President Trump has reportedly backed down from his threat to shutdown the government if Congress does not agree to include $5 billion in the budget to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Lisa Maatz. Maatz is currently a professor at John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State Univeristy. Formerly, she was vice president of government relations at the American Association of University Women, where she worked to advance AAUW’s priority issues on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and in coalition with other organizations. Maatz also provides leadership to several coalitions working to advance opportunities for women and girls, including the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education and the Paycheck Fairness Act Coalition. Recently featured in the book “Secrets of Powerful Women,” Lisa has developed a reputation for her strategic approach to legislation and advocacy. Media includes: MSNBC, The Washington Post,Associated Press, USA Today.
The Trump Foundation will be closing down after New York attorney general Barbara Underwood filed a lawsuit claiming that the foundation was illegally using the charity for political gain. To discuss, we FEATURE Lori Anne Douglass. Douglass is partner in Moses and Singer, LLP’s Trusts and Estates group. Her experience consists of estate and business succession planning, including the transfer of family-owned businesses, the establishment of private and public foundations and strategic planning to assist clients in maximizing wealth preservation. Douglass also serves as corporate counsel for select mid-size corporations, not-for-profit foundations and family-owned businesses, overseeing all legal matters for these entities. Media includes: Black Enterprise Magazine, Northstar News.
Former CBS head Les Moonves has been fired without severance following sexual misconduct allegations against him. To discuss, we FEATURE Linda Seabrook. Seabrook is General Counsel at Futures Without Violence where she leads a number of programs aimed at reducing violence against women and children. Prior, Seabrook was at Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, a national top-tier labor and employment law firm where she focused on employment discrimination and sexual harassment cases, and occupational safety and health law. Media includes: The Post & Courier, USA Today, NPR.
Following the UN climate summit, world leaders have agreed to implement rules created by the Paris Agreement in 2015. To discuss, we FEATURE Brenda Ekwurzel. Ekwurzel works on the national climate program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). She is leading UCS's climate science education work aimed at strengthening support for strong federal climate legislation and sound U.S. climate policies. She has published on topics that include climate variability and fire, isotopic dating of groundwater, Arctic Ocean tracer oceanography, paleohydrology, and coastal sediment erosion. Media includes: CNN, Fox News, ABC, NPR, USA Today.
The Affordable Care Act is facing legal challenges as a district judge in Texas has claimed that without the "individual mandate" the law is unconsitutional. To discuss, we FEATURE Dr. Kristyn Brandi, MD MPH. Dr. Brandi is an Assistant Professor at Rutgers - New Jersey Medical School. She is an Obstetrician-Gynecologist with a fellowship training in Family Planning (contraception and abortion services). Dr. Brandi currently sits on the board of Physicians for Reproductive Health and the Ethics Committee for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Her master's degree focused on Health Law, Bioethics, and Human Rights, which she has focused her educational pursuits around abortion policy, contraceptive decision-making, and racial justice within medical education. Media includes: The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Rewire.News.
The Senate will vote on a bipartisan criminal justice reform bill called the "First Step Act," which hopes to address the nation's crowded prisons. To discuss, we FEATURE Lisalyn R. Jacobs. Jacobs is the CEO of Just Solutions: Bringing in justice to counteract injustice, and the former V.P. of Government Relations for Legal Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense & Education Fund). She has testified before congressional committees at both the state and federal levels. Jacobs worked closely with the Obama Administration on a variety of criminal and racial justice matters, including policing reform, sexual and domestic violence, campus sexual assault, the school to prison pipeline, and the impact of criminal justice reform on women. Media includes: The New York Times, NPR, MSNBC, CNN.
The Senate Intelligence Committee recently released a report that showed Russian inference during the 2016 presidential election involved strategies that targeted many different social media platforms. To discuss, we FEATURE Jacqueline Wernimont. Wernimont is a founding co-Director of the Human Security Collaboratory and an assistant professor of English at Arizona State University, where she specializes in feminist digital media, digital civil rights, histories of quantification, and technologies of commemoration. She also directs their new Graduate Certificate program in Digital Humanities and is currently a Fellow of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics. Media includes: NPR, Indian Country News.
Jakelin Caal Maquin, a 7-year old Guatemalan girl, recently died while U.S. Border Control had her in custody. To discuss, we FEATURE Erika Guevara-Rosas. Guevara-Rosas is a feminist lawyer and human rights activist, who currently serves as the Americas Programme Director at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. She is responsible for leading the organization’s human rights work across the region. Guevara-Rosas has more than fifteen years of international experience in the fields of human rights and social justice philanthropy. Before joining Amnesty Internaitonal, she served as Legal/Protection Officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), managing complex operations in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Panama and Venezuela, mainly in border areas with war-affected populations. Extensive media experience.
North Korean officials have condemned U.S. sanctions, stating that the sanctions will get in the way of denuclearization. To discuss, we FEATURE Soo Kim. Kim is a former CIA North Korea analyst and currently a Research Analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA). Her East Asia subspecialties include leadership and decision-making, political psychology, nonproliferation, authoritarian regimes, propaganda, security, and North and South Korea issues. Kim also specializes in the intelligence community and U.S. homeland security issues, including immigration, border security, and illicit networks. Previously, Ms. Kim was a National Security Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) and a policy analyst and advisor to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Media includes: The Hill, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NBC, PBS.
U.S. lawmakers recently released Senate resolutions that would end U.S. support of the war in Yemen, which has caused conflict with officials in Saudi Arabia. To discuss, we FEATURE Trudy Rubin. Rubin has special expertise on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian issue, international terrorism, and U.S. foreign policy. She visited Afghanistan and Pakistan twice in 2009; between 2003 and 2008 she made ten trips to Iraq and two to Iran and also wrote from Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, China and South Korea. Media includes: The Philadelphia Inquirer, Christian Science Monitor, The Economist, Moscow News.
On Monday, Google announced that it will invest $1 billion into a new campus in New York City. To discuss, we FEATURE Connie Razza. Razza is Co-Director of Policy & Research at Demos. Previously, she directed Center for Popular Democracy’s broad-ranging research efforts pertaining to immigrant and civil rights, economic and community justice, and good government. In addition to researching on CPD-driven projects, the Strategic Research department also helps partner organizations meet their research needs. Previously Razza worked for Community Labor United (CLU), a coalition of base-building community organizations and labor unions in Boston. At CLU, she directed research and policy development on campaigns for transit justice and fair contracting practices throughout Massachusetts. Media includes: Thom Hartmann,Melissa Harris Perry, The Guardian, The New York Times.
Vaping has become increasingly popular among teenagers. To discuss, we FEATURE Helen Redmond. Redmond is an expert in substance use, legal and illegal. She is a founder of Nicotine Harm Reduction Consultants and provides training and consultation on mental health, nicotine use, electronic cigarettes and the politics of vaping. For over a decade, Redmond has worked as a licensed clinical social worker with drug users in medical and community mental health settings. In 2016, along with colleagues at City University of New York in Brooklyn, Helen organized and was a keynote speaker at the first Tobacco Harm Reduction Conference in the United States to focus on nicotine use among people with a mental health diagnosis, active drug users, and electronic cigarettes. Media includes: Al Jazeera, AlterNet, Harpers, The Influence.
Alicia White
Liz Theran
