.
News service editor
Peter Knight
Peter Knight joined BIEN in 2017. He is a PhD (Stanford University) economist and strategic analyst with broad international experience in digital transformation, e-development, e-government, distance education, electronic media, telecommunications reform, international banking, foundation work, and teaching. Peter is devoted to leveraging information and communication technologies to accelerate social, economic and political development. He currently focuses on promoting thought, communication, and action across three areas: sufficiency, sustainability, and innovation; he is Coordinator of the Sufficiency4Sustainability Network.
Features editor
Tyler Prochazka
Tyler Prochazka is the opinion editor for BIEN. He is the chairman of UBI Taiwan and a PhD student at National Chengchi University.
Research Coordinator
Jurgen De Wispelaere
Jurgen De Wispelaere is a political theorist turned public policy scholar, specializing in the political economy of basic income. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the Götz Werner Chair of Economic Policy & Constitutional Theory, University of Freiburg, as well as an Associate Professor (Docent) in the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tampere University. He has published extensively on the politics of basic income and is the co-editor of four volumes as well as the Founding Editor of the interdisciplinary journal Basic Income Studies. Jurgen has been a member of the BIEN EC in 2002-2004 and also co-organised the BIEN Congresses in Montreal (2014) and Tampere (2018).
Affiliate and public outreach Julio Linares
Julio Linares is an economic anthropologist from Guatemala. He holds an Msc in Anthropology and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a MA in Applied Economics and Social Development from National ChengChi University (國立政治大學) in Taipei, Taiwan. His research focus dwells on the relationship between money, direct democracy and unconditional basic income. Julio is currently based in Berlin, Germany, where he explores these topics in practice with the Circles UBI project. Julio is currently serving his second term as Public Outreach for BIEN. He speaks Chinese, English, Spanish, German and a bit of Hungarian.
Hubs Supervisor
Hubs Supervisor
Dr. Neil Howard
Neil is a Lecturer in International Development at the University of Bath. His research focusses on the governance of exploitative and so-called ‘unfree’ labour and in particular the various forms of it targeted for eradication by the Sustainable Development Goals. He currently co-leads a pilot in India trialling UBI and participatory action research as potential policy responses to indecent or exploitative work in Hyderabad, India. Neil is also a founder and editor of the Beyond Trafficking and Slavery platform publishing at openDemocracy.net.
Affiliates Coordinator
Olaf Ostertag
Awaiting text.
Treasurer
Malcolm Torry
Dr. Malcolm Torry was elected as BIEN’s treasurer in 2021 following five years in the voluntary post of General Manager, during which time he facilitated the stabilisation of BIEN’s registration, administration, and financial affairs. He is a priest in the Church of England who is now Priest in Charge of St Mary Abchurch in the City of London. For twenty years he was Director of the Citizen’s Basic Income Trust in the UK, for ten years he was a Visiting Senior Fellow at the London School of Economics, and he is now a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath. He has written several books on Basic Income, and has edited two editions of the Palgrave International Handbook of Basic Income: https://torry.org.uk/basic-income.
Social Media Manager
James Grant
James has been contributing to BIEN’s online presence since 2018, becoming the Social Media Manager for the organisation in 2021. He studied International Relations at Queen Mary, University of London, and currently works in the tech sector, focused specifically on Virtual Reality technology.
Bank account trustees (not members of the Executive Committee): Jake Eliot, Annie Miller, Simon Duffy, Reinhard Huss
Chair of the International Advisory Board: Philippe Van Parijs
Tasks related to the different posts
The task of the EC
BIEN’s purpose is: To educate the general public about Basic Income, that is, a periodic cash payment delivered to all on an individual basis, without means test or work requirement; to serve as a link between the individuals and groups committed to, or interested in, Basic Income; to stimulate and disseminate research about Basic Income; and to foster informed public discussion on Basic Income throughout the world.
The task of the EC is to ensure that BIEN fulfills its constitutional purpose and to set policy to that end.
General duties of EC members
To attend EC meetings, and if not attending to send apologies. At least 50 % of meetings must be attended between one General Assembly and the next
To fulfill and develop the tasks related to the post to which you were elected
To work with any working group(s) to which you are allocated in order to fulfill the tasks allocated to the group(s) by the EC
Individual duties
Chair
The role of the Chair is to collectively develop a vision, mission and long-term strategy for BIEN. In all aspects the Chair should work closely and in consultation with the Vice-Chair.
She / he should seek new partnerships globally and develop meaningful collaborations with people and organizations that will further the strategic objectives of BIEN in terms of strengthening research about Basic Income, its dissemination worldwide in as many languages as possible so that basic income discussion becomes rigorous and robust. In addition to these strategic aspects of the role, Chair in consultation with the Vice-Chair and the EC members should fulfill the following tasks:
To chair meetings of the EC and the General Assembly
To propose policy and initiatives for BIEN and to lead them
To ensure that decisions made by the EC conform to BIEN’s purpose
To take any urgent decisions required between EC meetings
To represent BIEN to other organizations and individuals
To liaise with the congress Local Organizing Committees over the content of congresses
To submit an annual report to the General Assembly
To raise funds for BIEN and make it financially sustainable
To encourage new organizations to affiliate to BIEN, and work for growth of membership
Vice Chair
To fulfil all of the functions of the Chair whenever the Chair is absent
To fulfil any of the tasks of the Chair by mutual agreement
To support and help the chair in proposing policy goals and initiatives for BIEN and to assist with leading them
Secretary
In consultation with the treasurer, to keep an up to date register of BIEN members and of members of the EC
To take minutes of EC and GA meetings
In consultation with the Chair, to prepare meeting agendas
To prepare papers required by the EC
To send agendas, minutes and other papers to EC members before EC meetings and to BIEN members before meetings of the GA
To receive correspondence and ensure that it is acted on
To undertake correspondence as required by decisions of EC and GA meetings
To ensure that all requirements of registration by the UK’s Charity Commission are met
To administer elections, including proposing tellers to the EC
Treasurer
To keep income and expenditure accounts along with evidence of income and expenditure
To make payments as agreed by the EC
To submit regular financial reports to EC meetings
To prepare annual accounts
To liaise with the auditor over auditing of the accounts
To prepare budgets if asked to do so by the EC
To manage the bank and other accounts
To propose financial rules to the EC
Hubs Supervisor
The Hubs Project involves building regional BIEN hubs in Africa, Asia and Latin America and professionalising BIEN’s day-to-day activities. The project aims to strengthen the basic income ecosystem and BIEN’s role in it.
Regular oversight of the Hubs project
Meeting with BIEN coordinator and regional hubs managers to check progress and course correct
Strategic support to coordinator and regional hubs managers
Reporting to the BIEN EC about project progress
Connecting with partners and donors around the project.
BI News Editor
In consultation and cooperation with the EC and Chair to develop news policy
To oversee BI News posts on the website
To issue monthly BIEN Bulletin emails
To supervise the work of the volunteers allocated to the news service
To ensure that guidelines agreed by the EC are adhered to by volunteers
Social media manager
In consultation and cooperation with the EC, Chair and News Editor to develop social media policy
To oversee social media channels
To supervise the work of the volunteers allocated to social media
To ensure that guidelines agreed by the EC are adhered to by volunteers
Affiliate and Social Outreach
To maintain an up to date register of affiliated organizations and their contact details
To liaise between affiliated organizations and the EC
To convene meetings of representatives of affiliated organizations at and between congresses
To oversee BIEN’s relationships with international and other organizations in consultation with the Chair and in conformity with policy set by the EC
To assist with convening meetings between BIEN and other organizations both at congresses and on other occasions in consultation with the Chair and Congress local organizing committees
Website Manager
To manage the website and liaise with its other users in consultation with the Chair and in conformity with policy set by the EC
Volunteer Recruitment Officer
To oversee the recruitment, allocation and training of volunteers
In consultation with the Chair and in conformity with policy set by the EC to liaise with volunteers and to manage volunteer policy
Congress Organizer (appointed by the EC and the Local Organizing Committee)
To co-ordinate the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) that plans the congress
To liaise between the EC and the LOC by attending EC meetings and in other ways
Bank account trustees
To facilitate the relationship between BIEN and the Charity Commission
To facilitate the efficient management of the bank account
Research Coordinator
To develop research policy and initiatives in consultation with EC and Chair
To review and update information related to research pages on the BIEN website
To assist and suggest measures to promote quality of research at BIEN congresses
To serve as point of contact for outside research-related organizations and activities
To facilitate research initiatives in collaboration with external research and community partners
To engage in exploring strategic funding options for basic income research initiatives
Because the 2020 BIEN congress has been cancelled because the of the coronavirus crisis, the General Assembly has also been cancelled: an eventuality permitted by the UK’s Charity Commission for this year only.
The Executive Committee has passed a resolution to organise as postal ballots as many as possible of the votes that would have taken place at the General Assembly. Therefore elections for vacant Executive Committee posts will take place only by post.
Rules for the election
In order to stand as a candidate, the individual will need to have been a BIEN member for at least a year, will need to say to which post they wish to be elected, and will need to send a picture (suitable for placing on a website) and a personal statement, of a minimum of 200 and a maximum of 500 words, saying why they wish to be elected to that post, mentioning their qualifications and experience relevant to the post, and ideas they have about filling it. Personal statements and photographs should be sent by email to the Secretary of BIEN at bien@basicincome.org, and to the General Manager, at generalmanager@basicincome.org.
The window of time to stand for election opens on the 23rd June and closes on the 23rd August. Candidates are encouraged to notify the Secretary and General Manager by the 23rd July of their intention to stand. Statements and photographs of candidates will be placed on this website from the 30th July onwards.
Enquiries about positions can be made informally to the Chair, Louise Haagh, on louise.haagh@york.ac.uk.
The timetable for the election will be as follows
Sunday 23rd August: final day for receipt of statements of intention to stand, personal statements, and photographs.
Sunday 30th August at the latest: Ballot papers will be sent by email to every BIEN member.
Wednesday 23rd September: Final date for receipt of completed ballot papers.
Wednesday 30th September at the latest: Announcement of election results.
The following posts will be elected
Executive Committee post
Candidates
Chair
Sarath Davala
Vice chair
Hilde Latour
News editor
Barb Jacobson
Features editor
Tyler Prochazka
Academic editor/research
Toru Yamamori
Bank account trustee *
Anne Miller
Bank account trustee *
Jake Eliot
Chair of the International Advisory Board
Philippe Van Parijs
* Bank account trustees must be permanent legal residents of the UK. Bank account trustees do not attend Executive Committee meetings. It would be helpful if the current two bank account trustees could be re-elected
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