22 April 2008
Demos releases agenda for "A Better Deal" conference
Demos Presents
A BETTER DEAL:
Reclaiming Economic Security for a New Generation
May 8-9, 2008
The Liaison Capitol Hill
415 New Jersey Ave. NW
WASHINGTON, DC
Learn more at abetterdealconference.org
Hundreds of young activists meeting to learn about their generation's economic crisis. The conference is not just about ideas, though – it's about action. Attendees will get the tools to connect politics to the personal financial struggles of young voters, and get hooked up with others to build a movement for a better deal in their communities. Activists will also have a chance to design and participate in their own, user-generated workshops.
AGENDA
Friday, May 9th
8:30 - 9:00 AM Breakfast Buffet
9:00 - 9:45 AM Breakfast Keynote Speaker Andy Stern
Demos President Miles Rapoport will introduce.
10:00 - 11:15 AM Panel A: Paycheck Politics
This panel will focus on the quality of jobs available to young adults in the New Economy, comparing wages, job security, unionization and benefits to the jobs that sustained previous generations. Speakers will also offer strategies for improving job quality, including living wage laws, career ladder and green job programs, traditional unionization and alternative organizing strategies including worker centers.
Sara Flocks, Young Workers United
Nwamaka C. Agbo, Ella Baker Center
Monique Scott, 1199SEIU Young Workers Program
Annette Bernhardt, National Employment Law Project
10:00 - 11:15 AM Panel B: Generation Debt
This panel will focus on the rise of personal debt among young adults, explaining how culture, financial pressures and new lending industry practices have played a role. Panelists will discuss strategies to combat payday lending, abusive credit card practices, predatory home loans and other high-cost credit.
Ian Storrar, Common Cause
Jose Garcia, Demos
Chris Lindstrom, The Student PIRGs
Mike Hayden, Military Officers Association of America
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM Lunch Buffet
12:00 - 12:30 PM Keynote by Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation
12:30 - 1:30 PM Lunch Plenary: We're Broke and We Vote
This panel will focus on strategies to build a movement for a better deal for young adults. Panelists will discuss the power of young voters, the obstacles to moving a young adult economic agenda and how to mobilize young adults around these issues.
Tom Manatos, House Speaker Pelosi's Office
Heather Smith, Rock the Vote
Maya Enista, Mobilize.org
Michael Connery, Author, Youth to Power
Lanya Shapiro, Traction North Carolina
Jordan Thierry, Black Youth Vote
1:45 - 3:00 PM Panel A: Getting a Life - Housing, Health Care and Child Care
This panel will focus on affordability barriers to the necessities of middle-class life: housing, health care and child care. Panelists will describe why and how costs have risen, what public policies and non-governmental initiatives could help young adults and families, and how activists can play a role.
Jonathan Cohn, Author, SICK: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis - And the People Who Pay the Price and Demos Fellow
Heather Boushey, Joint Economic Committee, US Congress
Devin Cole, ONEin3 Boston
Eileen Quigley, Qvisory
Ezra Klein, The American Prospect
1:45 - 3:00 PM Panel B: Higher and Higher Education
This panel will focus on issues of higher education access, affordability and debt. The panel will explore the attack on affirmative action amidst the widening racial gap in higher education, the drivers behind skyrocketing tuitions and student debt, and offer policy solutions.
Michele Siqueiros, Campaign for College Opportunity
Gabe Pendas, United States Students Association
Erica Williams, Campus Progress
Rob Brown, Opportunity Maine
Edie Irons, Project on Student Debt
3:05 - 4:15 PM Plenary: Race, Ethnicity and Economic Destiny
Snacks will be served.
This panel will explore the connection between the millennial generation's two claims to fame: the most diverse generation in American history and the first that is widely predicted to not surpass their parents' standards of living. Panelists will discuss the economic status of immigrants and their children; the effect of the racial wealth gap; the economic contours of mass youth incarceration, and issues of political power and the challenges of winning broad government investments in a more diverse population.
Shannon Augare, Montana State Rep.
Maria Teresa Peterson, Voto Latino
Amaad Rivera, United for a Fair Economy
Stefanie Brown, NAACP
Christine Chen, APIAVote
Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Hip Hop Caucus
4:30 - 5:30 PM User-Generated Breakout Sessions
Registrants are given the chance to submit either topic requests or proposals to host a session during online registration. At the conference, these small group discussions or training sessions will allow participants to learn from each other and connect with other activists in their region or issue area. Attendees will choose among the available sessions by signing up the morning of the conference.
5:30 - 6:00 PM Plenary: Conference Wrap-Up and Next Steps
