• Organizing Effective Regional Equity Coalitions

  Mackinac Ballroom, West Salon, 5th Floor

  Vigorous coalitions or networks are charting the movement for regional equity. These coalitions link diverse groups working on a range of issues—from transportation equity, to affordable housing to environmental justice to workforce advocacy—to advance policies to create opportunity and win resources for low-income communities and communities of color. Learn how to strengthen existing coalitions and get new ones started. Explore effective decision-making structures, staffing, resource development, and steps to sustainability. Share ideas on how to apply equity principles and effective strategies for community organizing, research, and communications to address your region's character, population, and needs.

  Trainers

  • Kalima Rose, Senior Director, PolicyLink,
  • Sarita Turner, PolicyLink Sustainable Communities Fellow
  • Nathaniel Smith, Partnership for Southern Equity
  • Bill Kennedy,Managing Attorney, Legal Services of Northern California
  • Maxine Fitzpatrick, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiative, Portland Equity Coalition

• A New Paradigm: Sustainable Communities Planning Strategies for Equitable Development

  Mackinac Ballroom, East Salon, 5th Floor

  Sustainable Communities planning is changing the way America thinks about the regional land use plans that catalyze investment, inform development patterns, and influence environmental quality. Regional policymakers, community leaders, advocates, and residents are working together to integrate future housing, transportation, community health, and economic development plans toward more equitable outcomes. Join leading experts to explore how agencies can develop and implement plans to address longstanding racial and economic disparities and to learn how equity goals and measures can be integrated into planning processes.

  Exercises will focus on:

  1) Creating an equity baseline in your region;
  2) Identifying measures to advance transportation access and equity;
  3) Creating a jobs-housing balance to address the needs of low-income communities;
  4) Creating a regional fair housing plan; and
  5) Conducting Health Impact Assessments.

  This is a session for seasoned planning, housing, and transportation professionals, community development experts, equity advocates, and public sector leaders.

  Trainers

  • Shireen Malekafzali, Senior Associate, PolicyLink, and Danielle Bergstrom, Research Associate, PolicyLink
  • Parisa Fatehi, Attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow, Public Advocates
  • Jonathan London, Director, Center for Regional Change, University of California, Davis

• Intergenerational Dialogue: Regional Equity in a Social Movement Perspective

  Duluth Room, 5th Floor

  This workshop provides practical tools and strategies for building intergenerational solidarity in your regional network. Carl Anthony's forthcoming book and documentary video, The Earth, The City, and the Hidden Narrative of Race, will provide a frame to trace three arcs of human development shaping the regional equity movement. Utilizing interactive media and group exercises, this workshop provides a rare opportunity to identify and honor an ancestral legacy, and expand it to develop your own legacy as a current or future elder. You also will receive an intergenerational solidarity toolkit.

  Trainers

  • Carl Anthony, Co-Founder, Breakthrough Communities
  • M. Paloma Pavel, Co-Founder, Breakthrough Communities

• Why Place and Race Matter

  Marquette Room, 5th Floor

  Racism and racial disparities are foremost among the challenges facing communities of color throughout the country. In a new report, Why Place and Race Matter, PolicyLink examines how racially based barriers to opportunity and conditions in neighborhood environments intersect and impact the health of individuals, families, and communities. This training session builds on the analysis, framework, and recommendations of the report. The curriculum is designed to assist you in exploring the impacts of race and place, and to encourage the implementation of policies and strategies to reduce racial disparities and build healthy communities.

  Trainers

  • Mary Lee, Deputy Director, PolicyLink
  • Enrique Velasquez, Program Associate, PolicyLink
  • Amanda Navarro, Associate Director, PolicyLink

• Getting Equity Advocacy Results: Assessing and Communicating Progress

  LaSalle Room, 5th Floor

  Tracking the success of equity advocacy is imperative, and it does not need to be complex or daunting, despite the inevitable ups and downs of policy campaigns. The right benchmarks, tracking tools, and reporting strategies can strengthen your effectiveness. They can help you identify opportunities to drive change, obtain feedback for improvement, and demonstrate results. In this session, you will learn strategies to track, interpret, and communicate the important interim and final results of equity advocacy efforts. Hear from seasoned advocates and action researchers, and gain a deeper understanding of useful benchmarks, frameworks, and tools for measuring progress in equity work across a range of fields.

  Trainers

  • Victor Rubin, Vice President for Research, PolicyLink
  • Jme McLean, Senior Associate, PolicyLink
  • Elsa Barboza, Campaign Director, Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE)

• Mapping Tools to Empower Communities

  Joliet Room, 5th Floor

  Recent advances in mapping technology have provided practitioners with greater access to powerful data, analysis, and communications tools to promote equity. Advocates increasingly use data and maps to tell compelling stories, engage and empower communities, shape policies, and share critical information. This training session provides an overview of strategic and creative uses for maps and equity indicators in community development, planning, and policy advocacy. Presenters will share how they map data, analyze, and take action on neighborhood revitalization, gentrification, food access, transportation equity, and regional planning for sustainable communities. You will learn about the latest online mapping resources, and you will have an opportunity to brainstorm and develop project ideas.

  Trainers

  • Sarah Treuhaft, Associate Director, PolicyLink
  • Jennifer Tran, Program Associate, PolicyLink
  • Joshua Long, GIS Manager, Data Driven Detroit

• Capitol Steps: Local, State, and Federal Legislative Advocacy

  Cadillac Room, 5th Floor

  From local grassroots organizations to national coalitions, legislative advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels is critical in advancing equitable policies. To effectively advocate for policy change, organizations must be strategic in how they: engage policymakers, organize partnerships and coalitions, collaborate with unlikely allies, articulate the message, and illustrate that a policy change is needed. In this session, you will hear from strategists who utilize communications, coalition building, community engagement, and political awareness to effectively advocate for equity-focused policy change. Through hands-on exercises, you will have an opportunity to enhance your advocacy skills and expand your repertoire of strategies and approaches to achieve equity impacts.

  Trainers

  • Judith Bell, President, PolicyLink
  • Tricia Griffin, Partner, NVG LLC
  • Anita Hairston, Senior Associate, PolicyLink
  • Chris Brown, Legislative Director, PolicyLink

• What It Takes: Preparing Equity Leaders

  Richard Room, 5th Floor

  Central to equitable development is the idea that the people closest to the challenges of communities, cities, and regions—the nation's low-income people and people of color—must play a meaningful role in shaping solutions. As equity advocates fight for fair representation in decision-making processes, we must also prepare to participate. Capacity building is key to ensuring that residents and organizations have the skills needed to make decisions that reflect the needs and interests of their communities, and to step up to lead change efforts. This session will use interactive exercises and small-group discussion to explore the importance of leadership development within the equity movement, models for training in the nonprofit and public sectors, and the steps to creating a model that works for your region.

  Trainers

  • Kisasi Brooks, Program Associate, PolicyLink
  • Laurie Jones Neighbors, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute, Urban Habitat
  • Jaye Clement, Director of Community Health, Henry Ford Health System
  • Chris Coombe, Department of Health Behavior & Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health
  • Barbara Israel, Department of Health Behavior & Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health
  • Sherita Smith, Executive Director, Imagining Creative Opportunities Now
  • Conja Wright, Assistant Branch Manager, Detroit Public Library

• Telling Stories, Changing Lives

  Nicolet Room, 5th Floor

  Defining a problem, describing an issue, or advocating for change requires compelling storytelling. Twenty-first century technology offers an ever-expanding array of tools for engaging supporters in advocacy and organizing to change communities and in the country.But the age-old need to tell a good story, frame a narrative, and support it with vignettes from the lives of real people is just as strong today as ever. This session explores how to frame equity issues, consider the messages and the intended audiences, and creatively determine the best tools for engaging constituents in policy change and movement building. Presenters will offer insights about using visual media, film, spatial analysis, photography, and more. Participants are invited to bring work in progress to provide real-time examples of challenges in crafting a narrative and supporting it with powerful storytelling.

  Trainers

  • Dan Lavoie, Deputy Communications Director, PolicyLink
  • Michelle Materre, Core Faculty Advisor, The New School
  • Shaady Salehi, Deputy Director, Active Voice
  • Richard Lui, NBC Universal

• Mobile Workshops

  Join local host organizations for an inspiring look at neighborhoods and initiatives at the forefront of equitable revitalization in Detroit. These engaging tours provide opportunities to meet innovative leaders and dedicated residents working to effect inclusive, sustainable change in their neighborhoods and to take part in on-site discussions about issues of opportunity, race, and community building that are central to the equity movement. Witness first-hand the exciting successes of Detroiters and share your ideas for the work going forward. Buses will leave promptly at 1:00pm from the Motor Lobby, First Floor.

• Cultivating Change: The Food System as a Force for Community Transformation

  Food has incredible power to unite people, and Detroiters are demonstrating that the entire spectrum of the food system—from growing to processing to selling—has the potential to transform communities. Meet a large network of leading activists supporting a robust, healthy local food movement through community gardens, urban agriculture, farmers' markets, stores, restaurants, education, and by encouraging institutions such as schools to buy local fresh food. Find out how a produce truck and store serving low-income residents downtown are becoming sustainable. Learn how community gardens and farms are integrating community services. Hear how food activists are connecting with efforts to prepare people for the workforce, educate children, create broader institutional support through policy change, and most of all, improve access to healthy food for all. This will be a delicious tour not to be missed!

• Arts and Culture: Transforming People, Transforming Place

  The Motown sound is but one element of a rich Detroit tradition of arts and culture bringing people together. This tour will explore an array of approaches to encourage personal expression and build shared community identity as vital steps toward creating places where people want to be and catalyzing community and economic development. Participants will see iconic Detroit institutions such as the Detroit Institute of Arts and the Charles Wright Museum of African American History; meet local artists working to enliven their neighborhoods through murals, youth programs, and public installations; and talk with leaders working to fuel a robust creative economy.

• The Next Economy: Creating Jobs and Preparing a new Workforce in Detroit

  Reimagining a regional economy is an imperative for many metros across the nation, and especially in Detroit. Faced with drastically high unemployment rates, especially among people of color, as well as a highly skilled unemployed workforce, organizations must simultaneously aim for development strategies to prepare the chronically unemployed, retention strategies for incumbent workers, and job creation strategies for people entering the labor market. Meet Detroiters responding to these challenges in innovative ways. Learn about new collaborations such as the efforts to organize summer youth employees and connect them with major utility companies like DTE Energy. Hear how the foundations and community organizations of the Earn and Learn network are creating integrated approaches to workforce development for vulnerable populations. Find out how business incubators such as Tech Town and Next Energy are supporting new entrepreneurship opportunities for all. This eye-opening tour is a must for anyone wrestling with questions of how to grow and sustain an inclusive economy in a post-industrial region.

• In the Footsteps of History: The Past, Present, and Future of Social Justice Organizing in Detroit

  From the Great Migration to labor unionizing to race riots, Detroit has a vivid history of social justice organizing, conflict, and reconciliation. Join this mobile workshop to explore the social justice history of Detroit and meet people working to continue the conversation around race, equity, and movement building. We will visit landmark sites across the city, such as Cobo Hall, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King’s original “I Have a Dream” speech. Lifelong social justice activists, young leaders, and researchers will reflect on how organizations are embracing the lessons of the city’s splintered past to build alliances and craft a new vision for the city. This tour will offer a moving look back and an inspiring look forward.

• Equity at the Core: Exploring the Neighborhoods Along Woodward Corridor

  The Woodward Corridor is a major downtown thoroughfare connecting anchor institutions, cultural and entertainment attractions, and commercial districts. It is a key target for revitalizing the downtown economy and is slated for substantial investment including a light rail line. Join this tour to learn how neighboring communities are working with planners, economic developers, and foundations to ensure that residents are engaged and included in the effort and that they benefit from the investments. As millions of dollars flow into the downtown corridor, talk with residents and advocates committed to developing equitable downtown neighborhoods, with housing, broad access to transportation options, and education opportunities for all.

• The Power of Collaboration: Residents Reclaiming the Brightmoor Neighborhood

  Roughly four square miles in northwest Detroit, Brightmoor was home to mostly migrants from the South coming to work for the auto industry. Today it is a diverse mix of nearly 20,000 residents struggling to overcome long-term disinvestment and barriers to opportunity. This mobile workshop will introduce vibrant community leaders working to knit together once disparate parts of Brightmoor across racial, class, and religious divides. Learn about the Brightmoor Alliance, a diverse collaboration of dozens of organizations taking on a range of projects to improve their communities—both with, and without, public, major corporate, and philanthropic support. Hear how residents are reclaiming spaces to combat blight and spur commerce and neighborhood stabilization; working to enhance education, arts, and recreation opportunities for children; encouraging local food production and entrepreneurship; and much more. Be ready for a memorable discussion about the importance of tenacious, organized community leaders committed to collaboration and working in the interest of all residents

• Thriving Diversity: A Tour of Southwest Detroit Neighborhoods

  As the national debate over immigration continues, the neighborhoods of Southwest Detroit have actively embraced communities from across the world. Home to a large Latino population and growing Asian and Middle Eastern populations, the neighborhoods have dynamic cultural institutions, robust commercial corridors, and a strong network of community organizations that reflect the needs of diverse and changing communities. Join this dynamic workshop to see how immigrant communities have shaped the development and relative success of these diverse neighborhoods. From public art, to commerce, to human services to organizing for environmental justice—discover the ways that community organizations have responded to the cultural assets and particular challenges of immigrant communities to create opportunity and hope. Discuss with local leaders about how organizing, flexibility, and cooperation can help address needs, keep residents in the neighborhood, and build the infrastructure to leverage additional resources and investment.

• Land of Opportunity: Exploring the Neighborhoods of the Lower Eastside

  As a group of riverfront communities, the 10 square miles of neighborhoods of the east side of Detroit have had a complex, changing relationship to the land. This mobile workshop explores this relationship and its impact on residents and community organizations. Discover how the proximity to the river, the mix of industrial and residential uses, and the abundance of vacant land have shaped the opportunity structures of these communities. Learn how community-based organizations and residents are banding together in a process called the Lower Eastside Action Plan to put the vast amount of vacant land to good use while empowering residents. Talk with leaders forging a way forward, even as economic challenges and demographic realities of slow to no population growth limit prospects for infill development. See a fascinating area of Detroit tackling tough land use issues with creativity and optimism.

  .

• Mobile Workshop Debrief Sessions

  Continue the conversation after experiencing the sights and sounds of Detroit in these informal debrief sessions with workshop guides and Summit participants.

• Cultivating Change: The Food System as a Force for Community Transformation

  Duluth Room, 5th Floor

• Arts & Culture: Transforming People, Transforming Places

  Nicolet Room, 5th Floor

• The Next Economy: Creating Jobs and Preparing a New Workforce in Detroit

  Brule Room, 5th Floor

• In the Footsteps of History: The Past, Present, and Future of Social Justice Organizing in Detroit

  Richard Room, 5th Floor

• Equity at the Core: Exploring the Neighborhoods of the Woodward Corridor

  Cadillac Room, 5th Floor

• Thriving Diversity: A Tour of Southwest Detroit

  LaSalle Room, 5th Floor

• The Power of Collaboration: Residents Reclaiming the Brightmoor Neighborhood

  Marquette Room, 5th Floor

• Land of Opportunity: Exploring the Neighborhoods of the Lower Eastside

  Joliet Room, 5th Floor

• Caucuses

  Caucuses offer opportunities to meet, connect, exchange ideas, expand networks, and strategize for collective action on issues—all in an informal setting. Open to all Summit participants.

• Boys and Men of Color Caucus: Translating Progress into Policy

  Mackinac Ballroom, West Salon, 5th Floor

  This caucus will provide the opportunity for leading practitioners, advocates, and system leaders that are working to ensure boys and men of color are healthy and successful to share their success stories and collectively strategize solutions for challenges they are encountering. The session is designed to encourage active participation and peer-to-peer consultation. Among the strategic questions that will be explored is what it will take to translate successful community-led interventions into policy and administrative actions that result in the adoption of program interventions that have been proven to improve health, educational, and leadership outcomes among boys and young men of color. Participants in the first caucus meeting will have the opportunity to learn about the Summit workshops and panels that have the most relevance to boys and men of color.

• Exploring Community Commons

    LaSalle Room A, 5th Floor  

  Come experience this new platform, and join a dialogue about how the community commons can have value for increasing the impact and sustainability of your initiative! www.communitycommons.org is a democratized learning, interactive mapping and innovation platform, providing free access to:

  • Get the data you need with over 7000 GIS data layers at state, county, zip code, tract, block group, and point-levels.
  • Make a map and tell your story with contextualized mapping, visualization, analytic, impact & communication tools and apps.
  • Discover who is doing what and what's working by searching profiles of hundreds of place-based healthy/sustainable/livable/equitable community initiatives -- complete with text & video narratives.
  • Engage with your peers around the nation in learning forums in the "interactive commons"

  www.communitycommons.org is a "public-good utility," offered as a gift to the nation from Advancing the Movement, and powered by IP3.

• Earth, Equity, and Advocacy: Crafting an Environmental Justice Agenda

  Mackinac Ballroom, East Salon, 5th Floor

  Gather with environmental justice leaders from across the country. This is an opportunity to share successes, learn about each other's work, identify emerging challenges, and develop strategies for collaborative action. Particular focus will be given to sharing stories of challenges, opportunities, and devising strategies for coordinated policy advocacy.

• Progressive Researchers Caucus: A Network for Engagement and Action

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 3, 3rd Floor

  The equity movement depends on the dedication and expertise of researchers engaged with community groups and focused on community engagement, building power, and achieving policy change. For faculty, graduate students, and researchers affiliated with community-based and advocacy organizations. Come meet old and new friends, share your research and experiences, announce upcoming events, discuss prospects for joint activities, and figure out new ways to keep in touch. Since many of us are here with other delegations, this is our chance to spend time with one another across the regions, the generations, and the issues. Bring books, recent studies, newsletters, or any other material to display.

• Exhibits

  Throughout the hotel conference areas are plasma screen displays that will feature additional conference information, artwork, and visuals that complement session materials. Browse supplemental materials like sample campaigns, maps, and more at the laptop kiosk in the Ambassador Foyer on the 4th Floor. Look out for fun and exciting materials!

Explore the culinary delights of Downtown Detroit. Take the People Mover to visit Greektown, Midtown, and the Woodward Corridor—all offering exciting dining and entertainment options. See the Food and Fun brochure in the Welcome Packet for ideas.

Start your day off right with physical activity led by Lazet Michaels Boatmon. A Detroit native, Lazet is a 14-year fitness professional and certified personal trainer. She is the owner of The Life Center private fitness facility located in Detroit, where she inspires people of all ages to be healthy in their mind, body, and spirit. This morning workout with Lazet will leave you feeling energized as you move throughout your day at the Summit.

The Detroit Academy of Arts & Sciences Show Choir

Renaissance Ballroom, 4th Floor

America's Tomorrow: Equity as the Superior Growth Model

Renaissance Ballroom, 4th Floor

.

• Angela Glover Blackwell, CEO and Founder, PolicyLink
  

Panelists

• Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO, Harlem Children's Zone
• Joan Walsh, Editor-at-Large, Salon.com
• Antonio Gonzalez, President, William C. Velasquez Institute
• Manuel Pastor, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California
• Shaun Donovan, United States Secretary for Housing and Urban Development

• A Prosperous America: Creating an Inclusive Economy

  Marquette Room, 5th Floor

  Economic recovery and growth depend on equitable public investment that creates pathways to success for all, meaningful employment for those who have been left behind, and infrastructure for healthy, sustainable communities. What are the economic engines of the future? What economic development strategies can benefit low-income communities and people of color? Learn about targeted investments that can generate local jobs, build human capital, and strengthen cities and regions. Share ideas for making the case for equitable public investment and economic development.
  
  

  Introduction: Cate Muther, Founder and President, Three Guineas Fund

  Moderator:
  Sarah Rosen Wartell, Executive Vice President, Center for American Progress

  Panelists
  

  • Algernon Austin, Director of the Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy Program, Economic Policy Institute
  • Sarah Treuhaft, Associate Director, PolicyLink
  • Stephen DeBerry, Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Bronze Investment

• Strong Regions: Advances in Regional Equity

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 1, 3rd Floor

  Now, more than ever, advocates, activists, and policymakers recognize that long-term community change is borne from regional policy decisions. Learn how regional equity plays out in metropolitan areas to influence investments in transportation, affordable housing, environmental justice, economic development, and more. Join leaders in the field as they analyze recent successes and setbacks in regional equity and address the question: What collaborations and organizational infrastructure make regions strong?
  
  

  Moderator

  • Don Chen, Senior Program Officer, Ford Foundation

  Panelists

  • Nathaniel Smith, Founder and Convener, Partnership for Southern Equity
  • Dwayne Marsh, Senior Advisor, Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • Marian Urquilla, Director, Program Strategies, Living Cities
  • Paul Williams, Deputy Mayor, City of St. Paul, MN

• Healthy Communities: The Impact of Place, Race, and Poverty

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 2, 3rd Floor

  Where you live affects your health. Neighborhood conditions, including access to parks, playgrounds, healthy food, public transportation, and jobs, influence the risk of disease and early death, and lie at the root of our nation's health disparities. Hear about cutting-edge research and groundbreaking work in vulnerable communities to improve health and reduce disparities by expanding access to healthy food, investing in public transportation, and improving the built environment.
  
  

  Moderator

  • Mildred Thompson, Senior Director and Director of the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place

  Panelists

  • Brian Smedley, Vice President of Health Policy Institute, Joint Center
  • John Vu, Director of Strategy, Kaiser Permanente
  • Jennie Joe, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Arizona
  • Beatriz Solis, Director, Healthy Communities, The California Endowment

• The Changing Face of America: Demographic Change and the New Policy Agenda

  Mackinac Room, 5th Floor

  The nation is growing more diverse much faster than anyone predicted, a shift that promises to reshape the political, economic, and social landscape of communities and regions. Join a timely discussion that dissects the findings of the 2010 Census and their implications for elections, local power dynamics, and democratic processes.
  
  

  Moderator

  • Manuel Pastor, Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, University of Southern California

  Panelists

  • Vanessa Cardenas, Director, Progress 2050
  • Wade Henderson, President & CEO, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
  • Doua Thor, Executive Director, Southeast Asia Resource Action Center
  • Erica Williams, Senior Strategist at Citizen Engagement Lab

• Communities of Opportunity: Innovations in Place-Based Development

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 3, 3rd Floor

  Collaborative, comprehensive efforts are changing the odds for low-income communities and communities of color. These innovations are producing exciting results, including better education and health outcomes for children, good local job opportunities, and revitalized neighborhoods. Learn about the partnerships, resources, and creativity of local, state, and national leaders working across issue areas and weaving together funding streams to create communities of opportunity.
  
     Introduction: Natalie Abatemarco, Managing Director, Community Development, Citi

  Moderator

  • Jim Gibson, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy

  Panelists

  • Angela Blanchard, President & CEO, Neighborhood Centers, Inc.
  • David Fukuzawa, Program Director, Kresge Foundation
  • Shelley Poticha, Director for Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, Department of Housing and Urban Development

• Holding Ground: Equity in an Era of Cutbacks

  Brule Room, 5th Floor

  Funding cuts at all levels of government and public sector layoffs threaten to turn back the clock on equity—but they don't have to. Hear effective strategies to maintain hard-won gains of previous decades and to analyze budget proposals for equitable outcomes, without pitting important issues or groups against one another. Explore opportunities for policy advocacy that not only hold ground on equity during budget crises, but also advance it.
  
  

  Panelists

  • Gilda Jacobs, President & CEO, Michigan League for Human Services
  • Brad Lander, Councilmember, 39th District New York City Council
  • Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to President Obama for Education, White House Domestic Policy Council
  • Chris Espinosa, Hispanic Federation
  • The Honorable Lena Taylor, Wisconsin State Senator

• The Future of Detroit

  LaSalle Room, 5th Floor

  Our host city is more than the Big Three. Detroit and the region have the potential to demonstrate how equity can lead to prosperity. Hear local leaders describe a vision for the future, grounded in the city's rich, entrepreneurial history. Learn about grassroots movements, philanthropic initiatives, and government reforms that are creating a framework for equitable, sustainable growth.
  
  Moderator

  • Carol Goss, President, The Skillman Foundation

  Panelists

  • David Egner, President and CEO, Hudson-Webber Foundation
  • William Jones, CEO, Focus: HOPE
  • Kurt Metzger, Director, Data Driven Detroit
  • Angela Reyes, Executive Director, Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation
  • Donele Wilkins, President and CEO, Green Door Initiative

Renaissance Ballroom, 4th Floor

A World of Change: Lessons from Across the Globe
Expand your horizons as a panel of international experts places the U.S. equity movement into a global context. Groundbreaking action abroad can spark creative ideas and new directions at home. Who are the effective champions for equity internationally? What challenges have they confronted? What lessons can we apply to accelerate efforts domestically? Learn about innovative approaches and strategies to build opportunity-rich communities in various nations, and about the framing, arguments, and constituencies that have proven critical for success.

Moderator

• Maya Harris, Vice President, The Ford Foundation

Panelists

• Jody Heymann, Founding Director of the Institute for Health and Social Policy, the WORLD Global Data Centre, and the Project on Global Working Families, McGill University
• Alejandro Echeverri Restrepo, Architect, Medellin, Colombia
• Tralance Addy, Founder and President, Plebys International

• Preparing the New Economy: Workforce Development and Growth

  Nicolet Room, 5th Floor

  The nation's economic recovery and local revitalization strategies will not succeed if we do not commit to, and invest in, the workforce education and training needs of low-income communities and communities of color. Their purchasing power, contributions as taxpayers, and talents as employees and business owners are key to sustained growth. Explore effective models for moving disadvantaged people from poverty to prosperity. Learn how to harness federal, state, and local policies and practices to ensure inclusive hiring, contracting, and business development.
  
  Moderator

  • David Glover, Executive Director of OCCUR

  Panelists

  • Kisha Bird, Senior Policy Analyst & Project Director, CLASP
  • Scott Lay, President and CEO, Community College League of California
  • Simon Lopez, Senior Director, Workforce and Leadership Development, National Council of La Raza

• Delivering on the Promise of Growth and Inclusion: New Local Job Development Strategies

  Mackinac Room, 5th Floor
  
  “Jobs, jobs, jobs” is everyone’s mantra in the wake of the economic crisis. But at the local level, what job creation and job access strategies truly maximize opportunities for low-income communities and communities of color? Come to this session to learn about new approaches to entrepreneurship development that create jobs while building community wealth, effective ways to leverage the purchasing power of large anchor institutions for community development efforts, and the latest innovations in local hiring and community benefits.
  
  Moderator

  • Leslie Moody, Executive Director, Partnership for Working Families

  Panelists

  • Medrick Addison, Plant Manager, Evergreen Cooperative Laundry
  • Ted Howard, Founder and Executive Director of The Democracy Collaborative
  • Mihailo Temali, President & Chief Executive Officer, Neighborhood Development Center
  • Benny Torres, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Community Development Technologies Center (CDTech)

• Our Country: Challenges and Opportunities in an Immigrant Nation

  Brule Room, 5th Floor

  Full inclusion of immigrants in our society requires developing and sustaining partnerships across racial and ethnic lines. Draw on the experiences of local and national leaders working with, and across, immigrant communities to advance equity in education, the economy, the built environment, and other realms. Learn how cities and regions can create inclusive economies that embrace immigrants and encourage entrepreneurship, and what national and local organizations are doing to advance immigration reform and the rights of immigrants.
  
  Moderator

  • Ana Perez, Executive Director, CARACEN

  Panelists

  • Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition
  • Antonio Gonzalez, President, William C. Velasquez Institute (WCVI)
  • Phil Hutchings, Black Alliance for Just Immigration
  • Steve Tobocman, Global Detroit

• The Future of Housing

  Richard Room, 5th Floor

  Housing is a linchpin of opportunity, yet the future is uncertain in the wake of the foreclosure crisis and the real estate downturn. Join an engaging discussion with experts in public housing, tenants rights, and low-income homeownership to assess the state of the field and envision a new generation of equitable housing policy that provides access to high-quality homes in thriving neighborhoods and protects vulnerable renters and homeowners from predatory investors and financial products.
  
  Moderator

  • Xavier Briggs, Associate Professor of Sociology and Urban Planning, MIT

  Panelists

  • Janis Bowdler, Deputy Director, Wealth-Building Policy Project, National Council of La Raza
  • Dawn Phillips, Program Director, Causa Justa/Right to the City
  • Geoff Anderson, President and CEO, Smart Growth America

• Transportation Equity: Advances in Local and Regional Advocacy

  Cadillac Room, 5th Floor

  Equity leaders across the country are conducting campaigns at the state and regional levels to shape transportation policies and investments to expand transportation access and economic opportunity for low-income people, communities of color, and tribal communities. At stake are critical decisions that can impact equity within regions for decades to come. Learn about campaigns to build just, inclusive communities of opportunity by leveraging resources and partnerships and gain new ideas for initiating successful campaigns in your state or region.
  
  Moderator

  • Brittny Saunders, Senior Advocate, Center for Social Inclusion

  Panelists

  • Bob Allen, Director of Transportation Justice, Urban Habitat
  • Gwen Salt, Legislative Associate, National Congress of American Indians
  • Beverly Scott, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Area Rapid Transit Authority

• From Food Desert to Food Oasis

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 1, 3rd Floor

  We all need access to affordable, healthy food to thrive. The lack of such access in many low-income communities and communities of color has sparked a nationwide movement to address food justice, food security, and food sovereignty. Learn about the latest food-system enterprises, and hear how cooperatives, corner stores, urban agriculture, incentive programs, and other innovations are enriching food landscapes.
  
  Moderator

  • Rebecca Flournoy, Associate Director, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Dr. Oran Hesterman, President & CEO, Fair Food Network
  • Pamela Roy, Executive Director, New Mexico Farm to Table
  • Brianna Sandoval, Project Manager, Healthy Corner Store Initiative, The Food Trust
  • Malik Yakini, Founder andInterim Executive Director, Detroit Black Food Security Council

• Planning for Health Equity: Advancing Policy, Systems Change, and the Built Environment

  Joliet Room, 5th Floor

  The very strength of the movement to create healthy communities—multidisciplinary collaboration involving many people representing a broad range of interests and expertise—also makes the work complex. Join a diverse panel of healthy communities activists and leaders to cut through the thicket. Explore ways to identify desired outcomes, communicate progress, and demonstrate success. Learn about planning processes, research, and advocacy strategies that can advance health equity and improve outcomes through a focus on the built environment.
  
  Moderator

  • Jme Mclean, Senior Associate, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Adetokenobo Omishakin, Director of Healthy Living Initiatives, Office of the Mayor, City of Nashville
  • Lina Velasco, Senior Planner, City of Richmond
  • Kim White, Freshman, Baruch College

  .

• Gateway to Community Success: Improving the Odds for Boys and Men of Color

  LaSalle Room, 5th Floor

  The crisis facing boys and men of color has emerged not only as an urgent issue for equity advocates, but also as a window to the needs of vulnerable neighborhoods and regions counting on communities of color for economic advancement and global competitiveness. Many initiatives to improve the health and success of boys and men of color are an integral part of comprehensive community-building strategies. Hear about specific policy and system changes that can improve outcomes for boys and men of color. Learn how to build broad-based coalitions to change the odds for this group and support the development of healthier and more equitable communities.
  
  Moderator

  • Ruben Lizardo, Deputy Director, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Byron Kline, National Program Director Civil Justice Corps, The Corps Network
  • Sammy Nunez, Executive Director, Fathers & Families of San Joaquin
  • Robert Phillips, Fellow, Movement Strategy Center

• Beyond the White Picket Fence: Equity and America's Changing Suburbs

  Duluth Room, 5th Floor

  The traditional divide between wealthy, growing, white suburbs and poor, declining nonwhite cities is narrowing, and these shifts are changing the dynamics of regions and regional advocacy. More black, Latino, Asian, foreign-born, and poor people now live in suburbs than in cities, and suburbs themselves are becoming a diverse mix. Hear the latest demographic research on suburban communities, and discuss organizing and policy strategies that are bringing changing suburbs into the equity movement.
  
  Moderator
  

  • Robin Snyderman, Vice President of Community Development, Metropolitan Planning Council

  Panelists

  • Carl Anthony, co-founder, Breakthrough Communities Project
  • Rolf Pendall, Director of the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center, Urban Institute
  • Walter Tejada, Member Arlington County Board

• Innovations in the Public Sector

  Mackinac West Room, 5th Floor

  Despite withering city and county budgets, public officials across the country are not losing hope, but instead continuing to leverage the dollars they do have for more equitable outcomes. Leaders are developing a wide range of policies, programs, and projects that provide opportunities to create multi-sector partnerships linking the public, non-profit and private sectors to stretch thinning resources and achieve cross sector gains. Join this session to hear local leaders discuss how they have found opportunities to target investments for increased local hiring, better environmental protections for vulnerable communities, and creative financing for community investments.

  Moderator

  • Juliet Ellis, Assistant General Manager for External Affairs, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

  Panelists

  • James Bell, Founder and Executive Director, W. Haywood Burns Institute
  • Maria Hibbs, Executive Director, The Partnership for New Communities
  • Melanie Hartzog, Family Services Coordinator, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, City of New York

• Tackling Poverty and Pollution: New Directions in Environmental Justice

  Marquette Room, 5th Floor

  The environmental justice movement has made enormous strides in challenging the disproportionate pollution burden on communities of color and low-income people. Now advocates are moving beyond a responsive focus on harm, to leading proactive campaigns to ensure that environmental policies benefit these communities. Learn about promising strategies to build successful alliances, develop strategic and planned agendas, and secure policy wins.
  
  Moderator

  • Nile Malloy, Northern California Program Director, Communities for a Better Environment

  Panelists

  • Robert D. Bullard, Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center, Clark Atlanta University
  • Mark Toney, Executive Director, TURN
  • Elizabeth Yeampierre, Executive Director, UPROSE

• Stories of Scale and Success: Promise Neighborhoods

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 2, 3rd Floor

  A Promise Neighborhood is a community of opportunity, with strong schools at the center, that allows children to learn, grow, and succeed. Inspired by the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), Promise Neighborhoods wrap children in high-quality, coordinated health, social, community, and educational support from the cradle to college to career. In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education supported 21 nonprofit organizations to develop plans to implement this approach. Learn how the HCZ model is being brought to scale at the national level, and meet a diverse group of local practitioners working to improve the lives of their communities' most vulnerable children and families.
  
  Moderator

  • Michael McAfee, Director, Promise Neighborhoods Institute, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Marianna Islam, Vice President of Community Impact for Projects, United Way of Central Massachusetts
  • Ron Migalski, Vice President of Operations, SGA Youth and Family Services
  • Rasuli Lewis, Director, Practitioner's Institute, Harlem Children's Zone

Exciting initiatives and policies around the country demonstrate that equity truly is the superior growth model. The workshops in this series examine strategies and models for building stronger, more inclusive neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Learn how local, state, and federal innovations are improving outcomes in education and health, expanding access to healthy food, putting people to work, engaging communities in democratic processes, developing local leadership, empowering young adults, and changing the odds for boys and men of color.

• Building Assets and Wealth for All: New Developments in Policy and Practice

  Marquette Room, 5th Floor

  The wealth gap between rich and poor, and between whites and people of color, has been getting wider, undermining individual wellbeing and the economies of communities across the country. Closing the wealth gap—and, in particular, the racial wealth gap—is imperative to achieving equity and ensuring that all Americans can achieve a prosperous future. Learn how advocates are coming together to advance innovative policy and practical solutions that help individuals, families, and communities rebuild financial security. Hear how diverse constituencies are developing shared research agendas and shaping public discourse.
  
  Introduction

  • Kilolo Kijakazi, Program Officer, Ford Foundation

  Moderator

  • Joe Brooks, Vice President, Civic Engagement, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Cornelius Blanding, Director of Field Operations, Federation of Southern Cooperatives
  • Andrea Levere, President, Corporation For Enterprise Development (CFED)
  • Anne Price, Director, Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative, Insight Center for Community Economic development
  • Eric Rodriguez, Vice President, Office of Research, Advocacy, and Legislation, National Council of La Raza

• On Common Ground: Linking Opportunity Landscapes Across Rural and Urban America

  Nicolet Room, 5th Floor

  One-fifth of the U.S. population lives in rural or tribal communities. Join a panel of experts to examine how shifts in demographics, land use patterns, and technology are blurring traditional boundaries between rural, urban, and suburban communities—and what that means for the equity agenda and strategies for change. Learn how rural residents and advocates are working to improve local conditions by forging connections to broader opportunities within regions, including economic development, job creation, and transportation.
  
  Moderator

  • Dee Davis, President, Center for Rural Strategies

  Panelist

  • Peter Morris, Director of Strategy and Partnerships, National Congress of American Indians
  • John Robert Smith, President and CEO, Reconnecting America
  • Alegria De La Cruz, Legal Director, Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment

• @Equity: Advocacy and Innovation in Social Media

  LaSalle Room, 5th Floor

  Hear inspiring examples of campaigns that successfully used online advocacy tools and tactics to push social justice agendas. Panelists explain how they strategically used technology to mobilize their base, reach beyond the choir, target legislators, attract media attention, and fund-raise to win—and offer practical guidance on how to replicate and effectively apply different tools.
  

  Panelists

   
  • Rishi Jaitly, Program Director, Knight Foundation
  • James Rucker, Co-Director, Citizen Engagement Laboratory
  • Jeanette Lee,Co-Director, Allied Media Project
   

• New Voices Defining Sustainable Communities

  Cadillac Room, 5th Floor

  The new federal focus on coordinated regional planning makes this a critical moment to mobilize diverse constituencies to shape plans that will direct millions of dollars of investment in housing, land use, economic and workforce development, transportation, and infrastructure. Explore how Sustainable Communities regional grantees around the country are engaging a diversity of perspectives while working to make sure that the communities with the greatest economic needs benefit.
  
  Moderator

  • Kalima Rose, Senior Director and Director of the Center for Infrastructure Equity, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Genoveva Islas-Hooker, Regional Program Coordinator for the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Program
  • Repa Mekha, Executive Director, Nexus Community Partners
  • Shelley Poticha, Director for Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • Nick Tilsen, Executive Director, Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation

• A Healthier Tomorrow: Preventing Childhood Obesity

  Richard Room, 5th Floor

  Childhood obesity is a rapidly growing health concern, threatening the health and productivity of the nation. This dynamic session takes a close look at the face of the epidemic, focusing on the people and places at highest risk: low-income communities and communities of color. Explore childhood obesity trends in these communities and varying social and environmental determinants of health. Learn about innovative models for changing community environments, and share ideas for overcoming policy barriers to reversing the epidemic.
  
  Moderator
  Dwayne Proctor, Team Director and Senior Program Officer, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

  Panelists

  • Carlos DeJesus, Assistant Principal/Urban Agriculture Program Coordinator, Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School
  • Dr. Wayne Giles, Director of the Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Shavon Arline, Director of Health Programs, NAACP

• Crosswalk: The Intersection of Transportation and Health

  Brule Room, 5th Floor

  When properly designed, transportation systems can create healthy communities of opportunity. They provide exercise opportunities for physical activity, improve safety, lower emotional stress, link poor people to jobs and good schools, stimulate economic development, and connect isolated disabled and older people to social supports. Join a conversation that re-thinks transportation policy and planning and envisions an approach that values the impacts on health and equity and prioritizes investments in public transportation, walking and bicycling, and communities with the greatest needs for affordable, safe, reliable connections to jobs and essential services.
  
  Moderator

  • Shireen Malekafzali, Senior Associate, PolicyLink

  
  Panelists

  • Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public Health Association
  • Heidi Guenin, Transportation Policy Coordinator, Upstream Public Health
  • Salvador Lopez, Associate Planner, Baldwin Park

• Community Safety and Youth Development: How Opportunity for All Can Foster Safe Places

  Mackinac East Room, 5th Floor

  Violence is a pervasive public health problem in the United States, and prevention is no longer the sole purview of law enforcement. Join a panel of experts to discuss the intricacies of effective violence prevention through an intentional focus on gender, race, and place. Learn about innovative programs and policies developed by diverse organizations and leaders steeped in violence prevention, community health, and workforce development.
  
  Moderator

  • Marc Philpart, Senior Associate, PolicyLink

  Presenter

  • Larry Cohen, Founder & Executive Director, Prevention Institute
  • Daniel "Nane" Alejandrez, Co-Founder, Barrios Unidos
  • Dr. Carnell Cooper, Team Leader, Violence Prevention Program, University Maryland Medical Center

• Education First: Schools at the Heart of Community

  Mackinac West Room, 5th Floor

  Education and schools are core elements of neighborhood transformation and empowerment. Explore how schools can create equitable opportunity and decrease the achievement gap for youth of color and poor youth by addressing nonacademic concerns within or connected to schools, including health, nutrition, adult education, out-of-school-time programs, and the use of school facilities as community centers.
  
  Moderator

  • Jeff Vincent, Deputy Director, Center for Cities and Schools

  Panelists

  • Marty Blank, President, Institute for Educational Leadership
  • Sandy Moore, President, Urban Strategies, Inc.

• Pipeline to Success: Integrating Services to Get Results

  Joliet Room, 5th Floor

  Integrated services are a powerful vehicle to implement policy and get results. This session lifts up models of innovation in service delivery and their impact in communities. Find out what it takes to concentrate on individual and community health—to deliver an array of services for individuals with a simultaneous focus on neighborhood environments, to effectively work with people, and impact places and politics. Learn how to engage community, leverage financial resources, and build political will to serve an entire neighborhood comprehensively and at scale.
  
  Moderator

  • Ruben Gonzalez, Center for the Study of Social Policy

  Panelists

  • Dr. Nadine Burke, Founding physician and Medical Director, Bayview Child Health Center
  • Kevin Jordan, Director of Family Income and Wealth-building, Local Initiatives Support Coalition (LISC)
  • Brent Schondelmeyer, Director of Communications, Local Investment Commission

• Still Walkin' to New Orleans

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 1, 3rd Floor

  Six years post-Katrina and Rita, great distances have been covered in Gulf Coast recovery. Every step toward equitable development has been hard fought, and, more than 100,000 African American residents have not returned to New Orleans. Yet civic engagement, community organizing, community-driven bricks and mortar, civil rights lawsuits, and multi-racial coalition work have delivered on more equitable development. Hear from leading advocates who continue to make good on the promise of fair housing, accountable government, criminal justice reform, greening the recovery, building youth engagement, and providing fresh food access.
  
  Moderator:

  • James Perry, Executive Director, Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center

  Panelists

  • Beverly Wright, Executive Director, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Dillard University
  • Deirdre Johnson Burrell, Executive Director, Orleans Public Education Network
  • William Gilchrist,Director of Place-Based Initiatives, City of New Orleans ,

• More than a Song: Arts and Culture in Community Economic Development

  Duluth Room, 5th Floor

  Arts and culture are more than frills—they are the lifeblood of thriving, empowered, opportunity-rich communities. Join a hands-on session to explore the central role of arts and culture in advancing policies that promote and sustain community transformation. Participants will consider how to engage in arts-focused community development, and how arts and culture can be integrated into advocacy efforts, policy development, and community investments.
  
  Moderator

  • Caron Atlas, Director, Arts and Democracy Project

  Panelists

  • Carlton Turner, Executive Director, Alternate ROOTS
  • Maria Jackson, Senior Research Associate, Metropolitan Housing and Communities Center, Urban Institute
  • Sue Mosey, President, Midtown Detroit Inc.
  • Daniel Lurie, Senior Advisor and Director of Strategic Partnerships, National Endowment for the Arts

• Stories of Scale and Success: Improving Access to Healthy Food

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 2, 3rd Floor

  Focusing on different innovations, this session focuses on successful efforts to improve access to healthy foods in underserved communities. The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative demonstrates a triple bottomline impact--that investing in healthy food retail in underserved communities improves healthy food access, creates jobs, and supports community revitalization. A variety of stakeholders in different states are using this example to advocate for and implement similar approaches. The federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative marks an important step toward replicating this innovative model at the federal level. And, new approaches are securing commitments from the private and philanthropic sectors to locate new stores in underserved communities. Learn about the partnerships, research, and advocacy needed to improve access to healthy food.
  
  Moderator

  • Judith Bell, President, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Beatriz Solis, Director, Healthy Communities, The California Endowment
  • Yael Lehmann, Executive Director, Food Trust
  • Patricia Smith, Senior Policy Advisor, The Reinvestment Fund (invited)
  • Larry Soler, President and CEO, The Partnership for a Healthier America
  • Peter Larkin, President and CEO of National Grocers Association (invited)

• Boys and Men of Color Caucus: Translating Progress into Policy (continued)

  Nicolet Room, 5th Floor

  This caucus will provide the opportunity for leading practitioners, advocates, and system leaders that are working to ensure boys and men of color are healthy and successful to share their success stories and collectively strategize solutions for challenges they are encountering. The session is designed to encourage active participation and peer-to-peer consultation. Among the strategic questions that will be explored is what it will take to translate successful community-led interventions into policy and administrative actions that result in the adoption of program interventions that have been proven to improve health, educational, and leadership outcomes among boys and young men of color. Participants in the first caucus meeting will have the opportunity to learn about the Summit workshops and panels that have the most relevance to boys and men of color.

• Place-based Change: Lessons from Around the Globe

  Mackinac Ballroom, East Salon, 5th Floor

  When individuals manage to break the cycle of poverty, they tend to leave their community and migrate to join other communities. This caucus will look at some success stories where the community as a whole is making change. It will also look at the main barriers and compare and contrast approaches in different countries and cultural contexts.

• In Union We are Strong: Building Community-Labor Alliances

  Richard Room, 5th Floor

  Across the country, community and labor leaders are forging alliances to ensure massive public investment in urgently needed basic infrastructure that gets union members off the bench and more people of color and women into union careers. The scale of unemployment, new layoff threats, and decades of unemployment in communities of color pose very real challenges to realizing these worthy goals. This caucus will focus on providing an opportunity to learn how community and labor leaders are negotiating these challenges in joint advocacy in a select number of cities and states and federally focused campaigns.

• Finding Common Ground: Environmental Justice and Labor Organizing in Fence-Line Communities

  Cadillac Room, 5th Floor

  This caucus will engage leaders from the environmental justice and labor movements in a discussion about successfully organizing in port cities and fence-line communities. Facilitated by members of the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative, the conversation will explore strategies to effectively organize diverse constituencies and advance solutions to address the challenges faced by these communities. Particular attention will be given to developing strategies to support effective collaboration between the environmental justice and labor movements.

• Sustainable Communities Caucus: Implementing Equity and Livability

  LaSalle Room, 5th Floor

  The federal Sustainable Communities Initiative brings tremendous opportunities for equitable planning processes and long-term investments. Join a facilitated conversation among Sustainable Communities' grantees and partners from across the country, to share early progress and strategies for overcoming uncharted challenges with implementation of the Initiative. Explore how regional planning organizations are partnering with local groups to tailor this grant to the dynamics in their region – current transportation planning processes, strength of the housing market and economy, particular communications strategies, and organizational capacity to take on new plans. Take this opportunity to share candid experiences with Sustainable Communities peers from across the country.

• Charting a New Course for a Just and Equitable Transportation System
  

  Marquette Room, 5th Floor

  This session brings together local, regional, state, and national leaders working to create transit-rich communities of opportunity. It is convened by the Equity Caucus at Transportation for America, a group of more than 80 leading civil rights, community development, racial justice, economic justice, faith-based, health, housing, labor, environmental justice, tribal, public interest, women's groups, and transportation organizations advocating for transportation policies that advance economic and social equity in America. Come and get to know potential partners, hear and share perspectives about the transportation challenges facing your community, and exchange ideas for charting a course toward a more equitable transportation system in America.
  

• Healthy Food Caucus: Bringing Diverse Interests to the Table

  Mackinac West, 5th Floor

  Communities across the nation are launching creative strategies to make healthy food accessible and affordable—convening food policy councils, establishing community gardens, converting corner and liquor stores to stores offering healthy food, developing worker-owned cooperatives, and more. Advocates, increasingly aware that making our food system more equitable will improve the health of local residents and the economic vitality of neighborhoods, are looking at ways to attract healthy retail options to neglected areas, support urban agriculture and locally grown food, get healthier food into schools, and expand employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in the food system. This caucus brings together advocates from across the spectrum to explore innovative approaches to overcoming obstacles and exciting opportunities that are yielding results. Whatever your focus, this caucus will provide “food for thought and action.”

• Exhibits

  Throughout the hotel conference areas plasma screen displays will feature additional conference information, artwork, and visuals that complement session materials. Browse supplemental materials like sample campaigns, maps, and more at the laptop kiosk in the Ambassador Foyer on the 4th Floor. Look out for fun and exciting materials!

  .

• Riverview Ballroom, COBO Center, 1 Washington Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226

  Buses will begin departing from the Motor Lobby, First Floor, at 6:45pm.

  Come experience a variety of sights, sounds, and flavors at the Taste of Detroit Reception. Featuring favorite local treats and cuisine reflecting a variety of neighborhoods, this reception offers just a sample of all Detroit has to offer. The entertainment for the event is provided by Larry Lee and Back In The Day band. In the group's short 7-year existence it has been nominated and has won several awards from various entities, including Best Live Performance Group of the Year, Best R and B Band, and in 2006 Larry was voted Bass Player of the year by the Detroit Music Awards. With its team of performers, the Back In The Day band covers several genres and eras. Come listen, meet up with new and old friends and colleagues, and share your experiences from the first day of equity Summit 2011.

  .

• Cardio Sculpt and Yoga

  Ontario Exhibit Hall, 3rd Floor
  Start your day off right with physical activity led by Lazet Michaels Boatmon. Stay energized throughout the day. Keep it moving for the cause!

Race, poverty, and equity are never a candidate's favorite topics, and in today's contentious political environment, advancing equity-focused policies may seem like a Herculean task. Join a timely conversation about the political hot buttons for 2012, and strategies for pursing an equity agenda. Hear leaders from across the country describe how to make sure the needs and aspirations of low-income communities and communities of color do not get lost in campaign showmanship and partisan rancor.

• Judith Bell, President, PolicyLink

Panelists

• Judith Bell, President, PolicyLink
• Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino
• Melody Barnes, Domestic Policy Adviser, Director of the Domestic Policy Council, White House
• Steve Phillips, President and Founder, PowerPAC

• The Next Economy: Growing New Jobs, Nurturing Sustainable Industries

  Nicolet Room, 5th Floor

  Where will new economic growth come from? How can equitable strategies and a commitment to sustainability guide the creation of jobs and business opportunities? This session looks beyond the recession and high unemployment to consider how equity advocates can and must shape the economic future. Learn about opportunities and challenges in a variety of growth sectors, including manufacturing, health care, and green industries.
  

  Moderator

  • Karen Chapple, Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning, University of California, Berkeley (invited)

  Panelists

  • Diane Factor, Founding Director, Worker Education and Resource Center
  • Denise Fairchild, Executive Director, Emerald Cities
  • Scott Paul, Executive Director, Alliance for American Manufacturing

• Invisible Communities: Overcoming the Legacy of Disinvestment in Unincorporated America

  Duluth Room, 5th Floor
  

  Millions of people—most of them African American or Latino and low-income—live in pockets of unincorporated land, often without the most basic services for health and safety, such as clean water, sewage lines, and sidewalks. Hear how community leaders are working to overcome entrenched racial, economic, and political barriers to empower local residents to shape policy and bring much-needed infrastructure investment to these neglected communities.
  

  Moderator

  • Chione Flegal, Senior Associate, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Mark Dorosin, Adjunct Professor of Law, Senior Managing Attorney, Center for Civil Rights, University North Carolina
  • Phoebe Seaton, Directing Attorney, California Rural Legal Assistance
  • Lionel Lopez, Founder, South Texas Colonia Initiative

• Follow the Money: Creative Financing for Equitable Infrastructure Investment

  Brule Room, 5th Floor

  Cash-strapped governments are reducing their commitments to infrastructure investment while aging roads and bridges deteriorate, transit services are cut, and the supply of affordable housing shrinks. This session highlights creative efforts to reverse the tide. Learn about work at the federal level to establish new innovative approaches to infrastructure investment. Hear about local initiatives ensuring that federal infrastructure investment is concentrated in vulnerable communities, leveraging that investment with innovative financing structures, and ensuring that spending maximizes benefits for low-income people and people of color.
  

  Moderator

  • Victor Rubin, Vice President for Research, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Stuart Cohen, Co-Founder & Executive Director, TransForm
  • Barbara Major, Chairwoman, New Orleans Regional Transit Authority
  • Jennifer Thompson, Senior Policy/Research Assistant, The Brookings Institution

• Organizing for Power and Policy Wins

  Richard Room, 5th Floor

  Equity doesn’t fall in our laps; it comes from the demands we make and from our focused, creative, and strategic organizing and advocacy. Solid organizing is the foundation for training and mobilizing people and networks to act collectively and achieve policy wins. This session draws on the lessons of local organizing and national campaigns and highlights effective approaches from labor, faith-based, and place-based community organizing. Explore best practices, new strategies, and “the sound from the ground” with experienced, committed organizers.
  

  Moderator

  Martha Matsuoka, Assistant Professor,Urban and Environmental Policy, Occidental College

  Panelists

  • Bertha Lewis, President and Founder, The Black Institute
  • Eddie Bautista, Executive Director, The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
  • Lou Turner, Consultant, Developing Communities Project

• Protecting our Planet for All

  Richard Room, 5th Floor

  A new generation of environmental activists and organizations is redefining what has traditionally been a white, middle-class movement. They are leading innovative campaigns to protect, and connect communities of color to natural resources, including water, energy, and land. Meet inspiring leaders and hear about efforts to advance environmental policies that support healthy, prosperous, equitable communities today and tomorrow.
  Moderator:    

  • Cecil Corbin-Mark, Deputy Director, WE ACT for Environmental Justice

  Panelists

  • Maria Herrera, Community Outreach Coordinator, Community Water Center
  • Amelia Parker, Executive Director, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM)
  • Kimberly Wasserman, Executive Director, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization

• The Power of Health Impact Assessments

  Mackinac West Room, 5th Floor

  Health impact assessments marry research, advocacy, and capacity building to promote policies and programs that maximize health for people and community environments. Hear how communities have used this tool to focus local planning and development agendas on the needs of low-income and working communities, with an emphasis on improving access to jobs, transportation, affordable housing, and other opportunities. Learn how to apply this tool in your community.
  

  Moderator

  • Shireen Malekafzali, Senior Associate, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Lynn Todman, Executive Director, Institute on Social Exclusion
  • Kim Gilhuly, Project Director, Human Impact Partners
  • Doran Schrantz, Executive Director, ISAIAH

• Road to Renewal: Economic and Cultural Revitalization of Older Core Cities

  Cadillac Room, 5th Floor

  Even in the face of economic crisis, America's older manufacturing cities are embarked on a journey toward equitable, sustainable renewal. They are identifying new industries and growth sectors, restructuring government, marshalling their assets, and rebuilding with newcomers and long-standing residents alike. Hear from leaders who are making job-creating investments in local firms, seizing opportunities for regional and global competitiveness, turning vacant land into useful and often beautiful amenities, and revitalizing neighborhoods.
  

  Moderator

  • Jay Williams, Executive Director of the Office of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers, Department of Labor

  Panelists

  • Anika Goss Foster, Vice President for Sustainable Communities, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
  • Dan Kildee, Co-Founder and President, Center for Community Progress (invited)
  • Ben Forman, Executive Director, Office of Recovery

• Reflecting America: Creating Leaders for the 21st Century

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 1, 3rd Floor

  What kind of leadership can propel and sustain the equity movement as America moves toward becoming a nation with a majority of people of color? Who will be the leaders to reflect and connect to new constituencies and advance an agenda for equity and inclusion? Join an incisive conversation about race, class, gender, age, and leadership development in the 21st century. Reflect on the challenges, stories of success, and the value of cultivating different leadership styles and skills, organizing multi-ethnic coalitions, and engaging youth.
  Moderator

  • Ron Stief, Senior Associate, PolicyLink

  
  Panelists

  • Allen Fernandez-Smith, President, Urban Habitat
  • Andrew D. Gillum, Director of Youth Leadership Programs, People for the American Way (invited)
  • Ponsella Hardaway, Executive Director, MOSES

• You are Here: Mapping for Advocacy and Community Change

  Joliet Room, 5th Floor

  Mapping is a powerful tool for analyzing data, communicating your message, and engaging your community. Learn how advocates have effectively used maps to advance a variety of equity campaigns. And find out how to cut through the glut of maps and mapping tools to choose the technology that best serves your cause.
  

  Moderator

  • Sarah Treuhaft, Associate Director, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Jason Reece, Senior Researcher, Opportunity Communities Initiative, The Kirwan Institute
  • Junious Williams, Executive Director, Urban Strategies Council
  • Timothy Bray, Director, Institute for Urban Policy Research

• A Strong Foundation: Race and Equity in Grantmaking

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 3, 3rd Floor

  Foundations can play a critical role in supporting efforts to achieve racial equity, particularly in economically difficult times. This session highlights the movement gaining ground in the philanthropic community to bolster equity-focused efforts in policy change to create healthy, thriving communities. Explore approaches to utilize an equity perspective in philanthropic initiatives, the role of philanthropy to advance equity in stewardship and grant making, and future directions in equity-driven philanthropy.

  Moderator
  

  • Amanda Navarro, Associate Director, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Ben Starrett, Executive Director and Founder, The Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities
  • Sandy Fernandez, Vice President, Community Development, Citi
  • Raymond Colmenar, Program Manager, The California Endowment
  • Shawn Dove, Campaign Manager, Open Society Foundations

• At the Heart of Equity: Authentic Community Engagement

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 2, 3rd Floor

  Community is at the core of every effort to revitalize neighborhoods, enhance the quality of life, and attain equity. No matter what issue a campaign targets—affordable housing, healthy food access, job creation, transportation, or education—the key element must be authentic, effective leadership and involvement by the people who have been denied these services, overlooked, or left behind. Explore innovations in meaningful community engagement, and tackle the difficult issues it raises, including power dynamics, movement building, and demographic and generational change.

  Moderator

  • Mary Lee, Deputy Director, PolicyLink

  Panelists

   
  • Francisco “Pancho” Argüelles, Co-Founder, Colectivo Flatlander
   
  • Mary Lim-Lampe, Executive Director, MORE2
   
  • Dana Richardson, Senior Director, Advocacy and Community Health, Community Health Improvement Partners
   
  • Sayrah Namaste, Administrative Program Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee- New Mexico

  .

The Networking Lunch offers Summit attendees the opportunity to have self-organized discussions. One topic of interest on MyEquitySummit is Occupy Wall Street and its intersection with local efforts to promote equity. PolicyLink developed A Policy Agenda for the 99% to address some of these issues. We hope this document can inform your discussions about organizing strategies and policy solutions.

• The Future of Equity: The Imperative for Community-Labor Alliances

  Marquette Room, 5th Floor

  In the face of staggering job losses in the industrial and service sectors, layoffs in the public sector, and record high unemployment in the building and construction trades, millions of American workers are struggling to keep their families from falling into poverty, and many labor unions are under political attack. Hear what unions and their allies are doing to defend the rights of workers while keeping economic development projects and public services intact. Learn how proactive labor-community coalitions are defining the terms of economic recovery in cities and regions.
  

  Moderator

  • Phil Thompson, Associate Professor of Urban Politics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Panelists

  • Carol Joyner, National Policy Director, Labor Project for Working Families
  • Kent Wong, Director, University of California Los Angeles, Labor Center
  • Malcolm Amado Uno, Director of Advocacy and Civic Engagement, Emerald Cities Collaborative

  .

• Our Voice, Our Choice: An Equity Platform for 2012

  Nicolet Room, 5th Floor

  Building an equity platform for communities across the country and organizing around it will be critical to shaping the agendas and messages of the 2012 elections at the local, state, and national levels. Learn how redistricting, new opportunities and restrictions, and efforts for voter engagement are shaping campaigns and policy efforts. Discuss how to shape local and national discourse and the priorities for an inclusive and engaged electorate.

  Moderator

  • Chris Brown, Director for Legislative Affairs, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Lydia Camarillo, Vice President of Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (invited)
  • Brian Kettenring, Executive Director, Leadership Center for the Common Good
  • Penda Hair, Co-Director, Advancement Project
  • Theresa Sheldon, Co-Chair, Native Vote Washington

• Housing Innovation in Tough Times

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 1, 3rd Floor

  With the housing collapse, rampant speculation in low-income communities and communities of color, and the loss of public budgets, communities are reorienting equitable housing strategies. Coalitions are working to reclaim homes lost to the bubble or the long-term disinvestment of communities. Community land trusts are expanding their portfolios to include foreclosed homes and commercial properties. Community-wide energy-efficient retrofits and financing innovations represent other bold responses. Learn about new approaches fostered by the housing crisis and add your voice to a conversation about crafting an agenda to expand housing opportunity in meaningful ways for low income communities and communities of color.
  Moderator

  • Harold Simon, Executive Director, National Housing Institute (invited)

  Panelists

  • Anita Maltbia, Director, Green Impact Zone (invited)
  • May Louie, Director of Leadership & Capacity Building, Dudley Street Community Land Trust
  • Lautaro Diaz, Vice President, Housing and Community Development, National Council of La Raza (NCLR)

• All Aboard: Advocacy for Equitable Transportation

  LaSalle Room, 5th Floor

  Federal transportation policies and spending can play a major role in advancing opportunity in disinvested neighborhoods. That's why diverse groups and constituencies in communities across the country have joined to push for just, inclusive, and equitable transportation policy. Explore trends in national transportation policy that impact low-income communities and people of color. Learn how equity-focused coalitions are working to create affordable transportation options for all; expand access to jobs and workforce development opportunities in the transportation sector; promote healthy, safe, inclusive communities; and encourage fair and transparent transportation investments.
  

  Moderator

  • Anita Hairston, Senior Associate for Transportation Policy, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • James Corless, Director, Transportation for America
  • Ya-Ting Liu, Campaign Manager, Transportation Alternatives
  • Francisca Porchas, Lead Coordinator, Transit Riders for Public Transportation
  • Larry Hanley, President, Amalgamated Transit Union

• Health, Equity, and Schools

  Joliet Room, 5th Floor
  
  This session grapples with the continuing issues of school segregation, use of schools for community purposes, and the complexities of an emerging issue at the intersection child health and education equity: creating integrated high-quality schools and creating walkable community centered schools. While investments increating safe places for children to play and walk, and bike to and from school improve neighborhood environments for all, unintended consequences may reinforce racial segregation. Segregation issues continue with rural and urban ramifications. Explore these different arenas around equity, health, and schools, discuss different tensions and discuss opportunities for policy advocacy alliances across these sectors to support healthy, high achieving children. Panelists will discuss why relationship building, creative partnerships, and substantive community engagement are critical to moving forward.
  Moderator

  • john a. powell

  Panelists

  • Mary Filardo, Executive Director, 21st Century School Fund
  • Robert Garcia, Executive Director, City Project

• Can't Stop, Won't Stop: State and Local Budget Crises

  Duluth Room, 5th Floor

  Financially strapped state and local budgets are spurning needed revenue raisers in favor of cuts in budgets and reduced pay and benefits for public employees. At the same time, gaps in federal funding for programs such as Medicaid further imperil those who can least afford to be left behind. This political mood, expressed in the 2010 elections and the rhetoric of the presidential campaign, is a threat to equity across the board. Can we turn budget crises into a rallying cry? Hear from elected officials and practitioners about how to fight potentially devastating proposals, frame issues, and effectively navigate fiscal cuts while seeking to preserve and advance equity.
  

  Moderator

  • Frank Farrow, Director, Center for the Study of Social Policy

  Panelists

  • Elizabeth McNichol, Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
  • Derrick Johnson, President, Mississippi National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
  • Chris Espinosa, Director of Advocacy, Hispanic Federation

  .

• Breaking Down Barriers: Achieving Education Equity

  Brule Room, 5th Floor

  What structural and cultural barriers that persist in schools that serve poor students and students of color? This panel will explore challenges that disproportionately affect disadvantaged communities, such as school financing inequity, the culture of criminalization of boys of color in school leading to disproportionate access and poor achievement, and the ways that underserved families are isolated from schools. Join this session to hear about innovative programs, new models for schools, and opportunities for policy advocacy that improve the odds for all young people.
  

  Moderator

  • Jeannie Oakes, Director of Education and Scholarship, Ford Foundation

  Panelists

  • Amy Wilkins, Vice President for Government Affairs and Communications, Education Trust
  • Jorge Sanchez, Senior Litigator, MALDEF Midwest Regional Office
  • Chinyelu Martin, Senior Director, National Equity Project

• Funding Change: Philanthropic Advances in Advocacy

  Ambassador Ballroom, Salon 2, 3rd Floor

  Advocacy is key to creating equitable policies and environments, particularly for residents of low-income communities and communities of color. Investment in advocacy enables communities to identify the factors that influence their well-being and to make sure their priorities shape the agendas of local, state, and national decision makers. Join foundation leaders to examine innovative strategies for investing in policy advocacy to advance equity.
  

  Moderator

  • Nick Turner, Managing Director, The Rockefeller Foundation

  Panelists

  • Gary Cunningham, Vice President of Programs and Chief Program Officer, Northwest Area Foundation
  • Linda Jo Doctor, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
  • Marion Standish, Director of Community Health, The California Endowment

  
  

• Inspiration and Innovation: Using Art to Carry the Message Far and Wide

  Cadillac Room, 5th Floor

  As demonstrated since the beginning of time, there is no vehicle more powerful and far-reaching than artistic expression to translate and broadcast the message of change. This session will highlight a handful of cutting-edge inspirational projects— ranging from experimental social networking technologies, to massive public art projects to traveling public art—that are taking, or have the potential to take, the equity message to new audiences on a grand scale. If you are ready for a new world of communications and messaging possibilities, driven by the power of creativity, this is the session for you.
  

  Moderator

  • Josh Kirschenbaum, Vice President for Strategic Direction, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Pat Cruz,Executive Director, Harlem Stage
  • Mary Jordan, Founder and Creative Director, Word Above The Street
  • Invincible, Hip Hop Artist/Activist, Founder of EMERGENCE Media, Collective member of Detroit Summer, Co-coordinator of Detroit Future Youth
  • Ricardo Duffy, Southern Caifornia Muralist

• What's in a Frame: Race, Equity, and Advocating for Change

  Mackinac East Room, 5th Floor

  There can be no effective advocacy without compelling communications. Draw on the experiences of leading communications experts in the advocacy world to explore how to talk straight and upfront about race and equity. Learn how to navigate the rapidly changing media landscape, integrate communications professionals, and how to use equity principles to frame messages that seize the high ground without ceding framing or messaging to an opposition that almost always has more money.
  

  Moderator

  • Milly Hawk Daniel, Vice President for Communications, PolicyLink

  Panelists

  • Alan Jenkins, Executive Director and Co-Founder, Opportunity Agenda
  • Maya Wiley, Executive Director, Center for Social Inclusion
  • Lorena Chambers, CEO, Chambers Lopez Gaitan

• New Research to Inform and Guide Equitable Policy Change

  Marquette Room, 5th Floor

  Equity-focused policy change efforts at the local, regional, and federal levels have made extensive use of many important new forms of research, on subjects ranging from neighborhood change and health disparities to metropolitan access to opportunity. Whether this research takes the form of surveys, photo-voice, GIS mapping, community indicators, analyses of housing, population and employment databases, or other forms of inquiry and presentation, the changes in practice are as important as the findings. More effective and balanced partnerships are being created among researchers, advocates, and community residents. This session will examine the trends in equity-focused research, highlighting innovative projects, describing new partnerships between community residents and researchers, and assessing the state of the art.
  
  Moderator

  • Chris Benner, Associate Professor of Community and Regional Development, University California, Davis

  Panelists

  • Yvonne Liu, Senior Research Associate, Applied Research Center
  • Marc Draisen, Executive Director, Metropolitan Area Planning Council
  • June Thomas, Centennial Professor, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan

  .

• Ready Now: Voices from Emerging Young Leaders

  Mackinac West Room, 5th Floor

  The majority of America's youth will be people of color sooner than anyone expected. Discover the energy, creativity, and passion of young activists who are developing a vision of the communities they want to live in and are carrying the torch for equity. This conversation will explore the challenges and opportunities that young activists, organizers, and professionals foresee on the horizon of the equity movement, including the intersections of racial, class, and generational divides, the impact of growing diversity on leadership in the equity movement, and how these dynamics translate into local, regional, and national dynamics.
  

  Moderator

  • Kay Fernandez Smith, Deputy Director Promise Neighborhood Institute

  Panelists

  • Annie Loya, Executive Director, Youth United for Community Action
  • Taylor Jo Isenberg, Deputy Director, Roosevelt Institute
  • Nancy  Guarneros, Ph.D Candidate in Education, Claremont Graduate University      

  .

• Equity Now!

  Renaissance Ballroom, 4th Floor

  America's tomorrow is here. As the nation quickly becomes a majority people of color, how do we build a coalition that goes beyond the choir and embraces the good will and intentions of all Americans? How do we make equity the driving force of our future?

  Our closing town hall,"Equity Now!" seeks to lift up some of the lessons of the Summit and give us all a rousing, charged end to our in-person time together -- and chart a new path forward.

  World-renowned musical artists and activists Rha Goddess and Invincible will provide thoughtful, captivating artistic performances in the name of social change.

  Rha Goddess will present an excerpt from her new theatrical work "Opportunity Now! Stories from the Front Lines of Economic Justice and Recovery." Commissioned by The Opportunity Agenda, Opportunity Now! tells the challenging and inspirational stories of individuals facing barriers to opportunity in jobs, housing, and transportation.

  Detroit-based hip-hop artist Invincible is an activist and 2010 Kresge Artist Fellow who learned English by memorizing songs after moving from the Middle East to the Midwest as a child. She founded EMERGENCE Media and released her debut album, "ShapeShifters," in 2008. Her songs, shows, videos, and work with Live Arts Media Project amplify social justice issues and project visions for transformation.

  Together, let's demand Equity Now

After a charged two days at the Summit, several groups are using this time to regroup and debrief with colleagues. This is an optional, informal activity. If you are staying to participate in this activity, please join your pre-arranged group at the appropriate time.