By Nichelle Gilbert | March 18, 2025
Baby Bonds are an increasingly popular bipartisan government policy in which every child born into poverty receives a publicly funded trust account at birth. This “start-up capital” allows young adults to access education, home ownership, and entrepreneurship, enabling them to build wealth and lead lives that are hopeful, fulfilling, productive, prosperous, and self-directed. Follow our Baby Blogs series to learn about the vision, politics, and people behind Baby Bonds and their transformative impact on the lives of young people, their families, communities, and our economy.
In this installment of Baby Blogs, Nichelle Gilbert, former executive director of the Partnership for Community Action, spotlights Baby Bonds in New Mexico as a case study in how community-led policy can create lasting opportunity.
*Note that there are two Baby Bond legislative proposals under consideration by the New Mexico Legislature, SB 397 and HB 7.*
New Mexico’s children hold limitless potential, yet too many face barriers to opportunity due to systemic inequities. By investing in Baby Bonds, we are building a future where every child—regardless of their family’s financial starting point—has the resources to thrive, breaking cycles of poverty and creating pathways to long-term prosperity.
At the Partnership for Community Action (PCA), we know that sustainable policy does not emerge in isolation; it is built through organizing, listening, and engaging community voices. Baby Bonds are not only a wealth-building tool; they are an extension of the work already happening on the ground in New Mexico. From relationship-based lending programs to guaranteed income pilots, our state has demonstrated that sustainable change stems from investing directly in people.
New Mexico’s Baby Bonds movement did not begin with a policy announcement. It began in neighborhoods, in living rooms, and in community meetings where families shared their experiences with economic insecurity. It grew from years of work supporting community-led solutions like microlending programs that reimagine access to capital for small business owners and community leaders and guaranteed income pilots that demonstrate the power of direct cash support. These initiatives have created a foundation for larger policy shifts by proving what communities already know: when families have financial stability and opportunity, they can thrive.
The Baby Bonds Pilot in New Mexico, launched through PCA in partnership with Abriendo Puertas/Opening Doors, Prosperity Works, and Money Byrd, is an extension of this commitment to economic justice. Pilot participants received a $6,000 initial investment—projected to grow to an estimated $22,000 when the child reaches age 18—offering economic mobility opportunities through homeownership, education, entrepreneurship, and investment. Pilot participants and families will also engage in a financial capabilities course, accessing tools in wealth-building and actively reshaping the narrative of financial literacy—one that is no longer rooted in harmful assumptions about their knowledge or behavior but instead affirms their expertise and lived experience. By engaging in this course, families witness these investments grow while also accessing financial opportunities that have historically excluded them, creating a ripple effect of economic empowerment across generations. The New Mexico pilot, alongside similar programs across the nation, are critical to shaping broader policy efforts. They center community-informed program design and evaluation, shape narrative, amplify levels of impact, and ensure that policies reflect the needs of the people they are intended to serve.
Zaiden Moreno-Roacho was the first child in New Mexico to receive a Baby Bond through this collaborative pilot. His mother, Leslie, grew up in a low-income household and lacked access to the opportunities she now envisions for her son. “It is amazing that the new generation will have chances to go to school or buy a home,” Leslie shared. Baby Bonds are representative of a broader continuum of strategies that challenge economic inequities and build lasting solutions.
The next step is scaling a program statewide, ensuring that all children in New Mexico receive the same opportunity to build a secure financial future. The New Mexico 2025 legislative session presents a chance to advance economic justice through the Children’s Future Act. The legislation, which would establish the structure to support education, housing, entrepreneurship, and other wealth-building assets for all New Mexico children, is rooted in a community-driven approach. A Children’s Future Task Force will include input from those most impacted, ensuring that community perspectives help to shape this policy—from design to implementation.
What has emerged as a pilot is now a resource for equitable economic policy development in New Mexico. Pending legislation through the Children’s Future Act builds on proven strategies, turning community-driven solutions into a statewide investment in financial security. From pilot to policy, we join national partners in demonstrating that community-led policy creates lasting opportunity—showing that when we come together, we can build sustainable, equity-centered solutions that transform generational poverty into generational opportunity.
Nichelle Gilbert is the former executive director of the Partnership for Community Action. Previously, she served at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center for over a decade, working to increase and support a diverse health workforce for New Mexico. Nichelle holds a MBA with a concentration in strategic planning and policy from the University of New Mexico.
If you missed previous installments of our Baby Blogs series, read them here.
Learn more about Baby Bonds in New Mexico.
To share feedback on this blog, or for questions about Baby Bonds, email David Radcliffe at radclifd@newschool.edu.
To learn more, explore our Baby Bonds resources.