Congress is the midst of passing Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, which would provide aid to people still struggling because of the pandemic. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Elise Gould. Gould is a senior economist at Economic Policy Institute. Her research areas include wages, poverty, inequality, economic mobility and health care. She is a co-author of The State of Working America, 12th Edition. Gould authored a chapter on health in The State of Working America 2008/09. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, NPR.
A federal judge has blocked the Biden administration from enforcing the 100-day deportation moratorium, which the administration introduced as a way to counteract Donald Trump's harsh immigration policies. To discuss, we FEATURE Maria Echaveste. Echaveste is the President and CEO of the Opportunity Institute. Echaveste has also been affiliated with UC Berkeley in various capacities since 2004 including: lecturing at the School of Law and in the undergraduate division on immigration and education; serving as program and policy director of the Law School’s Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy from 2008 -2012; as a Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Center for Latin American Studies since 2008. Extensive media experience.
500,000 people have died from COVID-19. Vaccines are currently being administered throughout the country. To discuss, we FEATURE Dr. Saralyn Mark. Dr. Mark is COVID-19 Lead of the American Medical Women's Association. She is also an endocrinologist, geriatrician, and world-renowned women's health specialist is the founder, president, and CEO of SolaMed Solutions, LLC, a precision innovations consulting firm. In this capacity, she has served as a medical and scientific policy advisor, providing strategic direction for organizations and federal agencies such as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund, academia, industry, and non-governmental and professional society organizations. Media includes: The Washington Post, CNN, NBC, ABC.
After a deadly snowstorm, many Texans are left with water disruptions and some still have no power. To discuss, we FEATURE Elin Betanzo. Betanzo is the founder of Safe Water Engineering LLC, a small consulting firm working to improve access to safe drinking water through engineering and policy consulting. Elin has nearly 20 years of experience working on drinking water science, engineering, and policy issues. She worked for the Environmental Protection Agency in the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water writing and implementing national drinking water regulations, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission where she led water system master planning and hydraulic modeling, and for the Northeast-Midwest Institute leading their Safe Drinking Water Research and Policy Program. Media includes: The Detroit News, Bridge Magazine, PBS.
A TikTok video featuring a woman crying and recounting her experience with sexual misconduct in the Marines has gone viral, gaining the attention of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and the Marine Corps. To discuss, we FEATURE Antonieta Rico. Rico is a fellow at Women in International Security. Previously, she was the Director of Communications and Policy at the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), where she led their public affairs efforts. She served in the U.S. Army from October 2001 to September 2008, working as a military journalist and public affairs NCO. She has been published in various outlets including USA TODAY and most recently wrote in TIME about the military's sexual assault epidemic and #MeToo. Media includes: TIME, USA Today, Task & Purpose.
A bill to abolish the death penalty in Virginia has won final approval in the Virginia Senate, making it the first Southern state to abolish the death penalty. To discuss, we FEATURE Diann Rust-Tierney. Rust-Tierny is an expert in the movement to eliminate the death penalty in the U.S. In 2004 she became the Executive Director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP). As NCADP Executive Director, Ms. Rust-Tierney manages and directs the program for the national organization and 100 affiliates seeking to change public policy on the death penalty. She serves as the national spokesperson for the organization and the movement to eliminate capital punishment. Media includes: Good Morning America, BET, ABC, BBC.
Neera Tanden, President Biden's nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget, is facing opposition to her confirmation due to tweets that some perceive as being too partisan. Many say the attacks against her are sexist and racist. To discuss, we FEATURE Rebecca Pilar Buckwalter-Poza. Buckwalter-Poza is an attorney and political strategist. Her areas of legal expertise include the Supreme Court, the federal judiciary, civil rights law, military law, and Indian law. Media includes: The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Beast, Buzzfeed, Vice, MSNBC, CNN, NPR.
The Supreme Court has rejected Donald Trump's request to keep his tax returns from prosecutors. To discuss, we FEATURE tax expert Amy K. Matsui. Matsui works on economic issues affecting low- and moderate-income women and families, with special emphasis on child care policy and federal and state tax policy. She has particular expertise on federal and state tax provisions that help families meet the costs of the child care they need in order to work. Media includes: Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Jezebel, Fox.
There has been an increase in the number of high-profile hate crimes against Asian Americans, which were already on the rise during the coronavirus pandemic. To discuss, we FEATURE Karin Wang. Wang is the Executive Director of UCLA School of Law's David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy. In that role, she heads the nation’s leading academic program focused on training the next generation of lawyers working in nonprofit, advocacy, and government sectors. Previously, she was the Vice-President of Programs & Communications for Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Los Angeles, the nation’s largest legal organization for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Media includes: The New York Times, The Atlantic, Orange County Register, Los Angeles Times.
The family of civil rights leader Malcolm X has requested that his murder investigation be reopened after new evidence was discovered. To discuss, we FEATURE Imani Perry. Perry is a Professor in the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University. She is an interdisciplinary scholar who studies race and African American culture using the tools provided by various disciplines including: law, literary and cultural studies, music, and the social sciences. She is the author of the forthcoming book More Terrible, More Beautiful, The Embrace and Transcendence of Racial Inequality in the U.S as well as 2004’s Prophets of the Hood: Politics and Poetics in Hip Hop and has published numerous articles in the areas of law, cultural studies, and African American studies. Media includes: The New York Times, Huffington Post, CNN.
President Biden is expected to call on Congress to relieve $10,000 in student loan debt, which many say is too little. To discuss, we FEATURE Betsy Mayotte. Mayotte is the President and Founder of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors (TISLA). She has been working in the student loan industry doing compliance and advocacy work for over 20 years and has helped thousands of borrowers with their student loans. Mayotte has served as a primary negotiator for several federal Title IV negotiated rulemaking sessions on topics such as the use of student loans at foreign schools, loan rehabilitation and borrower defense to repayment. Media includes: The Washington Post, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, NPR.
New Zealand will begin to offer free sanitary products in all schools as a way to reduce "period poverty." To discuss, we FEATURE Sara Twogood. Twogood is a board certified OBGYN at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles. She is co-founder of Female Health Education, a platform focused on helping empower females through health education. Dr. Twogood’s passion is promoting and demystifying health information to the public. Her blog, Dr. Sara Twogood’s LadyParts Blog, provides comprehensive information about fertility, pregnancy, and gynecology topics. Media includes: The Conversation, The Washington Post, Self, Well + Good, Self, NBC.















