Who created HudsonUP?

HudsonUP is a partnership between Humanity Forward, the nonprofit organization founded by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, and The Spark of Hudson, a new innovative community learning center coming to Hudson in the fall of 2020 to reinvent education. The Spark of Hudson will bring a wide variety of educational programming to Hudson for all residents of Hudson, as well as those traveling through, featuring courses ranging from philosophy and cooking to workforce development. 

The founders of Spark, Susan Danziger and Albert Wenger, have been involved with Universal Basic Income for years. Back in 2017, Susan gave a TEDx talk at the University of Rochester about her first encounter with Universal Basic Income, or UBI. Together with her husband Albert, Susan also founded Eutopia Foundation, a charitable foundation giving grants to climate organizations, social change collectives, and democracy advocates. Albert is a partner at Union Square Ventures, an investment startup focused on access to knowledge, capital, and wellbeing for investors. Between them, Susan and Albert have founded several startups – including Wally Farms, a climate crisis-focused farm in the Hudson Valley. Susan also founded various startups, from DailyLit (a pioneer in literature serialization) to Ziggeo (an award-winning technology company). HudsonUP is their way of serving and uplifting the Hudson community that has welcomed them.