As local leaders seek to substantially boost upward mobility from poverty, they are increasingly recognizing the need to center an approach that directly engages with the sources of deep-seeded disparities. By pursuing systems change (meaning a fundamental shift in practices, underlying values, or norms that reshapes processes, relationships, and power structures), practitioners can design programs and policies that meaningfully address the root causes of long-standing inequities rather than just ameliorating their effects. This brief articulates the importance of systems change, provides examples of how programmatic approaches to boosting mobility from poverty have proved insufficient, and recommends the types of measures that local policymakers can use to track progress on comprehensive systems change.

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