Over two dozen states have sued the administration over its refusal to fund SNAP benefits once the money runs out on November 1. Over 42 million Americans – 1 in 8 – are enrolled in SNAP. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Rachel West. West is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation. Previously, she served as the special assistant to the president for labor and workers, Domestic Policy Council at the White House. Before that, she was senior advisor to U.S. Senator Bennett, and before that the senior economic policy advisor to the Committee on Education and Labor. Before joining the government, Rachel West was the director of research for the Poverty to Prosperity Program at American Progress. Previously, she was an economic policy researcher at the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at the University of California, Berkeley, where her work focused on minimum-wage policy and public assistance programs. She is co-author of the report The Effects of Minimum Wages on SNAP Enrollments and Expenditures and the related study Raising the Minimum Wage to $10.10 Would Cut Taxpayer Costs in Every State. Extensive media experience.
President Trump has stated that he would be open to running for a third term. To discuss, we FEATURE Claire B. Wofford. Wofford is an associate professor of political science at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. Her teaching and research interests are in the field of American politics, with a particular emphasis on the U.S. legal system and the role of gender in structuring political power. She offers courses on American Government, the Judiciary, Constitutional Law, Civil Liberties, and Gender and the Law at the undergraduate level. Wofford earned her Ph.D. in political science in 2012 from Emory University, where she specialized in judicial politics, Constitutional law and gender in American politics; she also served as a dean’s teaching fellow. Extensive media experience.
Next Tuesday is election day. To discuss the New York City mayoral election, we FEATURE Christina Greer. Greer is an associate professor of political science and American studies at Fordham University (Lincoln Center Campus). Her primary research and teaching interests are racial and ethnic politics, American urban centers, presidential politics, and campaigns and elections. Her additional research interests also include transportation, mayors and public policy in urban centers. Media includes: The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsday, Associated Press, MSNBC, NY1.
Next Tuesday is election day. To discuss the Virginia gubernatorial election, we FEATURE Atima Omara. Omara works and leads at the intersection of electoral politics and issue advocacy in the progressive movement. As the president & chief strategist of Omara Strategy Group, she provides strategic consulting to progressive candidates and organizations centering women and people of color in their mission and work. She strategizes with candidates and political organizations to win victories for a more reflective progressive democracy. She worked as special assistant to then-Virginia Governor Mark Warner, and as an organizer in multiple states with a union and community organizations on voter registration, ballot initiatives, and get-out-the-vote operations in low-income communities of color and immigrant communities. Media includes: American Prospect, Salon, Politico, Ms., Ebony, The Lily, MSNBC, PBS, BBC, Fox News, NPR.
The Trump administration has announced plans to replace regional ICE leaders with Border Control officials as a means to increase arrests. To discuss, we FEATURE Amanda Baran. Baran is an attorney who engages in policy analysis and advocacy for immigrant and women's rights. She worked at the Department of Homeland Security for almost ten years where she held a number of significant positions including chief of public engagement at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and worked with the Department of Homeland Security Agency Review Team for the Biden-Harris Transition Team. Prior, she was principal director of immigration policy for the Department's Office of Policy. In 2011, she served as Senior Advisor to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders where she focused on immigration, civil rights, and women's rights and engaged with community leaders across the country. Media includes: The Hill, Los Angeles Times, VOA Noticias, Rewire.News.
Hurrican Melissa, a Category 5 storm, hit Jamaica on Tuesday, leaving many without electricity and buildings destroyed. The hurricane made landfall in Cuba this morning. To discuss, we FEATURE Junko Mochizuki. Mochizuki is an experienced researcher working the areas of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction with skills in policy analysis, proposal writing, project management and stakeholder engagement. Currently, Mochizuki is a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund, contributing to their climate agenda. She also serves part-time as a senior research scholar in the Water Security Research Group of the IIASA Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program. Her current assignment at IIASA focuses on advancing the macroeconomic and fiscal modeling of natural disaster risk for both developed and developing countries. This entails exploring the empirical linkages between fiscal risk management, economic growth, and changes in climate extreme risks and other socioeconomic variables over time. Extensive media experience.
The White House has fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, which was expected tooversee ing construction projects commissioned by President Trump, including the "Arc de Trump" and the new White House ballroom. To discuss, we FEATURE Rachel Preston Prinz. Prinz is an architecturally-trained American designer, preservationist, author, documentary filmmaker, and artist working in architecture, cultural + historic preservation, and sustainability. She's the founding director of the hybrid firm Archinia and it's non-profit Architecture for EveryBody. Media includes: HGTV, Bravo, NMPBS, Canadian PBS.
November is National Native American Heritage Month. To commemorate, we FEATURE Kimberly Terrance. A Kanienkehaka Mohawk Bear clan woman of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy), Terrance dedicates much of her time and resources to building bridges of understanding while supporting the economic and social development of her people and home territory of Akwesasne where she was born and raised. With a passion for cultural knowledge and self-actualization, Terrance has embarked on a multitude of educational, cultural and personal development opportunities with various cultures and communities around the world. Groomed in business and an avid lover of Indigenous art, culture and community, her journey has led her to believe that the winding path to individual and collective harmony requires the ability to make a personal connection while balancing the capitalistic and social realms of today’s society. A mother of two young children and the only daughter of a Deaf mother, Terrance strongly advocates for the Deaf Native community. Extensive media experience.
Liz Theran
