Working Summit Program

NOVEMBER 3rd

4:30 - 6:30pm
Young Leaders Town Hall
Columbia University

175 young adults participate in Town Hall on Opportunity co-hosted by Youth Build USA and Year Up

8:00 - 9:00 pm
Opportunity Night
Apollo Theater

Special theatrical performance presenting an emotional narrative of opportunity and the American dream. Includes performances by Lisa Nicole Wilkerson and Phylicia Rashad.

NOVEMBER 4th

8:00 am - 8:45 am
General Registration/Continental Breakfast

8:45 am - 11:00 am
General Session

Host Welcome

  • Mark Edwards (Executive Director, Opportunity Nation)
  • Kevin Jennings (CEO, Be the Change, Inc.)

Opening Remarks by Summit Co-Conveners

  • Luis Ubiñas (President, Ford Foundation)
  • Rodney Slater (Partner, Patton Boggs LLP; Board of Directors, United Way Worldwide)
  • Jo Ann Jenkins (President, AARP Foundation)
  • Rick Stengel (Managing Editor, TIME)

State of the American Dream

  • Fareed Zakaria (Editor-at-Large, TIME; Host of CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria)

Opportunity in America

  • The Honorable Michael Bloomberg (Mayor, City of New York)
  • Pastor Rick Warren (Pastor, Saddleback Church)
  • The Honorable Michael Bennet (U.S. Senator, Colorado)

Personal Story of Opportunity

  • The Honorable Elaine L. Chao (24th U.S. Secretary of Labor (2001 – 2009))

Covering Opportunity

  • Arianna Huffington (President and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post Media Group)
  • The Honorable Michael Gerson (Journalist, Washington Post; Assistant to the President for Policy and Strategic Planning, President George W. Bush)

Promoting Opportunity, Social Mobility, and the American Dream: Policy Ideas
Moderator: The Honorable John Bridgeland (CEO, Civic Enterprises; Former Assistant to the President, Director of White House Domestic Policy Council and USA Freedom Council, President George W. Bush)

Panelists:

  • Dr. Stuart Butler (Distinguished Fellow and Director, Center for Policy Innovation)
  • Dr. Isabel Sawhill (Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution)
  • Patricia Stonesifer (Chair, White House Council for Community Solutions; Former Co-Chair and CEO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation)
  • Neera Tanden (President, Center for American Progress)

Personal Story of Opportunity

  • Major General Marcia Anderson, U.S. Army Reserves

11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Breakout Sessions

From Access to Completion: Starting Early, Staying in School, and Earning a Credential
Moderator: Bob Herbert Demos, Distinguished Senior Fellow, PolicyShop.net Contributor

Panelists:

  • Dr. Robert Balfanz (Research Scientist, Center for Social Organization of Schools at Johns Hopkins Universit)
  • Wendy Kopp (CEO and Founder, Teach For America; CEO and Co-Founder, Teach For All)
  • John E. Pepper, Jr. (Chairman of the Board, the Walt Disney Company; Former Chairman of the Board and CEO, Procter & Gamble)
  • Jasmine Torres (Opportunity Scholar; Student, University of Southern California, Class of 201)
  • Dr. Harry Lee Williams (President, Delaware State University)

Opening Pathways to Prosperity: Expanding Options for Job Training and Success
Moderator: Rana Foroohar, Assistant Managing Editor, TIME

Panelists:

  • Gerald Chertavian (Founder and CEO, Year Up)
  • John Galante (Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, J.P. Morgan Chase)
  • Michael Jennings (Director of Information Technology, LinkedIn)
  • Jane Oates (Assistant Secretary of Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor)
  • Noe Orgaz (YouthBuild USA)
  • Dorothy Stoneman (Founder and President, YouthBuild USA)
  • Stuart Thorn (President and CEO, Southwire)
  • Kern Williams (Opportunity Scholar; Fund Accountant, State Street Bank; Year Up Boston Class of January 2010)

Helping the Whole Family: A Holistic Approach for Children and Families
Moderator: Dr. Isabel Sawhill, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

Panelists:

  • Kirsten Lodal (CEO and Co-Founder, LIFT)
  • Dr. Patrick McCarthy (President and CEO, The Annie E. Casey Foundation)
  • Maurice Lim Miller (President and CEO, Family Independence Initiative)
  • Roland Warren (President, National Fatherhood Initiative)

Achieving Economic Independence: Savings and Growth for Small Businesses and Households
Moderator: Andrea Levere, President, Corporation for Enterprise Development

Panelists:

  • Emily Allen (Vice President of Income, AARP Foundation)
  • José Cisneros (Treasurer, City and County of San Francisco)
  • Hill Harper (Actor, Author, Activist)
  • David John (Senior Research Fellow in Retirement Security and Financial Institutions, The Heritage Foundation)
  • Vidar Jorgensen (President, Grameen America and Grameen Research; Advisor, Grameen Trust and Grameen Health Trust; Chairman, World Health Care Congress)

Promoting Communities of Opportunity: A New Opportunity Index
Moderator: Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO, PolicyLink

Panelists:

  • Dr. Xavier de Souza Briggs (Associate Professor of Sociology and Planning, MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning)
  • Sarah Burd-Sharps (Co-Director, American Human Development Project)
  • The Reverend Luis Cortés, Jr. (President, Esperanza)
  • Dr. Scott Cowen (President, Tulane University)

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm  
General Session

Personal Story Of Opportunity

  • Marquis Cabrera (Opportunity Scholar)

Young Leaders Town Hall Report

  • Jamira Burley (Opportunity Scholar)
  • Diamond Jimenez (Year Up NYC)
  • Kenny Luckes (YouthBuild USA Young Leaders Council)

Opportunity Index Revealed

  • Elizabeth Clay Roy (Deputy Director, Opportunity Nation)

Voices on Entrepreneurship

  • Russell Simmons (CEO, Rush Communications)

Personal Story of Opportunity

  • Janet Murguía (President and CEO, National Council of La Raza)

Governing for Opportunity

  • The Honorable Deval Patrick (Governor, Commonwealth of Massachusetts)

“Learning to Create Your New American Dream”

  • Suze Orman (Personal Finance Expert)

2:45 pm - 3:30 pm
Closing

Opportunity Commitments

  • Kevin Jennings (CEO, Be the Change, Inc.)
  • Dr. Eduardo Padrón (President, Miami Dade College)
  • Jon Schnur (Chairman of the Board and Co-Founder, New Leaders)
  • Reverend Larry Snyder (President, Catholic Charities USA)
  • Michael Miles (President and COO, Staples, Inc.)
  • Serena Williams (U.S. Tennis Champion, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador)
  • Mark Edwards (Executive Director, Opportunity Nation)