PAST EVENTS
Discussion on Challenges and Opportunity in Congress
Peter Maroney of Bernstein Private Wealth Management hosted a talk with Rep. Joe Kennedy III discussing challenges and opportunities in congress.
Peter Maroney of Bernstein Private Wealth Management hosted a talk with Rep. Joe Kennedy III discussing challenges and opportunities in congress.
Peter Maroney is an investment adviser in the New York offices of AB Bernstein. After a decade of national political experience at the most senior levels, including serving as National Finance Chair for John Kerry’s presidential campaign at the Democratic National Committee, Peter has spent the last decade in financial services in senior strategic and advisory positions. In his role as an investment advisor, he works closely with individuals, family offices, foundations and institutions to understand their investment needs, their goals and their values. Peter currently serves on the advisory boards of The Common Good and Run For America.
Joe Kennedy III represents the Fourth District of Massachusetts in Congress. Currently in his second term, he represents a diverse district that spans from the suburbs of Boston to the more industrial towns of Massachusetts’ South Coast. As member of the influential House Energy & Commerce Committee, Joe has prioritized economic opportunity for working families. A vocal advocate for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, vocational schools and community colleges, he has authored several pieces of legislation in Washington aimed at improving access to our modern economy, including the Perkins Modernization Act and STEM Gateways Act.
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History in the Making: Post-Election Panel 2016
The Common Good was honored to host panelists Carl Bernstein, Kellyanne Conway, and Governor William Weld and moderator Alan Schwartz in a post-2016-election panel on the new political landscape.
The 2016 election was historic and change-making in many ways. Our panel examined the trends and events that led to the election results and how the new political landscape may shape America’s future.
The Common Good was honored to host panelists Carl Bernstein, Kellyanne Conway, and Governor William Weld and moderator Alan Schwartz in a post-2016-election panel on the new political landscape.
The 2016 election was historic and change-making in many ways. Our panel examined the trends and events that led to the election results and how the new political landscape may shape America’s future.
Carl Bernstein is a legendary journalist renown for his reporting alongside Bob Woodward at the Washington Post on the ‘Watergate’ scandal in 1972 that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. He is also author or co-author of six books, including a major biography of former Secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
Kellyanne Conway is the Senior Advisor for President-Elect Donald Trump. As Campaign Manager, Ms. Conway is widely credited with playing a critical role in the Trump victory and is the first woman to lead a successful presidential campaign. Ms. Conway has worked in political strategy and polling for many years. The leaders she has worked for include Jack Kemp, Fred Thompson, Dan Quayle, Newt Gingrich, and Mike Pence.
William Weld served as Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997, having formerly been the US Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and head of the US Department of Justice Criminal Division. Governor Weld was the Vice-Presidential nominee for the Libertarian Party during the 2016 election running alongside Gary Johnson
Alan Schwartz is a Managing Partner and current Executive Chairman of Guggenheim Partners, a full service financial institution headquartered in New York and Chicago with more than $250 billion under management. Schwartz served previously as the CEO of Bear Sterns.
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The Changing World Order: Richard Haass
Richard Haass addressed the current issues and the critically important long-term trends arund the globe that challenge the relative stability of our post-World War II geopolitical and economic framework. How do we navigate, as Haass puts it, a “world in disarray?” A timely discussion with one of the globe’s top foreign policy practitioners, authors, and thought leaders.
With President Trump, foreign policy issues are front and center. New ballistic missiles tested by North Korea, possible Russian interference in our election, a US attack on a terrorist site in Yemen and loss of a Navy Seal, new restrictions on visitors from six Middle Eastern nations, conflicting statements of policy to European allies and others from various administration officials - these are just some of the most recent issues raised within the first two months of the new administration.
Richard Haass addressed the current issues and the critically important long-term trends around the globe that challenge the relative stability of our post-World War II geopolitical and economic framework. How do we navigate, as Haass puts it, a “world in disarray”? A timely discussion with one of the globe’s top foreign policy practitioners, authors, and thought leaders.
Dr. Richard Haass is at the apex of expertise and leadership in foreign affairs and national security as President of the Council on Foreign Relations- a position he has held for fourteen years. Until 2003, Richard Haass was director of policy planning for the Department of State, where he was a principal adviser to Secretary of State Colin Powell on a broad range of foreign policy concerns. Richard Haass is also the author or editor of eleven books on American foreign policy, including his recent book, A World in Disarray. He regularly writes and speaks on global issues.
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Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy
The common good hosted a special conversation with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about his new book, Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy and issue on the environment, particularly protection of the oceans, and political campaign spending, small business growth, and protecting American liberties from warrantless wiretapping.
The Common Good hosted a special conversation with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse about his new book, Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy, along with the protection of the oceans, political campaign spending, small business growth, and protecting American liberties from warrant-less wiretapping.
Senator Whitehouse’s new book, Captured: The Corporate Infiltration of American Democracy exposes how our government has been infiltrated and disabled by corporate power. Whitehouse explains how corporations have been able to threaten our elected representatives with million-dollar “dark money” election attacks to stack the judiciary — even the Supreme Court — in “business friendly” ways; to “capture” the administrative agencies meant to regulate corporate behavior; and to relate a corporate “alternative reality” on public health and safety issues like climate change.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has been the US Senator representing Rhode Island since 2007. He has served as his state’s U.S. Attorney and as the state Attorney General, as well as its top business regulator. Senator Whitehouse is a passionate advocate for the environment, particularly protection of the oceans, and is renown for his advocacy of transparency in political campaign spending, small business growth, and protecting American liberties from warrant-less wiretapping.
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Special Meeting with Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya Irbec M.P.
Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya Irbec M.P. held a special meeting with The Common Good for a briefing on the Turkish Government. The meeting was hosted by Steven Buffone.
Dr. Yusuf Ziya Irbec M.P. held a special meeting with The Common Good for a briefing on the Turkish Government. The meeting was hosted by Steven Buffone.
Dr. Yusuf Ziya Irbec was born in Kas, Antalya in 1959. He was an economist, foreign policy specialist and academic. He served as a Member of the Turkish Parliament for Antalya since 2007 and as an Executive Board Member of the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) in which he was the Deputy Convener of Peace and Democracy Program.
He served in the Turkish Parliament as Member, Clerk Member and Vice-Chairman of the European Union Harmonization Commission. He also served as a Member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee of the European Union.
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Post-Election Panel 2016
This historic and wildly unpredictable election has left many in America stunned and divided. What happened? And more important, what is ahead? The Common Good hosted a ‘Post-Election Panel’ to discuss ‘The New Political Landscape–History in the Making’ for a candid discussion on the winners and losers, and what it means for our nation.
This historic and wildly unpredictable election has left many in America stunned and divided. What happened? And more important, what is ahead? The Common Good hosted a ‘Post-Election Panel’ to discuss ‘The New Political Landscape–History in the Making’ for a candid discussion on the winners and losers, and what it means for our nation.
Confirmed panelists included Trump Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway, investigative journalist-author Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, and Libertarian Party Vice Presidential candidate, former Governor William Weld.
Kellyanne Conway was tapped in the final months to serve as Campaign Manager for Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign of President and is greatly credited for helping Trump win the election. Conway has been a highly regarded pollster as former founder and President of the polling company, inc./ WomanTrend, which is a privately-held, woman-owned corporation founded in 1995. The firm is headquartered in Washington, DC and maintains an office in New York City. Conway is one of the most quoted and noted pollsters on the national scene, having provided commentary on over 1,200 television shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, HBO, Comedy Central, MTV and the Fox News Channel, and numerous radio shows and print stories.
Carl Bernstein shared a Pulitzer Prize with Bob Woodward for his coverage of Watergate for The Washington Post. His most recent book is the acclaimed biography, A Woman in Charge: The Life of Hillary Rodham Clinton. He is the author, with Woodward, of All the President’s Men and The Final Days, and, with Marco Politi, of His Holiness: John Paul II and the History of Our Time. He is also the author of Loyalties, a memoir about his parents during McCarthy–era Washington. He has written for Vanity Fair (he is also a contributing editor), Time, USA Today, Rolling Stone, and The New Republic.
He was a Washington bureau chief and correspondent for ABC News. At The Washington Post, Bernstein also was a part-time rock critic, and he still occasionally writes about music. He lives with his wife, Christine, in New York.
William Floyd Weld is an American attorney, businessman, and Republican politician who served as the 68th Governor of Massachusetts from 1991 to 1997. A Harvard and Oxford graduate, Weld began his career as legal counsel to the United States House Committee on the Judiciary before becoming the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and, later, the United States Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. He worked on a series of high-profile public corruption cases and later resigned in protest of an ethics scandal and associated investigations into Attorney General Edwin Meese.
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Special Screening of “Disturbing the Peace”
The Common Good and Felicia Taylor presented a private screening and dinner for the extraordinary documentary, “Disturbing the Peace.”The screening was followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Steve Apkon and Marcina Hale, and members of Combatants for Peace.
The Common Good and Felicia Taylor presented a private screening and dinner for the extraordinary documentary, Disturbing the Peace. The screening was followed by a Q&A with filmmakers Stephen Apkon and Marcina Hale, and members of Combatants for Peace.
Disturbing the Peace follows a group of former enemy combatants - Israeli soldiers from the most elite units, and Palestinian fighters, many of whom served years in prison - who have come together to challenge the status quo and say "enough". The film traces their transformational journeys from soldiers committed to armed battle to non-violent peace activists. It is a story of the human potential unleashed when we stop participating in a story that no longer serves us, and how the power of our convictions to take action can create new possibilities.
Stephen Apkon is a filmmaker and social entrepreneur. He is the Founder and former Executive Director of the Jacob Burns Film Center, a non-profit film and education center located in Pleasantville, NY. Opened in 2001, the JBFC has become one of the premier film institutions in the United States, with a Board of Directors that includes Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard and Jonathan Demme among others. Disturbing the Peace is his directorial debut.
Marcina Hale is co-founder of Reconsider. With degrees in both Media and Psychotherapy, it is part of Marcina’s vision to utilize film as a catalyst to create experiences that evoke thought and conversations that both challenge and inspire a way of relating to live more dynamically. In her roles as master therapist and dynamic facilitator, she conducts workshops that challenge and inspire others to live their lives more consciously and to take responsibility for their own creations.
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Meet & Greet: Ambassador Nicholas Burns
The Common Good welcomed Ambassador Nicolas Burns to talk on America’s foreign relations and how the new president is affecting our global relationships.
The Common Good welcomed Ambassador Nicholas Burns to talk on America’s foreign relations and how the new president is affecting our global relationships.
Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns is one of the foremost experts in the world on diplomacy and foreign affairs, and was an adviser to the Hillary Clinton campaign. Ambassador Burns has served the United States for twenty-seven years, providing expertise for the last 5 administrations, and was a member of Secretary of State John Kerry’s Foreign Affairs Policy Board at the U.S. Department of State. He was Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2005 to 2008; the State Department’s third-ranking official when he led negotiations on the U.S.–India Civil Nuclear Agreement; and was the lead U.S. negotiator on Iran’s nuclear program for President George W. Bush’s administration. He was U.S. Ambassador to NATO (2001–2005), and Ambassador to Greece (1997–2001).
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Commentary on the 2016 Presidential Election with Bill Kristol
Bill Kristol, founder and editor of The Weekly Standard spoke on his views of the 2016 presidential election. Hosted by Steven Buffone and Chele Chiavacci Farley
Bill Kristol, founder and editor of The Weekly Standard, spoke on his views of the 2016 presidential election. He was hosted by Steven Buffone and Chele Chiavacci Farley.
Bill Kristol is the founder and editor of the political magazine The Weekly Standard and a political analyst, known for his neo-conservatism and frank and outspoken approach to issues.
Kristol taught political philosophy and American politics at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, before joining the Reagan administration, and finally reaching Chief of Staff to the Vice President in the George H. W. Bush administration. Kristol has played a major role in the debate on American foreign policy since September 11th, and served as a foreign policy advisor for Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign.
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The Common Good Forum & American Spirit Awards 2016
The Common Good Forum focused on national security, economic prosperity, the 2016 election campaign and investment advice presented by our long list of knowledgeable speakers to speak on each of these topics.
The Common Good Forum focused on national security, economic prosperity, the 2016 election campaign, and investment advice presented by our long list of knowledgeable speakers to speak on each of these topics.
Our distinguished participants included:
Joel Benenson, Democratic Pollster and Chief Strategist for Hillary For America
Ian Bremmer, Founder & President of Eurasia Group and author of Superpower: Three Choices for America’s Role in the World
David Burstein, CEO & Co-Founder of Run for America, commentator on Millennials, social innovation and politics, and author of Fast Future: How the Millennial Generation is Shaping our World
Heidi Crebo-Rediker, Former Chief Economist at State Department and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
Ambassador Ryan Crocker, Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
Stephanie Cutter, Founding Partner at Precision Strategies and Former Deputy Campaign Manager for Obama 2012
Seth Flaxman, Co-Founder of Democracy Works
Senator Lindsey Graham, (R-SC), 2016 Presidential candidate
William Galston, Former policy advisor to President Bill Clinton, Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution, and Wall Street Journal columnist
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Economist, President of the American Action Forum (AAF), and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
Abby Huntsman, Fox News reporter
General (Ret.) Ron Keys, USAF, Advisory Board Member of the Center for Climate and Security
Ted Koppel, Legendary journalist, former anchor of ABC’s Nightline, and author of Lights Out
Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Russia’s Ambassador to the United States
Larry Kudlow, CNBC Senior Contributor and economist
Andrew McAfee, Technology and business expert, Co-Director of the MIT Initiative on Digital Economy, and author of The Second Machine Age
Kayleigh McEnany, CNN Political Commentator and Trump supporter
General (Ret.) David Petraeus, Former CIA Director, Former U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) Commander, and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute
Governor Ed Rendell, Former Governor of Pennsylvania and Chair of the 2016 Democratic National Convention
Alan Schwartz, Executive Chairman of Guggenheim Partners
Stephanie Sharis, CEO DailyClout and creator of BillCam
Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York Founder
Michael Steele, Former RNC Chairman and MSNBC political analyst
Jeanne Sullivan, Co-Founder of StarVest Partners
Arun Sundararajan, Stern Professor and author of the upcoming book, The Sharing Economy
Kim Taipale, Executive Director of the Stilwell Center for Advanced Studies in Science and Technology Policy
Jacob Weisberg, Chairman of The Slate Group, whose roster includes Slate magazine
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Meet & Greet: Katie McGinty
The Common Good hosted a meet and greet with Katie McGinty who attempted to be a 2016 Democratic candidate seeking election to the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania.
The Common Good hosted a meet and greet with Katie McGinty, who ran to be a 2016 Democratic candidate seeking election to the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania.
McGinty is a former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and a 2014 Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Governor. After graduating from law school, she became a judicial clerk for the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals. She won the Congressional Fellowship of the American Chemical Society, which led her to a position working for then-Senator Al Gore (D). In 1993, President Bill Clinton (D) asked her to serve as his deputy assistant and then as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She served as an adviser to Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign before joining Natsource, where she served as vice president for asset management. She remained in this role until 2003, when she was named head of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection by Gov. Ed Rendell (D).
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Meet & Greet: The Right Honorable David Miliband
The Right Honorable David Miliband talks about United Kingdom government and his views. Hosted by Fern Hurst.
The Right Honorable David Miliband talks about United Kingdom government and his views, hosted by Fern Hurst.
David Miliband is President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), where he oversees the agency’s humanitarian relief operations in more than 30 war-affected countries and its refugee resettlement and assistance programs in 25 United States cities. Under Miliband’s leadership, the IRC has expanded its ability to rapidly respond to humanitarian cries and meet the needs of an unprecedented number of people uprooted by conflict, war and disaster. The organization is implementing an ambitious global strategy to bring clear outcomes, strong evidence and systematic research to the humanitarian programs through collaborative partnerships with the public and private sectors.
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Creating a Great Economy: Lincoln’s Surprising Relevance Today
President Lincoln will be forever enshrined in the national consciousness for his moral courage in abolishing slavery. But economist and author Norton Garfinkle explained how this great president also has strong lessons for us today on how a great nation is built upon an economy based on shared progress. Garfinkle talked about Lincoln’s life and achievements anew through this important and refreshing lens – and show how Lincoln’s approach on the economy, from railroads, bridges, to commerce, are more relevant than ever in the times we live in today.
It is not just a prediction, but front page headlines and our new reality – the US middle class is shrinking and now makes up only 50% of our people. Our roads, bridges, railroads, ports and other infrastructure get a D+ rating by civil engineers. Income inequality is on the rise and a hot political issue. Creating broad-based prosperity, economic fairness, and opportunity can no longer be ignored.
President Lincoln will be forever enshrined in the national consciousness for his moral courage in abolishing slavery. But economist and author Norton Garfinkle explained how this great president also has strong lessons for us today on how a great nation is built upon an economy based on shared progress.
Garfinkle talked about Lincoln’s life and achievements anew through this important and refreshing lens – and show how Lincoln’s approach on the economy, from railroads, bridges, to commerce, are more relevant than ever in the times we live in today.
Norton Garfinkle is an economist, businessman and public servant. He is chairman of Princeton Scientific Capital Management, a financial investment company. He is also chairman of Princeton SciTech, an investment company that specializes in building new internet based technology companies.
Garfinkle is Chairman of the Future of American Democracy Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation in partnership with Yale University Press and the Yale Center for International and Area Studies, dedicated to research and education aimed at renewing and sustaining the historic vision of American democracy. He is also a board member and chairman of the Finance Committee of the Public Agenda, a non-partisan, non-profit, public opinion research organization founded by Secretary of State Cyrus Vance and Social Scientist, Daniel Yankelovich, America’s leading expert on public opinion.
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Empowering Half the World
Melanne Verveer shared her considerable experience and insights at The Common Good on the importance of empowering women and girls for improvements in economic growth, foreign policy, healthcare, and poverty alleviation and how educating a girl is the single best development investment possible.
There is no doubt that considerable progress has been made in the last decade to empower women and girls across the globe, but gender inequality is far from solved. Women perform 60% of the world’s work, yet their earnings fall below 5% of global income. The majority of children who do not attend school are girls and 75% of illiterate adults are women. Women in power are still rare; they hold only one-fifth of the positions in national governments.
Melanne Verveer, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, is an inspiring and dedicated advocate for women and girls here and around the world. Verveer shared her considerable experience and insights at The Common Good on the importance of empowering women and girls for improvements in economic growth, foreign policy, healthcare, and poverty alleviation and how educating a girl is the single best investment possible.
Ambassador Verveer is currently the Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, which seeks to enhance national and global security by documenting the crucial role women play in peace-building and security through research and scholarship, and by engaging global leaders from government, civil society and the private sector in conversations on the urgent issues of our times.
Ambassador Verveer most recently served as the first U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, a position to which she was nominated by President Obama in 2009. She coordinated foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic and social advancement of women, traveling to nearly sixty countries. She worked to ensure that women’s participation and rights are fully integrated into U.S. foreign policy, and she played a leadership role in the Administration’s development of the U.S. National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security.
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Meet & Greet: Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III
The Common Good was proud to host a rising star in U.S. politics, Congressman Joseph Kennedy, representative for Massachusetts’s 4th congressional district since 2013.
The Common Good was proud to host a rising star in U.S. politics, Congressman Joseph Kennedy III, representative for Massachusetts’s 4th congressional district since 2013.
Joseph Kennedy III represents the Fourth District of Massachusetts in Congress. Currently in his second term, he represents a diverse district that spans from the suburbs of Boston to the more industrial towns of Massachusetts’ South Coast.
As member of the influential House Energy & Commerce Committee, Joe has prioritized economic opportunity for working families. A vocal advocate for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, vocational schools and community colleges, he has authored several pieces of legislation in Washington aimed at improving access to our modern economy, including the Perkins Modernization Act and STEM Gateways Act.
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Meet & Greet: Jason Kander
The Common Good hosted a meet and greet with Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, hosted by Richard Gordon.
The Common Good hosted a meet and greet with Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander, hosted by Richard Gordon.
Jason Kander was the Missouri Secretary of State and the youngest statewide elected official in America. Kander is a former Army Captain who served in Afghanistan as a military intelligence officer, a member of the Missouri House of Representatives, and an attorney from Kansas City, Missouri. During his career in the General Assembly, he represented the 44th district (which includes parts of Jackson County) from 2009 to 2013. He ran for the United States Senate against Republican incumbent Roy Blunt in the 2016 election. The Hill has ranked the race #10 of the most vulnerable this year out of two dozen the Republicans are defending.
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“The Campaign 2016: What the Numbers Reveal”
We were pleased to have highly respected pollster Mark Mellman join us to shed light on the current status of the campaign race to the 2016 presidential election. As part of his discussion, Mellman shared his views on the impact of the primary schedule, subgroup polling insights, and the key influencing factors.
We were pleased to have highly respected pollster Mark Mellman join us to shed light on the current campaign race statistics of the 2016 presidential election. As part of his discussion, Mellman shared his views on the impact of the primary schedule, subgroup polling insights, and the key influencing factors.
Mark Mellman is one of the nation’s leading public opinion researchers and communication strategists. He is CEO of The Mellman Group, a polling and consulting firm whose clients include leading political figures, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the nation’s most important public interest groups. Mellman, who counts among his clients Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Whip Steny Hoyer, has helped guide the campaigns of twenty-six U.S. Senators, ten Governors, over two dozen Members of Congress, and numerous state and local officials.
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“Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America”
Voting rights for many are at risk. Ari Berman, author and investigative journalist joined The Common Good to discuss “Voting Rights & the Efforts to Limit Voting Rights Today” and why young voters, minorities, the elderly and others should be concerned as well as his book “Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America”
Voting rights for many are at risk. Ari Berman, author and investigative journalist, joined The Common Good to discuss “Voting Rights & the Efforts to Limit Voting Rights Today” and why young voters, minorities, the elderly and others should be concerned, as well as his book Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America.
The Voting Rights Act enfranchised millions of Americans and is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. And yet fifty years later, we are still fighting heated battles over race, representation, and political power, with lawmakers devising new strategies to keep many citizens out of the voting booth.
A groundbreaking narrative history of voting rights since 1965, Give Us the Ballot tells the story of what happened after the act was passed. Through meticulous archival research, fresh interviews with the leading participants in the ongoing struggle, and incisive on-the-ground reporting, Ari Berman chronicles the transformative impact the act had on American democracy and investigates how the fight over the right to vote has continued in the decades since. From new strategies to keep minorities out of the voting booth, to cynical efforts to limit political representation by gerrymandering electoral districts, to the Supreme Court's recent stunning decision that declared a key part of the Voting Rights Act itself unconstitutional, to the efforts by the Justice Department and grassroots activists to counter these attacks, Berman tells the dramatic story of the pitched contest over the very heart of our democracy. At this important historical moment, Give Us the Ballot brings new insight to one of the most vital political and civil rights issues of our time.
Ari Berman is a contributing writer for The Nation magazine and an Investigative Journalism Fellow at The Nation Institute. His book, Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, was published in August 2015 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. He has written extensively about American politics, civil rights, and the intersection of money and politics. His stories have also appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, and he is a frequent guest and commentator on MSNBC and NPR. His first book, Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics, was published in 2010 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
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Meet & Greet: Governor Ted Strickland
Governor Ted Strickland, former Governor of Ohio and candidate for the U.S. Senate, spoke to members on how he will focus on how to help the American middle class and Ohio’s importance in the elections.
Governor Ted Strickland, former Governor of Ohio and candidate for the U.S. Senate, spoke to members on how he will focus on how to help the American middle class and Ohio’s importance in the elections.
Ted Strickland is a former minister, psychologist, congressman and governor of Ohio.
Strickland created one of the nation’s leading advanced energy laws, preventing runaway electricity rate hikes and making Ohio a national leader in green energy jobs. Strickland held tuition increases to the lowest rate in the nation and made Ohio the first state to offer free tuition to veterans from across the country. Under Strickland’s leadership, Ohio’s primary and secondary schools won the nation’s top prize for education innovation from the Education Commission of the States.
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Special Screening of "He Named Me Malala"
The Common Good hosted a special screening of "He Named Me Malala" followed by a discussion with Director Davis Guggenheim.
The Common Good hosted a special screening of "He Named Me Malala" followed by a discussion with Director Davis Guggenheim.
“He Named Me Malala” is an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The then 15-year-old was singled out for advocating for girls’ education, and the attack on her sparked an outcry from supporters around the world. She miraculously survived and is now a leading campaigner for girls’ education globally as co-founder of the Malala Fund.
Davis Guggenheim is an American film and television director and producer. His credits include NYPD Blue, ER, 24, Alias, The Shield, Deadwood, and the documentaries “An Inconvenient Truth”, “The Road We've Traveled”, “Waiting for 'Superman” and “He Named Me Malala”. (1)
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(1) Material from Wikipedia.
The Common Good has been hosting events since 2006 that cover important issues of today, highlighting speakers who have worked to bolster our democracy and can provide great insight on the issues that matter.