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Agenda

Times and locations of panels and plenaries will be posted as they are confirmed.

Day 1, July 6th, 2011

Omni Shoreham Hotel
2500 Calvert Street NW
Washington, DC

See a map and more info on our travel and housing page.

Registration opens and breakfast begins at 8:15 a.m. Program goes from 8:45 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Plenary Speakers

  • President Bill Clinton
  • Kathleen Sebelius, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
  • Congressman Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota)
  • Gene Sperling, Director, National Economic Council, The White House
  • Kalpen Modi, Associate Director, Office of Public Engagement, The White House
  • Amy Goodman, host, Democracy Now!
  • Van Jones, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
  • John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress
  • Jose Antonio Vargas, Multimedia Journalist

Spoken Word Artists

  • Drew Anderson a.k.a "Droopy the Broke Baller"
  • Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai
  • Staceyann Chin

Keynote Contest Winners

  • Daniel Khalessi
  • Kiara Lee
  • Stephanie Tanny

Plenary Panels

Reclaiming Democracy: Overcoming Special Interest Domination of Politics

Unshackled by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, corporate special interests are using aggressive lobbying, campaign contributions, “astroturf” campaigns, lawsuits, and dirty tricks to tilt politics and policy in their direction, even when the facts and the interests of the American people demand a different result. This panel will discuss how we can take back our democracy—and how young people can lead the way.

  • Lee Fang, Researcher, ThinkProgress.org, Center for American Progress Action Fund
  • Rob Weissman, President, Public Citizen
  • Angela Peoples, Policy and Advocacy Manager, Campus Progress, Moderator

Careers in Social Change

Let's face it: For most young people, finding any job is tough in today's economy. The message of this panel is that one strategy for success is dreaming big. Panelists will discuss how they have pursued their own visions and launched successful careers doing work that has changed the world.

  • Vikrum Aiyer, Senior Speech Writer and Communications Advisor, Office of the Secretary/Under Secretary of Commerce for IP
  • Natasha Bowens, Sustainable farmer
  • Jessica Matthews, Co-Inventor and CEO, sOccket
  • Erica Williams, Senior Strategist, Citizen Engagement Laboratory, Moderator

Breakout Panels

Green Jobs and the Political Impediments to a Clean Energy Economy

President George W. Bush started talking about a promising future of green jobs back in December 2007.Two years ago, President Obama deepened that vision with a plan to invest $150 million over ten years to create 5 million green-collar jobs. But since then, clean energy legislation has stalled, unemployment has remained high, and green jobs remain a hope, not a large-scale reality.  How can we create real green jobs now? Or must real progress await deeper structural changes in the energy economy? If so, how do we get there?

  • Bracken Hendricks, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
  • Lilian Molina, Environmental Justice Director, Energy Action Coalition
  • Elizabeth Lindsey, Managing Director, The DC Project
  • Kate Sheppard, Reporter, Mother Jones, Moderator

The State of LGBT Movements

Recent substantial victories in the fight for LGBT equality that would have seemed impossible twenty years ago have resulted in concrete improvements in the lives of many, but much more needs to be done, and some have benefited more than others. In particular, the reforms so far have not achieved enough for people who are transgendered, working class, or of color. However, the LGBT movement is at last fighting for justice in a more inclusive way. Elitism, transphobia, and racism are far from over in LGBT movement, but people are developing creative strategies to address them. The panelists will discuss the state of LGBT work, the shape of less-visible alternative movements, developing trends in political struggle, and opportunities to fight oppression.

  • Kenyon Farrow, Writer, Speaker, Activist
  • Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality
  • Trina Olson, Senior Training Manager, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
  • Sam Menefee-Libey, LGBTQ Advocacy Associate, Campus Progress, Moderator

Immigration: The Battle in the States

Political gridlock in Washington continues to block progress on fixing our nation’s broken immigration system. But meanwhile, from California to Florida, immigrant youth have been organizing for access to higher education for DREAMers, and to stop Arizona copycats and other anti-immigrant laws in their tracks. What strategies have these young people been using in their state-wide battles for immigrant rights? What lessons can we learn from these fights to win immigration rights at the national level?

  • Angela Maria Kelley, Vice President for Immigration Policy and Advocacy
  • Tolu Olubunmi, Policy & Communications Consultant, Ada Consulting
  • Gaby Pacheco, Education Not Deportation (E.N.D.) National Coordinator, United We DREAM
  • Eduardo Garcia, Immigration Advocacy Associate, Campus Progress, Moderator

America’s Role in the World after Two Wars

Since 9-11, U.S. security policy has focused heavily on the Arab and Muslim worlds. President Obama pledged to wind down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bin Laden is dead, and some U.S. officials and commentators talk about putting more emphasis on issues like China and the global economy.  But strong winds of change across Arab nations, the Libya crisis, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, unrest in Pakistan, and the continued threat of terrorism keep pulling America back in. Where is U.S. policy headed?

  • Amar Chopra Bakshi, World Producer, CNN.com, and Editor, The Global Public Square (CNN.com/GPS)
  • Juliette Kayyem, columnist, National Security Columnist, Boston Globe and Former Assistant Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
  • Lawrence Korb, Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
  • Matthew Yglesias, Fellow, Center for American Progress, Moderator

Fighting for Reproductive Freedom in a Conservative Congress

Recent measures by the 112th Congress attempt to limit access to reproductive health and services. How will these measures affect women and families? What do they mean for access to reproductive services in various communities? The discussion will address the role social media has played and can continue to play in organizing activists and gaining support for reproductive freedom.

  • Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Wisconsin)
  • Cecile Richards, President, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund
  • Jos Truitt, Contributor, Feministing.com
  • Annabel Park, Co-director & Founder, the Coffee Party, Moderator

Jobs and America’s Young People

Young people of all backgrounds are excited to enter the work force, support themselves, and make their marks. But where are the jobs? This panel will discuss the state of the work force for America’s young people, including the role of education and training programs and barriers to entry. The panel will highlight programs that are having an impact on youth unemployment in their communities.

  • Tynesia Boyea Robinson, CEO, Reliance Methods
  • Jason Furman, Ph.D, Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, The White House
  • Heidi Shierholz, Ph.D, Economist, Economic Policy Institute
  • Mala B. Thakur, Executive Director, National Youth Employment Coalition
  • Julie Margetta Morgan, Ph.D, Policy Analyst, Center for American Progress, Moderator

Recession Generation: Tackling Challenges Facing Low-income Youth and Charting a Path Toward Shared Prosperity

This panel will describe the challenges facing low-income youth in today’s America, explore policy solutions to these challenges, and provide action steps that young advocates can take to build shared prosperity. With high rates of poverty among children, disproportionately high unemployment rates among low-income youth, and persistent crime, violence, and drugs in low-income communities, many young people face persistent obstacles on the road to economic well-being. This session will cover the harmful consequences of these troubling conditions on low-income young people and on America’s economy and competitiveness. The panelists will discuss policy solutions that could chart a path forward and provide meaningful action steps participants can take to bring positive change.

  • Deepak Bhargava, Executive Director, Center for Community Change
  • Melissa Boteach, Half in Ten Manager, Center for American Progress Action Fund
  • Barbara Ehrenreich, Award-Winning Author and Journalist
  • Barlow Flores, Program Director, Upward Bound, Latin American Youth Center
  • Deborah Weinstein, Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs, Moderator

The Journalism of Racial Conflict (presented by Campus Progress and The Nation magazine)

Given recent major controversies over coverage of and reporting on racial conflict (Park 51, looting in Haiti, Juan Williams, use of the word “illegal,” etc.), it is increasingly important for reporters to understand how race connects to their everyday work. This panel, presented by Campus Progress and our long-time partners at The Nation magazine, will examine the key challenges to providing news coverage of race issues and racial conflict in America today.

  • Melissa Harris-Perry, Professor of Political Science, Tulane University
  • Liliana Segura, Associate Editor, The Nation
  • Rinku Sen, Publisher, Colorlines.com and President, The Applied Research Center
  • Richard Kim, Executive Editor, TheNation.com, Moderator

Social Media as a Catalyst for Change: Overseas and at Home

Social media has played a major role in creating change both at home and abroad. From the 2008 Obama campaign to the 2012 Egyptian revolution, the use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networking services have affected outcomes and garnered widespread attention. How important is social media in bringing change, and what trends are on the horizon? How does online organizing connect with organizing on the ground? How are social media activists responding to government repression and censorship? What are the responsibilities of the business corporations that create and maintain social media outlets? And how is the traditional news media adapting to a social media world?

  • Philip J. (P.J.) Crowley, Omar Bradley Chair of Strategic Leadership, Dickinson College, Penn State University Dickinson School of Law and School of International Affairs, and the Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
  • Jennifer Nedeau, Senior Digital Manager, Public Relations TIME, FORTUNE, MONEY, CNNMoney, LIFE
  • Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, Al Jazeera
  • Jose Antonio Vargas, multimedia journalist, Moderator

Understanding Social Justice Movements

This is a “movement building moment”! Progressive leaders often use this phrase to galvanize their audience, but what exactly constitutes a social justice movement? Some say that the sweeping social change brought on by the civil rights and women’s suffrage movements, which were largely led by young people, is a thing of the past. Others see the Tea Party as a genuine social movement. With American politics broken, and corporate interests on the rise, it may take a new large-scale social justice movement to bring real progress. This panel will discuss examples of social justice movements, what we can learn from triumphs and failures of particular movements, and where we can go from here.

  • Carmen Berkley, National Field Director, Choice USA
  • John Halpin, Fellow, Center for American Progress
  • Evangeline Weiss, Leadership Programs Director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
  • Angus Johnston, historian, City University of New York and founder, StudentActivism.net, Moderator

Day 2, July 7th, 2011

Center for American Progress
1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005

See more info on our travel and housing page.

Registration opens and breakfast begins at 8:15 a.m. Program goes from 8:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Keynote:

John Podesta, President and CEO, Center for American Progress, and Chair and Counselor, Center for American Progress Action Fund

Plenary Panels:

The War on the Youth Vote

The Youth Vote is under attack.  In recent years, a number of states have passed laws that make it harder for students and other young people, low-income people, people of color, and others to exercise the right to vote. Speakers will discuss this attack on voters, who’s behind it, , what’s at stake for young people, and strategies for countering this attack.

  • Abby Kiesa, Youth Coordinator and Researcher, CIRCLE
  • Eric Marshall, Manager of Legal Mobilization, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
  • Heather Smith, President, Rock the Vote
  • Tobin Van Ostern, Network Associate, Campus Progress, Moderator

2012 Elections: What’s at Stake?

Election 2008 saw a historic youth vote turnout. 2010 saw a decent youth turnout, but some young people did not see a strong connection between the election and their values and interests.  What will happen in 2012? Will young people be inspired to vote?  What issues – as championed by candidates or as the subject of ballot initiatives – will drive young people to the polls?  What’s at stake for young people – on issues from education and health care, to immigration and LGBTQ equality, to clean energy and national security?

  • Alicia Menendez, Senior Advisor, NDN and New Policy Institute
  • Eddy Morales, Deputy Director, Voto Latino
  • Lindsay McCluskey, President, United States Students Association
  • Quentin James, National Director, Sierra Student Coalition, Moderator