Poverty simulation offers ‘eye-opening’ experience for Silicon Valley leaders

In the echoing expanse of a Sunnyvale food bank, Silicon Valley leaders scrambled across a warehouse floor, making a dull cacophony as they ran to different tables where they begged for work, bargained for groceries, sought housing, and bailed their loved ones out of jail.

The desperate group of business leaders and public workers hadn’t suddenly fallen on hard times, rather each was playing a role as part of a poverty simulation – an experience designed to help participants understand what it is like to face poverty.