	Center for Community Futures Phone: 510-339-3801 Fax: 510-339-3803 E-mail: jmasters@cencomfut.com	Mailing Address: Center for Community Futures P.O. Box 5309 Berkeley, CA 94705

Audio Files and Workshop Descriptions from the National Conversation on Poverty and Economic Security (NCPES)

Scroll down or click here for Video links

Held May 29-31, 2007
at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel and Conference Center
Bethesda, MD

CAMPAIGN TO REDUCE POVERTY IN AMERICA BY 50% BY 2020

9:00 am—10:00 am

Salon F

Catholic Charities USA worked with all other Catholic organizations to create a plan to reduce poverty by 50% by the year 2020. This workshop will describe the process by which the plan was produced, the content of the plan, and the methods that Catholic Charities and other organizations are using to implement the plan.

Presenters:

	Candy Hill, Senior Vice President for Social Policy, Catholic Charities USA
	Monica Maggiano, Senior Manager for the Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America, Catholic Charities USA

STATE LEVEL ACTION ON POVERTY

10:15 am—11:15 am

Salon F

There is action at the state level in several states to address poverty in more formal and more visible ways. Learn what is happening in Minnesota, New Mexico, California and Missouri.

Presenters:

	Tarryl Clark, Minnesota State Senator
	Mike Thorsteinson, President, Minnesota Community Action Partnership
	Ona Porter, Executive Director, New Mexico Association of Community Action Agencies
	Tim Reese, Executive Director California Nevada Community Action Partnership
	Jim Masters, Center for Community Futures
	Elaine West, Executive Director, Missouri Association for Community Action
	Ann Graff, President, Missouri Association for Community Action

IF YOU CAN MEASURE IT YOU CAN MANAGE IT: USING STATEWIDE OUTCOME MEASURES TO MANAGE CHANGE

11:15 am—12:15 pm

Salon F

These are two possible models for national goals, accountability measures and strategies. The Oregon Progress Board was created in 1989 to be the steward of the state strategic plan, Oregon Shines. The Progress Board’s most visible work has been to create the Oregon Benchmarks, a set of quantifiable indicators for the economy, communities and the environment. The benchmarks define Oregon’s strategic goals as measurable outcomes, with targets for improvement. The Benchmarks have been used to address many topics, at the state level and in communities, among public, private and nonprofit sectors, and in several types of planning. The Oregon Benchmarks have attracted much attention outside Oregon, including in Minnesota where they developed Minnesota Milestones based on the Oregon Benchmarks. Come hear from Oregon and Minnesota on their approaches to developing benchmarks, and discuss ideas for using strategic benchmarks to manage change – local, state and national.

Presenters:

	Wendy VanElverdinghe, Executive Director, Community Action Directors of Oregon
	Wayne Fawbush, Former Senate Majority Leader, Oregon State Senate
	Tarryl Clark, Assistant Majority Leader, Minnesota State Senate and former Executive Director for Minnesota Community Action Partnership
	Arnie Anderson, Executive Director, Minnesota Community Action Partnership

CONNECTICU POLICY TO REDUCE CHILD POVERTY BY 50% BY 2014

1:30 pm—2:30 pm

Salon F

Three years ago Connecticut adopted a state policy that is committed to reducing child poverty by 50% in the next decade. Today, we are developing high-impact strategies to reach this goal. This workshop will present how such a bold and innovative state policy came into being, where it is going, and who’s taking it there.

Presenters:

	Elaine Zimmerman, Executive Director, Connecticut Commission on Children
	Patricia Wilson-Coker, former Commissioner of Connecticut Department of Social Services
	Dr. James Gatling, President, Connecticut Association of Community Action
	Gary Stokes, Mountain Consulting

MARRIAGE AND CASTE IN AMERICA

2:30 pm—3:30 pm

Salon F

In the period after 1960, an increasing proportion of the nation’s poor have been single parents, primarily single mothers. This is especially alarming for the future; the children of single mothers are at greater risk of a variety of ills, including both poverty and becoming poor single parents themselves. This workshop will explore a number of questions including: does marriage make a difference for poor kids? And why? What led to the increase in the number of poor single parent families? And what can we do about it?

Presenter:

Kay Hymowitz, Senior Fellow, The Manhattan Institute

COMMUNITY ISSUES MANAGEMENT: A COMMUNITY INFORMATION SYSTEM FOR WISER PUBLIC CHOICES IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION

3:45 pm—4:45 pm

Salon F

The University of Missouri’s Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) created a Community Information Resource Center (CIRC) that focuses on how data can be utilized for decision support at the community, regional and national levels. Participants will get hands on experience with publicly accessible Internet GIS tools that they can use when they return home. Workshop participants will be able to: (1) geographically visualize community, regional, and national-level data via the Internet; (2) integrate new spatial data and overlay these data to conduct location-specific analyses and generate maps, dynamic reports, and “what if” scenarios; and (3) understand how these tools can be utilized in an integrated fashion for decision support.

Presenters:

	Jocelyn Batko Richgels, Associate Director of National Policy Programs, Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI), University of Missouri
	Dr. Christopher Fulcher, Director, Community Information Resource Center, RUPRI/University of Missouri

FRAMEWORKS ON POVERTY ISSUES USED BY INTERNATIONAL NGO’S AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES

4:45 pm—5:45 pm

Salon F

The United Nations has sponsored several international conferences, including the Copenhagen Conference on Poverty and the Conference on Women in Beijing. Using the results of these conferences, they created the Millennium Development Goals to reduce world poverty. The U.N. Development Program has some excellent frameworks for analyzing poverty and strategies for reducing poverty

Presenter:

Dorothy Rosenberg, Former Senior Advisor for UN Millennium Development Goals

ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY

9:00 am—10:00 am

Glen Echo 1 (first 8 minutes music from a video presentation)

Three Community Action programs will present the exciting ways they get community members involved with the mission of their agencies. Community Action Angels in New York, Project Home M.A.D.E. in Michigan, and JCCEO AmeriCorps*VISTA Energy Assistance Network leverage their financial and staff resources with community volunteers so that the agencies can provide more and better services.

Presenters:

	Theodore (Ted) Debro, Deputy Director for Community Service Programs, Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity
	Martin Mucher, Executive Director, Wyoming Country Community Action, Inc.
	Mary Ann Vandermark, Executive Director, Human Development Commission

INTRODUCING THE CIRCLES CAMPAIGN: A LOCAL & NATIONAL APPROACH TO HELPING FAMILIES OUT OF POVERTY

10:15 am—11:15 am

Glen Echo Session 2

The Circles Campaign is a national effort involving forty communities and 1000 families who are working to get out of poverty. Each family is supported by two to five people from the community (allies) to pursue their goals. In each community, the public is engaged in a richer dialogue and planning process to address poverty. The process is led by families experiencing poverty and their allies. The Campaign partners include: Move the Mountain, aha!Process, Inc., Wider Opportunities for Women, The Charitable Giving Resource Center, and The Wilder Research Group.

Presenters:

	Scott Miller, Co-Founder, Move the Mountain Leadership Center
	Phil De Vol, Consultant, aha! Process Inc.
	Lisa Stoddard, Executive Director, Community Action Partnership, Northern Idaho
	Ann Graff, Executive Director, Missouri Valley Community Action Agency

FIRST FOCUS/AMERICA’S PROMISE plus NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

11:15 am—12:15 pm

Glen Echo Session 3

With the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind, up for reauthorization by congress, educators across the country are making their voices heard. Nowhere is this truer than in rural America. See how one size fits all education policy can impact geographically isolated school districts and learn the changes being sought to improve this legislation for rural schools. (Mary) Despite policy-makers across the country discussing the importance of investing in American’s future, children and families are receiving a declining amount of federal spending. Many programs that are vital to children, especially programs vital to poor children, are inadequately funded. These include programs like Medicaid, SCHIP, food stamps, child support enforcement, child-care supports and others. Learn about tackling these issues at the state and federal levels. (Havi)

Presenters:

	Mary Kusler, Assistant Director for Government Relations, American Association of School Administrators
	Ahaviah “’Havi” Glaser, Vice President and Senior Counsel, First/Focus

SOUTH ALLISON HILL COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION PROJECT

1:30 pm—2:30 pm

Glen Echo Session 4

An overview of the comprehensive planning for, and re-development of, a crime-ridden densely populated neighborhood in Harrisburg, PA, will be presented.

Presenter:

Linda Figueroa, Executive Director, Community Action Commission

COMMUNITY MEDIATION: AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

2:30 pm—3:30 pm

Glen Echo Session 5

Mediation offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional adversarial dispute resolution in the courts. The Community Dispute Resolution Program in Michigan and the Dispute Resolution Center in Riverside, California will share their models for training volunteers from the community to provide specialized mediation services

Presenters:

	Lois Carson, Executive Director, Community Action Partnership of Riverside County
	Mary Ann Vandermark, Executive Director, Human Development Commission

THE SOURCES OF WEALTH AND HEALTH

3:45 pm—4:45 pm

Glen Echo

Indicators of wealth and health are substantially higher today than historically. They are substantially higher in the developed world than in the underdeveloped world. These differences can be attributed to the accumulation and application of knowledge. The successful application of knowledge appears to depend on moral, mental, and institutional development. Participants will be invited to think about what this implies for anti-poverty strategy.

Presenter:

Arnold Kling, Ph.D., Adjunct Scholar, Cato Institute

HEALTH CARE: MEDICAID INNOVATIONS plus SCHIP REAUTHORIZATION

4:45 pm—5:45 pm

Glen Echo

Recent actions in Congress have prompted states to re-shape their Medicaid Programs by rationing services and taking other actions. Some people think that the states are taking the lead on designing the health care system for the future. Learn about innovative approaches that states have taken to deal with cuts in Medicaid. Find out about the SCHIP reauthorization.

Presenter:

Martha Roherty, Executive Director, National Association of State Medicaid Directors, American Public Human Services Association

FAMILY ECONOMIC SECURITY

9:00-10:00 a.m.

Salon G Session 1

The workshop will feature the Skills Enhancement Project—a high impact community action project that moves low-wage workers into good paying jobs with access to employer paid benefits. The project started at CAP Services and has been replicated at 10 other CAA’s in Wisconsin. In addition, the Annie E. Casey Foundation will feature its Rural Family Economic Security Initiative.

Presenters:

	Patsy Mbughuni, Senior Planner, CAP Services
	Richard Schlimm, Executive Director, Wisconsin Community Action Program
	Miriam Shark, Senior Associate, Annie E. Casey Foundation

CREDIT PATH®

10:15-11:15 a.m.

Salon G Session 2

This workshop will present a conceptual framework known as the “Credit Path®,” which identifies four stages people pass through on their way to asset accumulation and greater financial security. Originally developed in 1995 by Alternatives Federal Credit Union’s CEO William Myers, the Credit Path® has been used by some financial institutions as a tool to design new products and services that can help people advance toward greater financial security.

Presenters:

	Kirsten Moy, Director, Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program
	Bill Myers, Executive Director, Alternatives Federal Credit Union

BUILDING LOCAL RESOURCES

11:15-12:15 p.m.

Salon G Session 3

Place-based philanthropies, community foundations and other community asset building organizations can play a significant role in addressing poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion. We will hear from the leaders of two dynamic organizations that are playing a catalytic role in developing strong and enduring solutions to pressing economic and social needs, and innovative means to build assets for individuals, households and communities.

Presenters:

	Suzanne Siskel, Director of Community and Resource Development, Ford Foundation
	Sherece Y. West, Chief Executive Officer of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation
	Jeff Yost, President and CEO, Nebraska Community Foundation

LET JUSTICE ROLL, AND THE BENEFIT BANKS CAMPAIGN plus PUTNAM EMERGENCY SHELTERS

1:30 pm—2:30 pm

Salon G

Let Justice Roll. The NCCUSA organized and led the national campaign to increase the minimum wage. Their state-level organizing efforts won in most every state where they worked. Find out how to help organize in your state! The Benefit Bank: The BB is a web-based one-stop opportunity for poor people to fill out all relevant applications from a single computer. Think of it as “Turbo-Tax for Everything.” No forms, no going to government offices. Fill it out at your leisure and when you go to the office you will have a calculation of what you ought to be getting. This is an empowering position. As of 3.12.07 the Benefit Bank has delivered $5,973,236 to 4910 families. The Putnam Emergency Shelter Project has confirmed the power of ecumenical support and volunteerism to improve and enhance the services of the community. The Homelessness Task Force invited all of the local faith based organizations to come to the table to develop an emergency shelter for the winter. In spite of political controversy, the shelter opened its doors in mid-December and continued through the end of March. This project clearly demonstrated the positive effects and strength of coordination and collaboration among numerous human service providers and our faith-based community.

Presenters:

	John Briscoe, Development Director, National Council of Churches
	Rosemarie Bahr, Putnam County Emergency Shelter, Putnam CAP

LEADING THE CHARGE AND COMMUNICATING CHANGE

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Salon G Session 5

The Shriver Center uses a variety of techniques to promote the best and most efficient practices in using law and policy to end poverty. This workshop focuses on the importance of communications in changing the way we talk and take action to end poverty. We will focus on the Shriver Center’s Clearinghouse Review: Journal of Poverty Law and Policy -- the nation’s intellectual marketplace for legal aid lawyers and others to share ideas and plant seeds for legal and antipoverty policy innovation. Additionally the workshop will focus on the Shriver Center’s media relations tools including State of Poverty Congressional Scorecard -- how every member of Congress represents low-income Americans.

Presenter:

Rikeesha Cannon, Media Relations Director, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

SAFETY NET CHALLENGES plus TAX CODE ISSUES

3:45-4:45 p.m.

Salon G Session 6

How the variations among states and the holes in the safety net create problems for poor people and taxpayers alike. How to reshape the EITC and tax code to reduce poverty.

Presenters:

	Dr. William Spriggs, Chair, Department of Economics, Howard University
	Ed Lazere, Executive Director, D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute

STRUCTURAL RACISM

4:45 pm-5:45 p.m.

Salon G Session 7

Racial and class hierarchies in the US are linked both in their historical development and in the way we have woven the structural fabric of opportunity. Despite the relationship between the two, we often organize our work and issues in ways that treats race and class as separate. This workshop will examine both the nature of “structural racism” and it’s implications for strategies to build healthy, sustainable communities.

Presenters:

	Anne Kubisch, Director, Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change
	Maya Wiley, Director, Center for Social Inclusion

DEFINING ECONOMIC SECURITY ACROSS THE GENERATIONS

9:00-10:00 a.m.

Salon H Session 1

This workshop will describe the work of Wider Opportunities for Women. They developed the concepts and methods of determining 'living wages' in an area, and have worked with over 100 communities on living wage campaigns. Learn about the living wage and their other initiatives related to family economic security and seniors.

Presenter:

Joan Kuriansky, Esq., Executive Director, Wider Opportunities for Women

AGENDA FOR SHARED PROSPERITY

10:15-11:15 a.m.

Salon H Session 2

In January of 2007, the Economic Policy Institute announced the Agenda for Shared Prosperity. The American people need an economic agenda that will spur growth, reduce insecurity, and provide broadly shared prosperity. Drawing upon some of the best informed and most innovative experts, the Agenda for Shared Prosperity will advance an economic program that is comprehensive, understandable, and workable.

Presenter:

Mark Levinson, Senior Fellow, Economic Policy Institute

FROM POVERTY TO PROSPERITY: THE REPORT OF THE CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS’ TASK FORCE ON POVERTY

11:15-12:15 p.m.

Salon H Session 3

In April, 2007, the Center for American Progress released the report of a year-long task force on poverty. The task force report calls for a national goal of cutting poverty in half in ten years, and makes a set of recommendations intended to accomplish that goal. This workshop will include a presentation and discussion of the Task Force’s approach, recommendations, and the opportunities to dramatically reduce poverty in America.

Presenter:

Mark H. Greenberg, Esq., Executive Director, Task Force on Poverty, Center for American Progress

CFED’S ASSET DEVELOPMENT AND SEED CHILD SAVINGS plus THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE AND THE SIGO DEBIT CARD plus CALIFORNIA CASH

1:30-2:30 p.m.

Salon H Session 4

The Corporation for Enterprise Development has led the nation in creation of asset development strategies such as microbusiness programs, the IDA program, and their new SEED program. Come find out what YOU should be doing NOW. Steve Savner will describe a project that the Center for Community Change and immigrant worker centers have undertaken to market a pre-paid debit card to people, many of whom are unbanked. The card offers low cost financial services, including remittances, to cardholders. Project income will be generated for the worker centers to support their organizing and advocacy work. Zenae Scott will describe the innovative combination of capacity building and services offered through the California CASH program.

Presenters:

	Robert Friedman, General Counsel, Corporation for Enterprise Development
	Steve Savner, Senior Fellow, Center for Community Change
	Zenae Scott, Program Director, California Nevada Community Action Partnership CASH program

PEOPLE GET READY: AMERICA’S LOOMING ENERGY CRISIS

2:30-3:30 p.m.

Salon H Session 5

We are nearing a time when the world’s supply and production of petroleum and natural gas will go into an irreversible decline even as worldwide energy demand continues to rise. The implications for our economy and our entire way of life are enormous, with America’s poor families hit first and hardest by energy shortages and skyrocketing costs. This session will examine “Peak Oil and Gas” fact and fiction, shed some light on what all this means to Community Action and its mission, and explore what we must do to prepare for massive changes as we strive to build a just and sustainable society.

Presenter:

Peter Kilde, Executive Director, West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency, Inc, (West CAP)

GREEN BUILDING AND COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION

3:45-4:45 p.m.

Salon H Session 6

How green development can enhance community revitalization through energy efficiency, improve occupant health, increase life-span of building and be smartly sited to provide transportation, school, and job access.

Presenters:

	Robert Zdenek, Executive Director, Alliance for Healthy Homes
	Don Chen, Founding Executive Director and CEO, Smart Growth America

MICROBUSINESS TODAY AND TOMORROW: MORE PROGRAMS NEEDED IN RURAL AREAS?

4:45-5:45 p.m.

Salon H Session 7

This workshop will provide background information on the field of microenterprise development in the United States and will look at two rural Community Action Agencies and their microenterprise development programs. Participants will learn why these CAA’s have initiated microenterprise programs and how microenterprise can complement already existing programs. We will also discuss the need for additional programs in rural areas, and how your CAA might develop such a program with assistance from AEO and the Partnership.

Presenters:

	Kevin Kelly, Managing Director for Policy and Advocacy, Association for Enterprise Opportunity
	Rob Goldsmith, Executive Director, People, Inc.
	Cheryl Zimny, Community Development Coordinator, Missouri Valley CAA

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT: THE INDISPENSABLE PLAYER IN REDRESSING POVERTY

(Audio file not available)

2:30 pm—3:30 pm

Salon E

Jim Weill from FRAC reviews the roles of various sectors in poverty alleviation, with a special focus on the role of government.

Presenter:

Jim Weill, Executive Director, Food Research and Action Council

PREVENTION AND ASSET DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES TO REDUCE THE ILL EFFECTS OF POVERTY
(Audio file not available)

3:45 pm—4:45 pm

Salon E

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Weed and Seed program offers innovative ways to reduce crime and violence in a neighborhood, and then to revitalize that neighborhood. CNE assists organization like CAA’s who want to participate in this effective approach. Mr. Perry will also review other CNE initiatives, including their financial literacy program.

Presenter:

Charles Perry, MPA, Project Manager for Weed and Seed Youth Leadership Initiative and Adult Financial Literacy

BUSINESS PRACTICES AND ECONOMIC SECURITY
(Audio file not available)

4:45 pm—5:45 pm

Salon E

Corporate Voices for Working Families brings the private sector voice into the public dialogue on issues affecting working families. CVWF helps companies develop family-friendly policies that are recognized as exemplary practices in human resources. Their 55 partner companies employ more than 4 million individuals throughout all fifty states, with annual net revenues of $1 trillion. Marriott International is one of the partner companies. Learn about the ‘best practices’ among private sector employers.

Presenters:

	Randy Fiser, Vice President, Corporate Voices for Working Families
	Mari Snyder, Senior Director, Community Relations, Marriott International

Video Files