PAST EVENTS
"Election 2020 Outlook" with Joel Benenson & Susan Del Percio
The Common Good hosted Democratic Pollster and former Obama campaign advisor Joel Benenson and renowned Republican Strategist Susan Del Percio for a discussion on competing strategies. The conversation dove into plans and ideas for their parties as they battle to win the House, the Senate and the White House.
The Common Good hosted Democratic Pollster and former Obama campaign advisor Joel Benenson and renowned Republican Strategist Susan Del Percio for a discussion on competing strategies. The conversation dove into plans and ideas for their parties as they battle to win the House, the Senate and the White House.
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Mr. Joel Benenson, founder and CEO of the Benenson Strategy Group, is one of the leading political and corporate strategists in the world. Benenson led the award-winning research and polling programs for President Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns and is the only Democratic pollster in history to have played a leading role in three winning presidential campaigns.
Named "Pollster of the Year" by the American Association of Political Consultants and ranked among the "most powerful" people in D.C. by GQ, Benenson has left his mark at the highest level of politics. In addition to his role with President Obama, Benenson served as Senior Strategist to Hillary Clinton. He also worked on President Bill Clinton’s team during the 1996 race.
Benenson’s communications expertise, which led him to be a member of three presidential debate teams, has also made him a go-to consultant for C-suite executives seeking communications advice on both internal and external challenges. In the private and advocacy sectors specifically, his nuanced analytical approach, and ability to craft deft, winning strategies has powered organizations such as AARP, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Football League, Toyota, and Procter & Gamble.
Ms. Susan Del Percio is a New York-based Republican strategist and founder of Susan Del Percio Strategies, she has advised dozens of candidates in New York and elsewhere on successfully communicating messages to an electorate. Ms. Del Percio has served as a media spokeswoman on many campaigns, both political and corporate, and frequently appears on many local and national news outlets as a political analyst. Susan is also an MSNBC contributor. She served in the Giuliani Administration and holds a Masters degree in political communications.
With nearly 30 years of experience in the political, government, nonprofit and private sector arenas, she is a trusted advisor helping leaders develop and execute focused strategic communications and winning crisis management campaigns. Her unique insights on government procedure, regulatory environments and public policy is highly sought after, especially now, with public affairs, policy and media so thoroughly intertwined.
Appointed as a Special Advisor to Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2014, she initiated and implemented communication strategies, and advised and developed policy initiatives. Susan also served as Deputy Commissioner in the Giuliani Administration (1995-2001) prior to founding her firm in 2001. Her client list includes large and mid-size private corporations, Fortune 50 executives, leading elected officials, political organizations and candidates as well as non-profits.
“An Insider Look- How The Government is Handling The Coronavirus on All Fronts”
The Common Good hosted Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as he joined us for an inside scoop and a candid conversation on what is going on in Congress. The conversation dove into new legislation to help combat the Coronavirus, and insight into how the virus might impact the 2020 election in the Presidential, Senate and House races.
The Common Good hosted Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, as he joined us for an inside scoop and a candid conversation on what is going on in Congress. The conversation dove into new legislation to help combat the Coronavirus, and insight into how the virus might impact the 2020 election in the Presidential, Senate and House races.
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Senator Merkley started his political career in 1999 in the Oregon State House of Representatives where he became Speaker of the House before being elected to the US Senate in 2009. Prior to that he had lead Portland's Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit that empowers low-income families through home ownership. He also went on to serve as president of the World Affairs Council.
In the U.S. Senate, Jeff continues to stand up for working families. He fights to create living wage jobs and to push back on unfair trade policies that ship Oregon’s jobs overseas. He has worked to make college more affordable and make retirement more secure for seniors. A true
reformer, he led an historic coalition to fix the broken Senate by breaking up the gridlock, making it more responsive to the concerns of working families.Jeff serves on the Senate Committees on Appropriations; Environment and Public Works; Budget; and Foreign Relations.
“Global Challenges: Facts and Fears in our New Era” with Richard Haass and Robert Wolf
The Common Good presented a timely conference call with President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass as he speaks to us about international affairs, national security, and what the next chapter in humanities book will look like, moderated by former Chairman and CEO of UBS America Robert Wolf.
The Common Good presented a timely conference call with President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass as he spoke to us about international affairs, national security, and what the next chapter in humanities book will look like, moderated by former Chairman and CEO of UBS America Robert Wolf.
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Dr. Richard Haass is a veteran diplomat and a prominent voice on American foreign policy who is currently serving his seventeenth year as President of the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent, think tank, publisher, and educational institution dedicated to being a resource to help people better understand the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.
Haass previously served as the Director of Policy Planning under President Bush from 2001-2003. Dr. Haass also served as U.S. coordinator for policy toward the future of Afghanistan and U.S. envoy to the Northern Ireland peace process.
Robert Wolf is the Founder of 32 Advisors, a holding company which includes the direct investing arm 32 Ventures, the bi-partisan economic insights platform Strategic Worldviews and the Flint, Michigan accelerator group 100K Ventures.
Prior to forming 32 Advisors, Robert spent 18 years at UBS, a global financial services firm. There he held several senior positions including Chairman and CEO of UBS Americas and President and Chief Operating Officer of the Investment Bank.
Robert held three Presidential appointments under President Obama; as a member of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board from 2009-2011, the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness from 2011-2013 and the Export Council from 2014-2016. In 2012 Robert was on the Homeland Security Advisory Council's Border Infrastructure Task Force.
"Social Impact - Change and Investing in the Wake of the Coronavirus" with Sir Ronald Cohen and Alan Patricof
The Common Good presented a timely conference call with social impact investor and Father of British Venture Capital and Social Investment leader, Sir Ronald Cohen. Hosted by venture capital investor Alan Patricof, the two provided brilliant insight on the topic of social change, investing, business, and the economy in the unprecedented time of the corona pandemic.
The Common Good presented a timely conference call with social impact investor and Father of British Venture Capital and Social Investment leader, Sir Ronald Cohen. Hosted by venture capital investor Alan Patricof, the two provided brilliant insight on the topic of social change, investing, business, and the economy in the unprecedented time of the corona pandemic.
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Sir Ronald Cohen is Chairman of the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment and The Portland Trust. He is a co-founder director of Social Finance UK, USA, and Israel, and co-founder Chair of Bridges Fund Management and Big Society Capital.
For nearly two decades, Sir Ronald’s pioneering initiatives in driving impact investment have catalyzed a number of global efforts, each focused on driving private capital to serve social and environmental good. These efforts are leading the global impact investment movement towards an Impact Revolution. He is credited as "the father of British Venture Capital" and "the father of social investment", along with being the head of the G-20 Social Impact Commission.
He chaired the Social Impact Investment Taskforce established under the UK’s presidency of the G8, the Social Investment Task Force and the Commission on Unclaimed Assets. In 2012 he received the Rockefeller Foundation’s Innovation Award for innovation in social finance.
Alan Patricof is the founder and managing director of Greycroft. A longtime innovator and advocate for venture capital, Alan entered the industry in its formative days with the creation of Patricof & Co. Ventures Inc., a predecessor to Apax Partners – today, one of the world’s leading private equity firms with $41 billion under management. He stepped back from the daily administration and operational aspects of Apax Partners, LP in 2004 to concentrate on a group of small venture deals on its behalf.
In 2006, he founded Greycroft Partners, a venture capital firm, to invest in leading early and expansion stage investments in digital media. With offices in New York and Los Angeles, Greycroft is currently investing from its fifth Fund as well as its second Growth Fund and has $1B+ under management.
Alan is active in the New York and Washington communities. He is currently a board member of the Finance Committee of Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem and the Board of Overseers of Columbia School of Business. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations
The States’ Response to the Coronavirus: How do we re-open?
The Common Good presented the first in a new series of conversations with top U.S. Leaders. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson headed our critical Coronavirus discussion with Governor Ned Lamont. (D-CT) The discussion dove into urgent topics such as the re-opening of the economy, protecting human lives and what our new normal will look like.
The Common Good presented the first in a new series of conversations with top U.S. Leaders. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson headed our critical Coronavirus discussion with Governor Ned Lamont. (D-CT) The discussion dove into urgent topics such as the re-opening of the economy, protecting human lives and what our new normal will look like.
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About Gov. Ned Lamont:
Lamont got involved in public service shortly after college, founding a weekly newspaper in a town hit by the loss of its largest employer. Covering town meetings and the Board of Selectmen, he helped to bring voice and transparency to a community working to recover from job losses and reinvent itself. He would later go on to start his own business, taking on the large and established giants of the telecom industry. Under his vision and stewardship, the company grew to serve over 400 of America's largest college campuses and 1 million college students across the nation.
He received the 2006 Democratic nomination for senator, against incumbent Joe Lieberman. Lamont won the 2018 Gubernatorial election for Connecticut and has started working on his plans to implement electronic tolls on state highways, taxing online streaming services, restoring the property tax credit, increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour, instituting paid family and medical leave,. During this epidemic he holds daily briefings and provides vital updates on how the state is combating COVID-19.
About Secretary Jeh Johnson:
Secretary Johnson was appointed by President Obama on December 23, 2013, following confirmation by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 78-16. Previously, Secretary Johnson was appointed by President Obama to be General Counsel of the Department of Defense from 2009 through 2012. In that position, Johnson was one of the legal architects for the U.S. military’s counterterrorism mission during President Obama’s first term.
In 2010, Johnson co-authored a 250-page report that paved the way for the repeal by Congress of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell law that prohibited gays from serving openly in the U.S. military. From October 1998 to January 2001, Johnson served in the Clinton Administration as General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force. From 1989 through 1991, Secretary Johnson was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York, where he prosecuted public corruption cases.
“The New Political Landscape: The Coronavirus Impact on the 2020 Election” with Donna Brazile
The Common Good presented an important political briefing with Donna Brazile, renowned political strategist and former Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Ms. Brazile discussed a plethora of topics including the Coronavirus crisis, the government’s response and the effects on the political landscape relating to the upcoming election.
The Common Good presented an important political briefing with Donna Brazile, renowned political strategist and former Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Ms. Brazile discussed a plethora of topics including the Coronavirus crisis, the government’s response and the effects on the political landscape relating to the upcoming election.
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About Donna Brazile:
Veteran Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile is Vice Chair of Voter Registration and Participation at the Democratic National Committee, former National Chair of the Democratic National Committee as well as the former chair of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute. She is also an adjunct professor, author, syndicated columnist, and television political commentator, and was the first African-American woman to run a major-party political campaign.
Author of the best-selling memoir Cooking with Grease: Stirring the Pots in American Politics, Ms. Brazile is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, a syndicated newspaper columnist for Universal Uclick, a columnist for Ms. Magazine, and O, the Oprah Magazine, an on-air contributor to CNN, and ABC, where she regularly appears on ABC’s This Week. In March of 2019, she joined FOX News where she serves as a contributor.
“The Coronavirus Crisis - How to Contain the Coronavirus Disease” - Conference Call Briefing on the Coronavirus with Dr. Kavita Patel
Dr. Kavita Patel, who formerly served in the Obama White House and is now a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, spoke to TCG about the Coronavirus and our response.
On Tuesday, April 21st 2020, Dr. Kavita Patel, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, joined us for a informative conference call conversation on the coronavirus crisis and the pressing issues facing individuals around the world.
Watch the video below:
Dr. Kavita Patel served in the Obama White House focusing on health reform, financial regulatory reform, and economic recovery issues as director of policy for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement and served as a senior advisor to the late Senator Edward Kennedy. She is currently a primary care physician in Washington DC and a nonresident Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Her prior research in healthcare quality and community approaches to mental illness have earned national recognition and she has published numerous papers and book chapters on healthcare reform and health policy. She has testified before Congress several times and she is a frequent guest expert on NPR, CBS, NBC and MSNBC as well as serving on the editorial board of the Journal Health Affairs.
"The Coronavirus: Impact On Business & The U.S. Response” with Fred Hochberg and Kay Koplovitz
On April 14th 2020, The Common Good hosted an important COVID-19 economic briefing and Q&A with former Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank Fred Hochberg and Kay Koplovitz, founder of USA Networks and Founder and Chairman of Springboard Enterprises.
On April 14th 2020, The Common Good hosted an important COVID-19 economic briefing and Q&A with former Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank Fred Hochberg and Kay Koplovitz, founder of USA Networks and Founder and Chairman of Springboard Enterprises.
Watch the video below:
About Fred Hochberg:
Mr. Hochberg is a leading world expert on business, trade, and the economy. Under his leadership, the Ex-Im Bank supported more than 1.4 million American jobs and financed exports with a value exceeding $240 billion, while generating $3.8 billion in surplus revenue for U.S. taxpayers and reducing internal costs by nearly 30 percent.
Mr. Hochberg also spearheaded the Small Business Administration. Hochberg knows business: he served as an executive for the extremely successful catalog company, Lillian Vernon Corp., founded by his mother. He recently published a book on trade entitled, "Trade is Not a Four Letter Word."
About Kay Koplovitz:
Kay Koplovitz is an extraordinary business leader having founded USA Networks and Springboard Enterprises. USA would eventually become the number one ranking cable network in primetime viewership for 13 consecutive years and made Koplovitz the first woman ever to head a television network. Springboard is a non-profit organization fostering venture capital investments in women-led high growth companies and raised over $10.3 billion and created over 10,000 jobs since its inception.
“The Medical Response to the Coronavirus" with Dr. William Haseltine
Infectious disease expert, Dr. William Haseltine joined TCG for an urgent discussion about the Coronavirus and what we should be doing to protect ourselves and others.
On April 6, 2020, The Common Good hosted a special conference call with global health pioneer Dr. William Haseltine.
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About Dr. William Haseltine:
Global health pioneer Dr. William Haseltine has been at the vanguard of discoveries in molecular biology and infectious disease for more than three decades. As a professor at Harvard Medical School, Haseltine was part of a team at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute that discovered the genomic sequence of HIV and helped develop tools that led to the successful treatment of the disease.
Dr. Haseltine, who recently returned from Wuhan, China where he chaired the 9th US-China Health Summit, has been vocal about our need for stricter measures for quarantining to curb the coronavirus outbreak. He joined us for a informative conference call briefing on the current medical response to the coronavirus crisis.
The Economy & The Coronavirus with Mohamed El-Erian and Alan Patricof
The Common Good was proud to present a timely and important conference call conversation on the the economy and the coronavirus with Mohamed El-Erian, one of the world's most influential economic thinkers and Chief Economic Advisor to Allianz SE, the parent of PIMCO, and legendary venture capitalist investor Alan Patricof. El-Erian and Patricof discussed a range of relevant economic issues including the possibility of recession in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the impact of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, investing in the current economic climate, and the effect of the coronavirus on small businesses, banks and the global landscape.
The Common Good was proud to present a timely and important conference call conversation on the the economy and the coronavirus with Mohamed El-Erian, one of the world's most influential economic thinkers and Chief Economic Advisor to Allianz SE, the parent of PIMCO, and legendary venture capitalist investor Alan Patricof. El-Erian and Patricof discussed a range of relevant economic issues including the possibility of recession in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, the impact of the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, investing in the current economic climate, and the effect of the coronavirus on small businesses, banks and the global landscape.
Check out the video below:
ABOUT MOHAMED EL-ERIAN
Dr. Mohamed A. El-Erian has worked on economic and financial issues in both the public and private sectors. He is the Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz, the corporate parent of PIMCO where he formerly served as chief executive and co-chief investment officer (2007-14) and is a Professor of Practice at the Wharton School. He also serves as senior advisor to Gramercy, a columnist for Bloomberg View, a contributing editor at the Financial Times, and a member of the boards of Barclays and UnderArmour, as well as several non-profits. Elected in May 2019, he is scheduled to succeed Lord Eatwell as President of Queens’ College Cambridge in October 2020.
From December 2012 to January 2017, Dr. El-Erian chaired President Obama’s Global Development Council. He was named to Foreign Policy’s list of “Top 100 Global Thinkers” for four years in a row.
ABOUT ALAN PATRICOF
A longtime innovator and advocate for venture capital, Alan Patricof entered the industry in its formative days with the creation of Patricof & Co. Ventures Inc., a predecessor to Apax Partners – today, one of the world’s leading private equity firms with $50 billion under management.
He stepped back from the daily administration and operational aspects of Apax Partners, LP in 2004 to concentrate on a group of small venture deals on its behalf. In 2006, he founded Greycroft Partners, a venture capital firm, to invest in leading early and expansion stage investments in digital media. With offices in New York and Los Angeles, Greycroft is currently investing from its fifth Fund as well as its second Growth Fund and has $2B+ under management.
A true pioneer and legend in the venture capital world, Alan has helped build and foster the growth of numerous major companies such as America Online, Apple computer, Office Depot, Audible and many others.
Politics and the Public Health Response to the Coronavirus Crisis with Congresswoman Donna Shalala
The Common Good hosted Congresswoman Donna Shalala (D-FL) for an important conference call conversation on the coronavirus crisis. The longest serving former Secretary of Health and Human Services urged a more vigorous approach to fighting the outbreak. Shalala also offered up specifics on how we must prepare better for future epidemics.
The Common Good hosted Congresswoman Donna Shalala (D-FL) for an important conference call conversation on the coronavirus crisis. The longest serving former Secretary of Health and Human Services urged a more vigorous approach to fighting the outbreak. Shalala also offered up specifics on how we must prepare better for future epidemics.
“This epidemic has shown us what a real leader looks like. From Andrew Cuomo to Jay Inslee, we’ve seen governors and mayors around the US who have been way ahead of the federal government and have really been on top of this issue...I support people that are standing around the President, I know many of them - certainly the heads of all of the major scientific agencies. I think the vice-president is trying to do the right thing. I’ve talked to him myself. But the president, I just have never seen anything like it and I’d say the same thing if he was a Democrat.”
Check out the audio recording here:
ABOUT CONGRESSWOMAN DONNA SHALALA
Congresswoman Donna E. Shalala is the longest-serving Secretary of Health and Human Services in U.S. history, having served for eight years under President Bill Clinton. In 2018, she returned to Washington as the Representative for Florida’s 27th District, which includes the city of Miami and surrounding municipalities in Miami-Dade County. In 2007, President George W. Bush hand-picked her to co-chair with Senator Bob Dole the Commission on Care for Returning Wounded Warriors, tasked with evaluating how wounded service members transition from active duty to civilian life. In 2008, President Bush selected her as the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award. Congresswoman Shalala has been named one of “America’s Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report (2005), received the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights (2010), was inducted into the National Woman’s Hall of Fame (2011), and has more than five dozen honorary degrees.
A Conversation with Governor Terry McAuliffe on the Political Landscape
The Common Good was proud to present an off-the-record conversation on the 2020 Political Landscape with former Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia.
The Common Good hosted former Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, the charismatic “happy warrior” with excellent experience in the art of politics and policy. McAuliffe offered up incredibly insightful information and a rather sunny outlook on the Democratic Party’s chances in the upcoming 2020 election. The former governor also graced TCG members with insights on the handling of voter rights legislation as well as the Charlottesville protests during his time in office.
Terry McAuliffe served as the 72nd Governor of The Commonwealth of Virginia, holding office from 2014-2018. During his time as governor, Mr. McAuliffe was successful in implementing several policy changes including, but not limited to, immigration, voting rights for convicted felons, economic development and healthcare. The governor’s political tenure stretches back to President Jimmy Carter’s administration, where McAuliffe worked on the President’s reelection campaign. Mr. McAuliffe continued his work on the campaign trail with both Hilary and Bill Clinton’s presidential campaigns. He also held a chair at the Democratic National Committee from 2001-2005.
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.