The Bridge Project is a US nonprofit that gives unconditional cash - up to $1,000 a month - to low-income pregnant women and new mothers through the first 1,000 days of their child's life. Incubated inside the private Monarch Foundation and spun out as its own 501(c)(3) in 2022, it is now described as the nation's first multistate direct cash program for moms and babies.
None (fiat)
Private philanthropy - seeded and anchored by the Monarch Foundation, the family foundation of venture capitalist Jeff Lieberman and Holly Fogle, plus other foundations and individual donors (e.g. the Zilber Family Foundation in Milwaukee).
Independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit with its own board, published financials and impact reports; research evaluation by the Center for Guaranteed Income Research at the University of Pennsylvania.
Holly Fogle (co-founder, Monarch Foundation); Jeff Lieberman (co-founder, Monarch Foundation)
Launched 2021 in New York City; spun out of the Monarch Foundation in spring 2022. As of 2026 it reports 4,450+ mothers enrolled across 14 states with $144 million committed. Expanded to Milwaukee and Connecticut in 2024, to Appalachia (1,250 mothers, ~$10M) and to New Jersey more recently.
- Reported outcomes include higher birth weights, longer pregnancies and about 2.5 additional months of breastfeeding.
- Targeted to mothers and time-limited to ~1,000 days, so it is a guaranteed-income programme rather than a universal one, but transfers are unconditional and recurring.
- Some individual cohorts are co-funded with local government partners; the core funding and the organisation itself are philanthropic.