Republican senators are currently in the midst of creating a tax reform bill that has already been divisive among the party. To discuss, we SPOTLIGHT Annette Nellen. Annette is a professor at San José State University teaching graduate-level tax courses. Her tax policy work focuses on modernizing tax systems while respecting the principles of good tax policy. Her work looks at how tax systems can be brought into the 21st century ways of living and doing business, and how doing so will better serve governments, businesses and society. Between 2011 and 2013 she testified before the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees and State of Vermont Sales and Use Tax Study Committee, and participated in a tax reform roundtable held by the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Media includes: San Ftrancisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, San Jose Business Journal, San Jose Mercury News.
In light of the FCC's plans to undo net neutrality rules set up during the Obama administration, we FEATURE Cheryl A. Leanza. Cheryl is the President of A Learned Hand, LLC where she serves as policy advisor to the United Church of Christ’s historic media advocacy arm and as the Co-Chair of the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights Media & Telecommunications Task Force. Ms. Leanza co-founded the Faithful Internet campaign and helped to lead the victorious effort to pass the Local Community Radio Act. She has been a leader in public interest advocacy for more than 15 years, including advocacy for diversity in media ownership, net neutrality, capping predatory prison phone rates, and other policies furthering First Amendment principles. Media includes: CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR.
Today, November 20, is Transgender Day of Remembrance. To commemorate the lives lost to anti-transgender violence, we FEATURE Emily A. Greytak. Emily is a national expert on LGBTQ youth and education issues. As the Research Director at GLSEN (glsen.org), the leading organization addressing LGBTQ issues in education, she leads all research efforts including the biennial National School Climate Survey, the only regular survey of LGBTQ students’ experiences. As author of the first national study of transgender youth’s school experiences, Dr. Greytak is one of the leading experts on transgender and gender nonconforming students. Media includes: The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Mashable, The Daily Show, CNN, Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Univision, People Magazine.
Today is International Day of the Child. We FEATURE Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald to discuss children's welfare and rights. Oleta is Director of the Children's Defense Fund's Southern Regional Office (CDF-SRO), and also serves as the Regional Administrator for the Southern Rural Black Women's Initiative for Economic & Social Justice (SRBWI). In 1970 she was employed by the Atlanta-based Southeastern Public Education Program of the American Friends Service Committee. In this position she participated in the Children's Defense Fund's Children Out of School in America, a national study of exclusion of children from public elementary and secondary schools; and monitored Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Media includes: Jackson Advocate, The Clarion Ledger, ABC's Nightline.
Following a military takeover in Zimbabwe, President Mugabe is expected to be impeached by the ruling party. To discuss, we FEATURE Emira Woods. Emira is a member of the International Working Group for Africans Rising, a network of African social movements working to build peace, seek justice and manifest dignity. She is Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, Trustee of the Wallace Global Fund, and board member of Action Aid International. Prior, Ms. Woods worked at the D.C. based think-tank, Institute for Policy Studies, as Director of Foreign Policy In Focus. Her focus was on research, analysis, advocacy and communications/media regarding U.S. foreign policy, with a particular expertise in US-Africa policy. Media includes: Miami Herald, the Christian Science Monitor, New York Newsday, the Nation, the Baltimore Sun, the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Nebraska has approved TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline despite protests from both environmentalist and Native Americans. This follows an oil spill that's already occurred in South Dakota. To discuss further concerns, we FEATURE Adrienne Jacqueline Keene. Adrienne is a Native scholar, writer, and blogger and is passionate about reframing how the world sees contemporary Native cultures. She is the creator and author of Native Appropriations, a blog discussing cultural appropriation and stereotypes of Native peoples in fashion, film, music, and other forms of pop culture. She is currently an Assistant Professor of American and Ethnic Studies at Brown University. Media includes: The New York Times, NPR, CNN, Time, The Washington Post.
President Trump declares North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism. We FEATURE Duyeon Kim. Kim is a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Korean Peninsula Future Forum, a non-partisan think tank in Seoul founded and run by former South Korean National Security Advisor Chun Yung-woo. Kim specializes in East Asian geopolitics, the two Koreas, nuclear nonproliferation, arms control, and security. She often combines both her regional and functional expertise in her policy analysis and prescriptions. Kim is also a columnist for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Kim was an Associate in the Nuclear Policy and Asia programs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and previously a Senior Fellow and Deputy Director of Non-Proliferation at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation in Washington, DC. Media includes: CNN, BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian.
Liz Theran
