Opening Plenary: Poverty & Inequality in the U.S.: Where Are We and How Did We Get Here?

Back to Work: Innovative Ideas for Addressing Joblessness and Extreme Poverty in America Panel

PORTIA WU

Panelist

From 2014-2016, Portia Wu was Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training (ETA), where she oversaw billions of dollars in workforce and training investments, as well as critical income-support and reemployment programs including unemployment insurance. Wu led the agency through the implementation of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014, the largest reform of the public workforce system in almost two decades, as well as the reauthorization of the Trade Adjustment Assistance Act and the Senior Community Service Employment Program. Wu has worked in the public, non-profit, and private sectors on a wide variety of labor issues including job training, wage standards, work and family policy, immigration, pensions and retirement, and worker safety. Among those roles, she previously served in the White House as Special Assistant to the President for Labor and Workforce policy and on the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee staff as Labor Policy Director to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

MELISSA BOTEACH

Panelist

Melissa Boteach is the Vice President of the Poverty to Prosperity Program at the Center for American Progress. In this capacity, she oversees poverty policy development and analysis, as well as its advocacy and outreach work. Boteach served as the policy lead on The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink, a book and multimedia platform by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress about the one in three women living in or on the brink of poverty and solutions to help the nation push back. Under her tenure, CAP has published a comprehensive policy blueprint to cut poverty and expand opportunity, and launched TalkPoverty.org, one of the most influential blogs on poverty and inequality in the country. A Harry Truman and George Mitchell scholar, Boteach earned a master’s degree in public policy from The George Washington University, and a master’s degree in equality studies from University College Dublin.

KRISTY ARNOLD

Panelist

Dr. Kristy Arnold is the Executive Director for LIFT-DC, an anti-poverty nonprofit dedicated to empowering and working with – not just for – low-income families to design, implement and evaluate scalable solutions to end intergenerational poverty. Previously, Kristy was the director of case management for DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative, as well as the director of student services for Year Up, NCR. She has primarily served in community-focused organizations developing programs and conducting groups centered around life/leadership empowerment, substance awareness and sexual abuse, in addition to providing individual counseling services to families, youth and young adults. As a major proponent of education, Kristy has served as an adjunct professor in the Counselor Education department at both Virginia Tech and the George Washington University. Dr. Arnold holds a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Georgia, M.Ed. from Howard University and PhD in Counselor Education & Supervision from Virginia Tech.

AMY GLASMEIER

Moderator

Amy Glasmeier is professor economic geography and regional planning. She runs the lab on Regional Innovation and Spatial Analysis, in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT. Glasmeier’s atlas, Poverty in America: One Nation Pulling Apart traces the growth of poverty in the U.S. and the effects of four decades of policies to alleviate economic insecurity. Another project, “Good Bye American Dream” traces the ideology of opportunity which undergirds America’s relationship to the poor. Through analysis of census data, popular media, and personal narratives Glasmeier seeks to expose the contradictions in this most scared of constructs by demonstrating the ephemeral nature of economic opportunity encumbered as it is by locational accident, institutional inertia and unintended consequences of public policy. The work builds off of her long operating Living Wage Calculator, www.livingwagecalculator@mit.edu">www.livingwagecalculator@mit.edu, which analyzes the minimum level of income required for individuals and families to pay for basic living expenses. Glasmeier holds a professional Masters and PhD in Regional Planning from UC Berkeley.

Mitigating the Life-Long Impacts of Poverty Panel

SUSAN COLE

Moderator

Susan Cole is the director of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI),a joint program of Harvard Law School and the non-profit children’s rights organization Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC). At Harvard she holds a joint appointment as Education Law Clinic Director and Lecturer on Law and is a Senior Project Director at MAC. Ms. Cole’s work is based on research at the intersection of psychology, education and law that links traumatic experiences to a host of learning, relational and behavioral difficulties at school. She oversees TLPI’s work in schools and its representation of families in the Education Law Clinic to inform ongoing policy and educational activities. She holds a J.D from Northeastern University, a Masters in Special Education from the University of Oregon, and a BA from Boston University. Prior to becoming a lawyer she taught in the Watertown MA and Woodstock CT public schools – experiences that continuously inform her current work.

WILLIAM BEARDSLEE

Panelist

William R. Beardslee, M.D., is the Distinguished Gardner/Monks Professor of Child Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Baer Prevention Initiatives, Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston. His primary interests are in understanding resilience and devising preventive interventions to increase strength and resilience in families facing adversity, in particular, parental depression and poverty and in thinking about ways to narrow health and wealth disparities. He is the author of over 250 articles and book chapters. He co-chairs the National Academy of Medicine’s Forum on Children’s Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health which explores ways to implement and disseminate effective prevention and health promotion strategies at multiple levels.

RONALD FERGUSON

Panelist

Ron Ferguson is an MIT-trained economist who has taught at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government since 1983. His early work focused on state, local, and community economic development. He began addressing schooling and cognitive development in the early 1990s as it became clear that skill gaps were key drivers of wage disparity. A February 2011 profile in the New York Times wrote, “there is no one in America who knows more about the gap than Ronald Ferguson.” In 2014, he co-founded Tripod Education Partners and shifted to an adjunct role at the Kennedy School, where he remains a fellow at the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy and faculty director of the Achievement Gap Initiative (AGI) at Harvard University. Dr. Ferguson has been happily married for 38 years and is the father of two adult sons.

MARIA MOSSAIDES

Panelist

For almost forty years, Ms. Mossaides has held a wide range of positions in the public and independent sectors as an attorney and administrator. Before assuming the position as the Child Advocate for the Commonwealth, she was the Executive Director of Cambridge Family and Children’s Service. She served as the general counsel and acting commissioner of the Office for Children, deputy general counsel to the Department of Social Services, general counsel to the Office of the Comptroller, and as the first agency head for the Division of Purchased Services. For nine years Ms. Mossaides worked for the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, first as the Executive Assistant to Chief Justice Paul J. Liacos and then as the Administrative Assistant to the Justices, the first woman appointed to the position. Ms. Mossaides graduated cum laude from Mount Holyoke College, received her law degree from SUNY at Buffalo, and a masters in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where she was awarded the Bradford Fellowship.

LESLI SUGGS

Panelist

Lesli Suggs, LICSW, is Vice President for Program Operations and a member of the Executive Management Team at The Home for Little Wanderers, working closely with the President and CEO, as well as the Board of Directors. She joined The Home in January 2011 as Senior Director of Community Based and Behavioral Health Programs and assumed her new role in October 2013. Lesli oversees a team of Senior Directors who together are responsible for all of The Home’s programs, ensuring that we make a positive impact on the lives of some of Massachusetts’ most vulnerable children and families. Lesli brings with her a background of extensive experience in child welfare and behavioral health, focusing on: residential & special education; adoption & foster care; community mental health; sexual abuse; and trauma. She received her Bachelor’s in Social Work from Texas Christian University and later graduated from Simmons College with a Master’s in Social Work. Before joining The Home, Lesli served as Vice President of Program for Communities for People in Boston and Assistant Vice President at Health and Education Services on the North Shore.

The Promise of Housing Policy in Combating Poverty & Inequality Panel

JON SPADER

Moderator

JAMES CARRAS

Panelist

CLARK ZIEGLER

Panelist

Clark Ziegler is Executive Director of the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, a public nonprofit that finances affordable rental housing and home ownership, provides community technical assistance, and contributes to state housing policy. He has been with MHP since its inception and been chief executive since 1990. During his tenure MHP has delivered $4.5 billion in below-market financing for more than 42,000 units of affordable housing. Mr. Ziegler previously served on the executive team at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and spent six years on Capitol Hill as legislative assistant and chief of staff to Massachusetts Congressman Robert Drinan. Mr. Ziegler chairs the Housing Partnership Network’s loan committee and serves on the board of HPN’s national investment and lending affiliates. He also serves as a director of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders. In 2011 the Boston Globe named him one of the top ten innovators in Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Hampshire College with a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School.

James Carras is the Principal of Carras Community Investment, Inc., a nationally recognized boutique community and economic development consulting firm. He is also a member of the faculty (Adjunct Lecturer) at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and Graduate School of Design as well as Tufts University’s Department of Urban Policy and Planning. Mr. Carras has facilitated the creation of over fifty community development corporations (CDCs) and development financial institutions (CDFIs) as well as the author of numerous affordable housing studies and revitalization plans. He has served as the Founding Executive Director of the National Association of Affordable Housing Lenders, the Founding President of the Broward Housing Partnership and the South Florida Community Land Trust. Prior to establishing his consulting business, he served as a Community Development Advisor to the Mayor of Boston and was the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Urban Reinvestment Advisory Group where he was awarded the John Hay Whitney Fellowship. Mr. Carras is also recognized as a national expert on the Community Reinvestment Act and its’ implementation in lower-income communities.

Jonathan Spader is a Senior Research Associate at the Joint Center for Housing Studies. His work at the Joint Center includes a portfolio of research related to homeownership, rental housing, and economic inclusion. Prior to joining the Joint Center, Jon worked in the housing and communities practice of Abt Associates where he served as the project director and technical lead for several evaluations of federal policies and programs. He has also worked for the Center for Community Capital, examining the homeownership experiences and outcomes of homebuyers in the Community Advantage Program Study. He holds a B.S. in History from Truman State University and a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

DAVID ELLWOOD

Moderator

David T. Ellwood, the Isabelle and Scott Black Professor of Political Economy, and Director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy, served as Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2015. Ellwood joined the Kennedy School faculty in 1980 and served two separate terms as the School's Academic Dean. In 1993, he was named Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) where he served as co-chair of President Clinton's Working Group on Welfare Reform, Family Support and Independence. At HHS, Ellwood played a key role in the Administration's development and implementation of critical social policy. Recognized as one of the nation's leading scholars on poverty and welfare, Ellwood's work has been credited with significantly influencing public policy in the United States and abroad. A labor economist who also specializes in family change, low pay and unemployment, his most recent research focuses on the changing structure of American families.

Julie Boatright Wilson, the Harry Kahn Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at HKS, teaches courses in degree and executive education programs on family and poverty policy; research design and methods; and evidence generating strategies for managers. Wilson’s research focuses on child welfare issues, particularly child abuse and neglect, adoption of foster youth, and juvenile justice. She is currently working with others to develop strategies for improving services to Massachusetts children, youth and their families. Wilson is working with Harvard colleagues to develop frameworks for more effectively generating evidence to manage individual organizations as well as collective initiatives to improve the well-being of children and families. Wilson joined the Kennedy School faculty in 1980 and has held a number of administrative positions, including Director of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy and Associate Academic Dean. From 1986 to 1989, Wilson took a leave to direct a research and policy unit for the New York State Department of Social Services.

JULIE BOATRIGHT WILSON

Panelist

Daniel Q. Gillion is the Presidential Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Gillion completed his Ph.D. at the University of Rochester. He later went on to serve as the Ford Foundation Fellow and the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Scholar at Harvard University. His research interests focuses on racial and ethnic politics, political behavior, public policy, and the American presidency. Professor Gillion’s first book The Political Power of Protest: Minority Activism and Shifts in Public Policy (Cambridge University Press) demonstrates the influential role of protest to garner a response from each branch of the federal government, highlighting protest actions as another form of constituent sentiment that should be considered alongside public opinion and voting behavior. The Political Power of Protest was the winner of the 2014 Best Book Award from the Race, Ethnicity, and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association. Professor Gillion’s recently completed book Governing with Words: The Political Dialogue on Race, Public Policy, and Inequality in America (Cambridge University Press).

DANIEL Q. GILLION

Panelist

Tackling Poverty Through Education Policy Panel

JOSHUA GOODMAN

Moderator

Joshua S. Goodman, Associate Professor of Public Policy, is an applied microeconomist studying human capital and education policy. His work has two major strands, exploring the determinants and long-run impacts of both college choice and math coursework. His work has been published in outlets such as the Journal of Labor Economics, AEJ: Applied Economics, the Journal of Public Economics, the Journal of Human Resources and the Journal of Economic Perspectives. It has also been cited in multiple White House reports and featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post, and on National Public Radio. Goodman received a B.A. in physics from Harvard University, an M.Phil. in education from Cambridge University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University. Prior to his Ph.D. studies, he was a public high school math teacher in Watertown, MA.

CAROL BURRIS

Panelist

Carol Corbett Burris became Executive Director of the Network for Public Education in August 2015, after serving as principal of South Side High School in the Rockville Centre School District in NY since 2000. Prior to becoming a principal, she was a teacher at both the middle and high school level. She received her doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University, and her dissertation, which studied her district’s detracking reform in math, received the 2003 National Association of Secondary Schools’ Principals Middle Level Dissertation of the Year Award. In 2010, she was named Educator of the Year by the School Administrators Association of New York State, and in 2013, she was named SAANYS New York State High School Principal of the Year. Dr. Burris co-authored Detracking for Excellence and Equity (2008) and Opening the Common Core: How to Bring ALL Students to College and Career Readiness (2012), and authored On the Same Track: How Schools Can Join the 21st Century Struggle against Re-segregation (2014). Her articles have appeared in Educational Leadership,Kappan, American Educational Research Journal, Teachers College Record, Theory into Practice, School Administrator, American School Board Journal and Education Week. She regularly expresses her concerns about the misuse and unintended consequences of high-stakes testing on the Washington Post, The Answer Sheet blog.

DAVID DEMING

Panelist

David Deming is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research.His research focuses broadly on the economics of education, with a particular interest in the impact of education policies on long-term outcomes other than test scores.Recently, he was named a William T. Grant Scholar for his proposed project, The Long-Run Influence of School Accountability: Impacts, Mechanisms and Policy Implications.His current research includes the end of race-based busing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg (NC), understanding the rise of for-profit postsecondary education and the consequences for student outcomes, and the policy implications of expanding access to early childhood education.

Barbara Madeloni, president of the 110,000-member Massachusetts Teachers Association, is a staunch advocate for students and educators in the public schools and public higher education system in Massachusetts. She believes that strong unions led by rank-and-file members produce stronger public schools and communities. She is committed to racial and economic justice – and to building alliances with parents, students and communities – to secure a more just world. Madeloni is on leave as a senior lecturer in the Labor Studies Department at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Beginning in 2004, she worked at the UMass School of Education, where among other responsibilities she coordinated the Secondary Teacher Education Program. Prior to teaching at UMass, Madeloni was an English teacher at Northampton High School from 2000 to 2004 and at Frontier Regional School in South Deerfield from 1998 to 2000. She taught students in grades nine, 10 and 12. As a teacher and teacher educator, Madeloni has been committed to public education as a significant force for racial and economic justice. In both her educational practice and her union leadership, she has worked to create opportunities for people to name injustice and claim their collective power to create the schools and communities we deserve. Madeloni is also a writer and scholar. Her writing is focused on the negative influence of corporate interests in public education, the link between corporatization and racism, and the activism required to resist corporate-driven policies.

BARBARA MADELONI

Panelist

HANNA SKANDERA

Panelist

Hanna Skandera is the Secretary of Education for the State of New Mexico. Appointed by Governor Susana Martinez in 2011, Skandera is leading the transformation of New Mexico public schools to ensure that every student has access to a quality education. Under Skandera’s leadership, New Mexico graduation rates are at an all-time high, AP course enrollment has doubled, the number of “A” and “B” schools has increased by one-third and the number of kids in “A” and “B” schools has increased by 30,000. In the most recent school year, New Mexico saw more than 12,000 additional students on grade level. Nationally, Hanna serves as Chair of the governing board and executive committee for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career, serves as a board member of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, serves on the Council of Chief State School Officers Board of Directors, and is a member and former chair of Chiefs for Change. Prior to serving in New Mexico, Hanna served as Deputy Chief of Staff under U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings, Undersecretary of Education under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Deputy Commissioner under Governor Jeb Bush. Skandera was previously a Research Fellow with the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and taught education policy at Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Sonoma State University and a Masters of Public Policy from Pepperdine University.

Thomas Kochan is the George Maverick Bunker Professor of Management, a Professor of Work and Employment Research, and the CoDirector of the MIT Sloan Institute for Work and Employment Research at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Kochan focuses on the need to update America’s work and employment policies, institutions, and practices to catch up with a changing workforce and economy. His recent work calls attention to the challenges facing working families in meeting their responsibilities at work, at home, and in their communities. Through empirical research, he demonstrates that fundamental changes in the quality of employee and labor-management relations are needed to address America’s critical problems in industries ranging from healthcare to airlines to manufacturing. His most recent book is Shaping the Future of Work (Business Experts Press, 2016). Kochan holds a BBA in personnel management as well as an MS and a PhD in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin.

THOMAS KOCHAN

Panelist

CHRYSTAL KORNEGAY

Panelist

Chrystal Kornegay’s passion for creating projects and programs that result in stronger communities for modest income working families is evidenced throughout her 20+ years’ experience in community development. In January 2015, Ms. Kornegay became the Baker Polito Administration’s Undersecretary for Housing and Community Development. Prior to that, Chrystal was Urban Edge’s President and Chief Executive Officer. In that role she combined a laser focus on excellence with keen business management skills to result in a 20% growth in revenue, a 10% growth in the affordable housing portfolio and a 10% growth in the number of households served.

Chrystal’s deep belief that service and partnership are keys to increased social equity led her to serve on numerous boards and advisory committees including Citizen’s Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) and the National Housing Trust. She is a 2012 graduate of the Achieving Excellence Program at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, holds a Master’s Degree in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College.

ANN HOUSTON

Panelist

Ann Houston has served as Executive Director of The Neighborhood Developers since 2004. TND brings its core strengths – building homes, engaging neighbors, and fostering economic mobility – to community partnerships that create great neighborhoods where all people can thrive. Over the past decade, TND has completed over $95 million of real estate development, including creating a new mixed-income and mixed-tenure downtown neighborhood, the Box District, in Chelsea, and a Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative to purchase and redevelop foreclosed properties. TND’s community engagement model fosters neighbor-to-neighbor relationships that lead to active civic engagement, with over 2500 residents participating annually. TND founded CONNECT, a partnership of 5 non-profits who collocated financial education and workforce development services to provide seamless support for 4,000 families annually moving out of poverty and into financial resilience. TND supports the 30 partner Chelsea Thrives initiative reduce crime and increase confidence in community safety in Chelsea’s most challenged neighborhood through a learning, data-driven process. Ann earned a Master’s in Real Estate Development at the MIT Center for Real Estate and a Bachelor’s in Community Planning at UMass Boston.

Born in El Salvador, Elena has 30 years of experience working and serving the nonprofit sector as volunteer, organizer, activist, teacher, director, and consultant. Between 1999 and 2008, Elena directed Centro Presente, an immigrant rights organization in the Greater Boston area. During her tenure, she led a change process that transformed Centro Presente into a member driven, organizing organization. In 2005, Elena’s work was recognized when she was selected to be part of the Barr Foundation’s inaugural class of Fellows. Currently, Elena directs Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts, a membership organization of working-class, low-income, people of color and immigrants dedicated to building power to achieve racial, economic and environmental justice.

ELENA LETONA

Panelist

Changing the Conversation Panel

ROBERT DOAR

Panelist

Robert Doar is the Morgridge Fellow in Poverty Studies at AEI, where he studies and evaluates how free enterprise and improved federal policies and programs can reduce poverty and provide opportunities for vulnerable Americans. Before joining AEI, Mr. Doar worked for Mayor Michael Bloomberg as commissioner of New York City’s Human Resources Administration, where he administered 12 public assistance programs, including welfare, food assistance, public health insurance, and help for people living with HIV/AIDS. Before joining the Bloomberg administration, Mr. Doar was New York State commissioner of social services, helping make New York a model for the implementation of welfare reform.

BOB WOODSON

Panelist

Robert L. Woodson is the founder and president of the Woodson Center (formerly Center for Neighborhood Enterprise) and an influential leader on issues of poverty and upward mobility. He has worked closely with leading legislators in an effort to move beyond the traditional conservative and liberal understanding of how to address the needs of the poor, including resident management and ownership of public housing, welfare reform, and the violence free zones that now operate in many of the nation’s most troubled schools and communities. Woodson is frequently featured as a social commentator in print and on-air media, including The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, Meet the Press, The O’Reilly Factor, the Garrison Show and other national and local broadcasts. He is the only person ever to receive both the liberal and conservative world’s most prestigious awards – the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Prize, as well as the Presidential Citizens Medal. He is the author of several books, including On the Road to Economic Freedom and The Triumphs of Joseph: How Today’s Community Healers are Reviving Our Streets and Neighborhood.

MELISSA BOTEACH

Panelist

Quinton Mayne is Assistant Professor of Public Policy in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He received his Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University. His dissertation, entitled The Satisfied Citizen: Participation, Influence, and Public Perceptions of Democratic Performance, won the American Political Science Association's 2011 Ernst B. Haas Best Dissertation Award in European Politics as well as the 2011 Best Dissertation Award in Urban Politics. Mayne's research and teaching interests lie at the intersection of comparative and urban politics. He is particularly interested in how the design and reform of democratic political institutions affects how citizens think and act politically.

QUINTON MAYNE

Moderator

Keynote Address: Dennis Kucinich

KHIARA BRIDGES

Panelist

Khiara M. Bridges is a legal anthropologist and expert in race and racism(s), constitutional law, and reproductive justice. She has written many articles concerning race, class, reproductive rights, and the intersection of the three. Her scholarship has appeared or will appear in the Stanford Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the California Law Review, the Emory Law Journal, the Boston University Law Review, and the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, among others. She is the author of Reproducing Race: An Ethnography of Pregnancy as a Site of Racialization (University of California Press 2011) and The Poverty of Privacy Rights, which is forthcoming from Stanford University Press. She also sits on the Academic Advisory Council for Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and she is a co-editor of a reproductive justice book series that is published under the imprint of the University of California Press.