Guest Lecture Series
Food for Thought Speaker Series
About
Food for Thought is a speaker series that welcomes a distinguished lineup of EMPA Faculty approaching the Covid-19 crisis and social justice reform. Each week a speaker will present their recommendation paper, highlight their perspective on the crisis, and engage in a dialogue with EMPA students, alumni, and other faculty members.
We are in a pivotal moment - full of opportunities for policymakers to transform lessons from the crisis into concrete benefits for their communities. While we cannot come together physically to exchange ideas, we believe we can leverage the virtual tools at our disposal to activate stakeholders and build out practical and innovative solutions to the crisis at hand.
Guest Lecture Series
Business, Culture, Diplomacy: Managing Change at Home and Abroad
Wednesday, July 20 | 12:00 PM EST
Kweli Washington
COO, Piano
One of the simple truths today is that you can’t operate a business, especially an international business, merely thinking about profit and loss. Politics, economics, and, indeed, society intervene. To better our chances of success, we must be multidisciplinary, adaptive, and grounded in (local, national, organizational) cultural understanding or risk being swamped by circumstances.
In this talk, we will run down how we at Piano Software have navigated these especially tough conditions our world has faced in last 2.5 years with an emphasis on how we’ve grown and managed changed through this period. I will describe the steps we’ve taken to grow our business around the world sustainably and ethically amidst Covid, racial conflict, insurrection, war in Ukraine, inflation, supply chain shortages, the Great Resignation and the like with a special emphasis on lessons learnt and success factors.
Past Events
Watch Past Recordings
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Georgia Haddad, Partnership for Public Service
Wednesday, July 13 | 12:00 PM EST
Nearly half a million cybersecurity positions remain vacant across both the public and private sectors, a gap that is only likely to grow in the coming years. The Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to enhance the effectiveness of the federal government through several different channels, with a focus on the public servants that make government operate. Recognizing the benefit that cross-sector collaboration and diverse employee experience can offer government, the Partnership launched the Cybersecurity Talent Initiative to bolster government's ability to recruit entry level cybersecurity professionals. This discussion will review the Partnership's approach to strengthening government, the challenges that exist solidifying a cyber workforce to protect America's most vulnerable infrastructure and a pathway towards strengthening the cyber pipeline.
Watch the Recording » -
Jonathan Hansen, Managing Director of JSA Partners (Aerospace & Defense)
Wednesday, June 8 | 12:00 PM EST
As the pace of the innovation cycle continues to rapidly accelerate, great power competition among global and regional rivals is increasingly contested. Reliance upon conventional capabilities once primarily focused on ground forces and establishing numerical advantage has now gravitated towards multi-domain, network centric warfare that greatly enhances lethality and parity among near peers significantly shifting the tactical environment across land, sea, and air. These rapid technological changes have outpaced much of the defense industrial base leaving it ineffective to manufacture or produce contemporary equipment required of these future military architectures. As actors seek to solidify military advantage under this new paradigm, public policy and industry must be refined to adequately support the future battlespace in terms of technological innovation and financial efficiency.
Watch the Recording » -
Adam Stepan, PhD, Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker, Director of Columbia’s Picker Center Digital Education Group, and co-author of the forthcoming Columbia University Press Book “Beyond Zoom: The New Connected University.”
Wednesday, May 25 | 12:00 PM EST
The Covid-19 crises has led to unprecedented disruption across many areas of life. While many have felt the limitations of poorly executed “Zoom University,” others have used the power of zoom and video to teach and learn in new ways. In this talk Stepan explores some of the new forms of “connected learning” that digital tools have allowed. These include seminars and workshops built around digital case studies, and network classes in which international groups connect in new and unexpected ways.
Watch the recording » -
Charles MacCormack, Senior Fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs; Vice Chair of the Millennium Development Goal Health Alliance
Wednesday, May 11 | 12:00 PM EST
The world has never before confronted so many difficult issues simultaneously. From climate change to ethnic conflict to mass migration, the need for well-prepared, self-aware, dedicated and visionary leadership has never been greater. The past decades have seen great progress in life expectancy, global health and educational opportunity; but the global leaders of the 21st century face unprecedented challenges. This discussion will examine the issues and the skills and personal qualities needed to make a positive difference.
Watch the Recording » -
Nancy Martin, Vice President, Policy and Planning, Cardinal McCloskey Community Services
Dr. William Ursillo, Chief Operating Officer, Cardinal McCloskey Community Services
Dr. Audrey Erazo-Trivino, Senior VP of Programs and Coordinated Care, Cardinal McCloskey Community ServicesWednesday, April 27 | 12:00 PM EST
In our communities today, vulnerable children and families face multiple challenges and have urgent needs for support and help. At the same time, our public service system is large and complicated, and our programs are governed by complex regulations and funded by multiple revenue streams. This panel will discuss how, as a nonprofit community-based organization within this environment, we navigate, juggle and balance, in order to make sure that each child and family receives the help they need.
Watch the Recording » -
Rob Wesselo, Managing Director - South Africa Operations, International Housing Solutions (IHS)
Wednesday, April 20 | 12:00 PM EST
Delivery of large, quality affordable housing in sub-Saharan Africa is an urgent necessity. In his talk, Rob Wesselo will discuss why large scale projects not getting off the ground in a market where demand is growing year by year. What needs to be done to unlock significant delivery of green affordable housing projects to satisfy this demand? Rob Wesselo is a Managing Director responsible for South Africa operations for International Housing Solutions (IHS). He is responsible for sourcing investment, structuring and negotiating deals with developers and managing the operations of IHS in South Africa.
Watch the Recording » -
Steven M. Fulop, Mayor, Jersey City, NJ
William B. Eimicke, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs, Columbia SIPAWednesday, April 13 | 12:00 PM EST
Mayor Steven Fulop, a SIPA EMPA alumnus, was just reelected to a historic third term – the first mayor in modern history to do so in Jersey City – with overwhelming support at the polls again. He continues to promote progress amid one of the greatest renaissances Jersey City has ever seen and he is doing so in a thoughtful and community-centric way – from creating new schools, public parks, and libraries to expanding transit, increasing affordable housing, eliminating tax abatements and many other major projects underway. Most cities would hope for one transformational project, and in Jersey City there are multiple billion dollar projects coming to fruition. In this conversation, Prof. William B. Eimicke of SIPA and Mayor Fulop will discuss the Mayor’s role is in this historic transformation of Jersey City and his ongoing commitment to the current residents.
Watch the Recording » -
Jenna Mandel-Ricci, MPA, MPH, Senior Vice President, Health Care System Resilience, Greater New York Hospital Association
Wednesday, February 16 | 12:00 PM EST
Collecting data from hospitals during an emergency event is standard practice. Such data helps characterize the event’s associated morbidity and mortality and its impacts to the hospital sector. Findings often directly inform policy and resource decisions. When data collection systems are built thoughtfully and strategically, they become powerful tools for the healthcare community, public health and emergency response agencies, and the political leaders to whom they report. However, when they are not, as has often been the case during COVID, these efforts produce dissonant data sources that can hinder response actions and place an immense burden on hospitals struggling to meet the demands of patient care.
During this session we will explore what data collection has looked like for New York City hospitals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and how those data have been used by myriad stakeholders. We will wrestle with the complexities, pitfalls, and burdens of data collection systems, and discuss why better systems are needed and how to build them.
Watch the Recording »Lessons Learned/Preparation for Future COVID-19 Waves
Future Preparedness: Data Collection & Monitoring Recommendations to Support Public Health and Health Care Response During Emergencies -
Matthew Murray, SIPA and Harriman Institute Adjunct Professor
Alexander Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of UkraineWednesday, April 6 | 12:00 PM EST
As the war which Russia has waged on Ukraine enters its second month, Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation has already succeeded in changing the landscape. During this panel discussion SIPA and Harriman Institute Adjunct Professor Matthew Murray will interview Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Alex Bornyakov, a SIPA EMPA alumnus. Together they will discuss Ukraine's strategy for deploying digital technology tools to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty. Building on the foundation of Ukraine’s innovative knowledge economy, Deputy Minister Bornyakov has worked with local and foreign private sector leaders to provide Ukraine with an edge in the war. Professor Murray will ask the Deputy Minister to discuss these developments including the partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to provide Starlink satellites and the entrance of PayPal in Ukraine's digital banking space. They will discuss how digital tools can be used to penetrate Russia’s closed information space and help Russian citizens learn truths about the war. The question will then be posed to the audience -- what other types of digital innovations can be deployed with support from the U.S. private sector?
Watch the Recording »Related Recent Publications
Crypto and NFTs Are Funding Ukraine's Resistance Against Russia
World Stage: Ukraine with Alex Bornyakov
Ukraine official urges digital blockade of Russia, saying country uses money "to kill civilian people"
The Global Anticorruption Blog: Did Putin Invade Ukraine to Expand State Corruption?
Sanctions On Russian Fund Show Dashed Hope Of Moscow’s Cooperation With Democracies
Divestment From Russia by Foreign Business Could Increase Pressure on Putin -
Christine Carlson and Greg Wolf
Wednesday, February 9 | 12:00 PM EST
Over the past decade research shows that cross-sector partnerships are beginning to be employed by some governments to assist in addressing public problems that they cannot successfully address alone. However, forming effective partnerships and working across sectors is hardly easy. Many opportunities to employ them are never realized because there is no framework to support them. Despite their promise, these kinds of partnerships are complex undertakings, getting them off the ground and sustaining them without a supportive infrastructure has proven difficult. We believe a new sector is needed that can operate at state and local levels to provide platforms for establishing partnerships involving the public, private and civic sectors that can bring about innovative solutions to economic, environmental, and social problems that cannot be resolved by government acting alone. Creating this new sector would go far to advancing the use of cross-sector partnerships to address our most pressing issues.
Watch the Recording » -
Eduardo A. Escobar (Assistant Professor in History of Science, University of Bologna)
Wednesday, February 2 | 12:00 PM EST
From concepts of time to astronomy, mathematics, and technology, ancient Babylonians have long been considered pioneers of the ancient world. But what distinguished ancient Babylonian thinking from that of other cultures?
In this talk, we will explore the unusual history of how and why Babylonian knowledge—or, a creative rendering of a “Babylonian mode of thought”—manifested in the works of John Maynard Keynes, Jorge Luis Borges, and Richard Feynman, among others. Using letters, lectures, and short stories from these 20th century figures we will recount the vivid history of how a "Babylonian mode of thought” inspired the scientific and literary imagination.
Watch the Recording »Embracing Uncertainty: Babylonian Habits Of Thinking In The Modern World
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Richard Greenberg and Michael Seiler, co-founders of Torch
Wednesday, December 1 | 12:00 PM EST
Richard Greenberg and Michael Seiler, co-founders of the first social media intelligence platform for the civic sector, Torch, will explore how social media can be a force for good in our society during the time of Covid-19. Greenberg and Seiler will present on how nonprofit organizations, elected officials, and activists are using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to build movements and raise awareness to drive positive change across a variety of issues. Additionally, the presenters will highlight avenues through which the broader public can similarly leverage social media for social good.
Watch the Recording » -
Atabek Nazirov, Chief Executive Officer of the Uzbekistan Direct Investment Fund and Advisor to the Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Wednesday, November 17 | 12:00 PM EST
In light of the recent reforms, the economic landscape of Uzbekistan is rapidly changing. Increased transparency, currency liberalization, tax reductions and active privatization of state assets have opened Uzbekistan’s doors to both local and foreign investors. This, together with a fast-growing population of 34 million people, makes Uzbekistan to emerge as a significant player in the Central Asia region.
Watch the Recording » -
Prof. Sun Zhe, Co-Director of China Initiative, SIPA
Wednesday, November 3 | 12:00 PM EST
President Biden's China policy is like a cocktail with three layers of pragmatic elements: "competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be, and adversarial when it must be.” A fundamental change in US-China relations in the Biden-Xi Trump era can be seen in four perspectives: a sharp shrink in people-to-people exchange; lacking of substantial cooperation even in a symbolic sense; intensified competition in every field; extended confrontation ranging from sovereignty, human rights, to cyber-security issues. Where are the ways out? Whether the rise of China is a fantasy or fallacy, China's domestic change under Xi's leadership has hindered its open door policy and thus affected its foreign policy, especially the US-China relations in a negative way. There is a pressing need to "reset" the relationship and explore areas where the two countries can cooperate.
The lecture will consist of four parts: 1) a brief description of the current US-China relations and key elements in American China policy; 2) an explanation of the fundamental changes in the relations; 3) Chinese narratives and debates on dealing with the U.S.; and 4) the future perspective and proposals to manage the relationship. Q & A sessions will follow.
Watch the Recording » -
Kenya Handy-Hilliard, Former Candidate for NYC Council at Kenya For The People 2021
Wednesday, October 27 | 12:00 PM EST
With an estimated 300 campaigns for the 2021 local elections, Kenya Handy-Hilliard will discuss her campaign for NYC City Council. Running in a crowded race for the 40th Councilmanic District in Brooklyn, Kenya will recount what it was like to run for local office, the challenges that stood in her way, and the triumphs that led to an impressive finish in this hotly contested eleven-candidate race. She will also discuss the lessons learned throughout the process, as running in the middle of a pandemic- with a new voting system - proved difficult. Yet provided some insight into the way our local elections system has changed - for better or worse? Let’s discuss…
Watch the Recording » -
Claudia Gerola, Microsoft Principal Program Manager; Columbia University Adjunct Professor
Wednesday, October 20 | 12:00 PM EST
Recent disruptive global events have shown that digital technology and data are indispensable tools for governments. Digital transformation puts governments in a strong position to take quick, decisive action when necessary as they adapt to sudden and unexpected changes across their agencies. Microsoft helps public sector sector organizations implement remote teamwork and learning, and constituent services all within critical cloud infrastructure and security.
Under the leadership of Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft works alongside customers every day, within the public-private partnership model, to help them provide services in a world of remote everything. Many government leaders are taking stock, imagining a future with the most attentive, helpful citizen services, and accelerating their digital transformation to support employees working from home and to serve citizens seamlessly.
This presentation explores the components that go into a digital transformation and provides guidance for governments to choose trusted partnerships that enable public sector leadership during normal times and during times of crisis.
Watch the Recording » -
Patricia McCall, VP, Global Strategy and Corp Affairs at Winrock International
Wednesday, October 13 | 12:00 PM EST
Innovative and holistic financial solutions are needed to address the short-term impacts of Covid-19 on already disenfranchised and underserved communities throughout the US, but notably in the US South. Calvert Impact Capital and Winrock International are working together with community lenders in the South to provide economic recovery loans to small businesses in their communities at a time when they are facing unprecedented health and economic challenges. The loans are designed to reach the smallest of small businesses and those that have been historically underbanked through an innovative blended finance structure funded by grants and investment capital. This capital is coupled with new models of technical assistance to provide long-term sustainable impact to these communities.
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Neil Britto, Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Intersector Project, an initiative of the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation
Wednesday, October 6 | 12:00 PM EST
This session will highlight the importance of effective government, business, and non-profit sector collaboration. This session is informed by the book The Intersector, a recent compilation of academic and practitioner perspectives on how to improve the quality of multi-sector collaboration in the United States. Data-as an emerging asset in cross-sector work, the role of public-private partnerships in “smart-city” infrastructure development, and the important role of philanthropy will be discussed.
Watch the Recording » -
William B. Eimicke, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs
Wednesday, September 29 | 12:00 PM EST
The supply of affordable housing was woefully insufficient in large cities around the world before the Covid crisis; today, it is perhaps the most pressing social need in large cities around the world. Here in New York City we have periodically addressed the challenge with success in the 1950’s, 1960’s and most recently with the Housing New York initiative between 1986 and 2006. As cities around the world seek to build a better life for all residents post Covid, we believe the lessons of the past can help us make progress over the next decade toward the goal of affordable housing for all. As in the past, major cities are likely to lead the way, this time through cross sector partnerships
Watch the Recording » -
Richard Koss, Chief Research Officer, Recursion Co; Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs, SIPA
Wednesday, September 22 | 12:00 PM EST
The onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic represents a massive shock impacting all sectors of the global economy. It has been particularly felt in the real estate sector as households reconsider their work/living arrangements and adjust their lives accordingly. It has also greatly exacerbated the trend towards wealth inequality. The new Biden Administration and other government agencies, notably the Federal Reserve, are engaging in innovative policy making to improve the functioning of the economy, expand access to credit and provide affordable rental housing to low income households. What are the barriers to success facing these programs and what more needs to be done?
Watch the Recording » -
Dana Chermesh-Reshef, Entrepreneur In Residence at Schmidt Futures; Founder and CEO at inCitu
Wednesday, September 15 | 12:00 PM EST
inCitu democratizes urban development by incentivizing community participation through immersive experiences. Our AR-powered civic engagement app brings 3D models into their urban context, allowing residents, designers, and elected representatives to visualize and assess the impact of proposed projects on-site, in augmented reality, while effectively crowdsourcing stakeholders' feedback.
inCitu is incubated inside of the Schmidt Futures EIR program for which we were selected as one of the top 6 social impact entrepreneurs in the country.
Watch the Recording » -
Peter McAteer, Managing Director of SustainLearning, member of the board of directors for KPPM Global, and former Managing Director of Harvard Business Publishing, Corporate Learning
Wednesday, June 23 | 12:00 PM EST
There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals with 169 sub-measures, yet most people define sustainability more narrowly — around issues such as climate change and environmental damage. Prior to the Covid 19 crisis, most people did not include pandemic disease or access to health care in their personal definition. Peter McAteer, author of The Sustainability Advantage, Leadership Change and the Future of Business, works with companies around the globe on sustainability strategy and programs to transition businesses from legacy activities to more sustainable business practices. During his teaching and research he conducts surveys about how people define sustainability and how their definitions can affect business strategy, ESG goals and personal actions. Peter will illustrate why such perceptions matter and how a broader and more personal definition can accelerate a sustainable change program. Peter also strongly believes that to be a true sustainability champion, you have to walk the talk. He’ll share practical experience from his investment portfolio about the challenges and opportunities for starting and growing new sustainable businesses.
Watch the Recording » -
Todd Jacobson, Senior Vice President of Social Responsibility for the National Basketball Association
Wednesday, June 16 | 12:00 PM EST
The relationship between business and society continues to rapidly evolve. As society demands more of businesses, there is a conscious push for the business community to become more proactive around social issues and events. No longer is it the responsibility of businesses to increase profits and only be responsible to shareholders; it is about stakeholder capitalism. Businesses are being called upon to play a role in addressing issues, and become agents of change for the betterment of society. The pandemic has only accelerated these expectations. In the social impact space, crisis breeds innovation. To survive and thrive, companies must reflect on their values and purpose, be willing to address and own their shortcomings, and think strategically about how they’re going to engage on issues moving forward.
In this session, we will discuss current landscape of the social impact space in the business sector and explore the social impact work and approach of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and how it has evolved over the course of the pandemic.
Todd Jacobson has over two decades of corporate, government and nonprofit leadership. Mr. Jacobson currently serves as Senior Vice President, Head of Social Responsibility for the National Basketball Association, where he oversees the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League and NBA 2K League global social responsibility efforts, community partnerships, and public service initiatives. Mr. Jacobson also directs the league’s government affairs, including the White House, United Nations and State Department relationships managing the league’s communication and engagement.
Watch the Recording »GSG Business & Politics Study - Changemakers Q&A with Todd Jacobson
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William B. Eimicke, Director, Picker Center
Soulaymane Kachani, Vice Provost for Teaching, Learning and Innovation
Adam Stepan, Director, Picker Center Digital Education GroupJune 16, 2021
Speakers Kachani, Eimicke and Stepan explore themes of their forthcoming Columbia University Press book “Beyond Zoom: Managing the Connected University.”
Drawing on the lessons learned as schools and universities around the world turned to online tools in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors explore what the “Covid Moment” will mean for the future of teaching and learning. What approaches worked? What failed? What will higher education look like in a post-Covid world?
Watch the Recording » -
Sophie Walker, Activist, journalist, founding leader of Britain's Women's Equality Party
June 9, 2021
Had enough? Feeling hopeless? Don't give up - join the rebellion.
Activist, journalist, founding leader of Britain's Women's Equality Party and 'modern-day suffragette' Sophie Walker presents an inspiring, five-step journey to incorporating activism into our lives. Learn how to see activism not as a series of pitched battles but as a positive, lifelong learning experience. Escape the numbing effects of despair, learn to channel anger, arm yourself with hope, practise perseverance and connect with others compassionately. Sophie Walker offers support to convert our confusion and impatience into a powerful force for change.
Sophie Walker spent twenty years at Reuters as an international journalist. After supporting her elder daughter through a diagnosis of autism, she started campaigning for disability rights, particularly those of girls on the autism spectrum. In 2015, she helped form and led the Women’s Equality Party, ran for London Mayor in 2016, and in 2017 stood for election to the UK Parliament, campaigning for investment in care, equal pay and an end to violence against women. She is a feminist strategist, activist, speaker and counsellor for would-be campaigners. She is also the co-founder of Activate, a UK fund to support women from minoritized communities to stand for political office; and the author of Five Rules For Rebellion: Let’s Change the World Ourselves.
Watch the Recording » -
Prof. Lucius J. Riccio, Lecturer in Discipline, SIPA; Former NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner; Former MTA Board Member
June 2, 2021
Transportation has been the key to NYC's economic and social growth since the Dutch established New Amsterdam. Currently there are several opportunities facing NY's policy makers and several challenges creating disruption and disaster. In this session Prof Riccio will discuss those opportunities and challenges, and estimate the prospects for NY's continued dominance as a leading city of the world.
Watch the Recording »Op-eds:
To fight congestion, aim at Uber
Three mistakes that snarled Manhattan traffic and caused the taxi crisis
An infrastructure tax solution
Many ways to $ave the subways -
Paul Linberg, Assistant Director, CAA Global and Diversity Engagement
May 26, 2021
In this session, Paul Linberg will analyze and evaluate the impact of economic and sustainable tourism trends in POST COVID-19 New York City. The U.S. and World tourism economy has been severely affected by the pandemic and economic downturn across all organizations from small to large businesses with airline companies, the hospitality industry, culinary establishments, and cultural institutions. The rising tide of the tourism industry's future boom is vital to building back better on a national and local scale in New York City. One key component is sustainability and equity as an element to ensure the successes of tourism destinations are shared and benefit all NYC communities across groups instead of helping only a select group of investors and financial partners. He will review and recommend some innovative approaches to achieve equitable and sustainable tourism in NYC.
Watch the Recording » -
Tiffine Wang, Partner at MS&AD Ventures
May 19, 2021
Tiffine Wang, Partner at MS&AD Ventures, an early stage Silicon Valley based global fund backed by Mitsui Sumitomo & Aioi Nissay Dowa (MS&AD) Group will speak to us about making investments around the world (e.g. US, Europe, Singapore/South East Asia, Israel) and how venture capital can be utilized for “good”. She’s passionate about investing in big market bets that positively impacts humanity. Tiffine will give an overview of her firm and introduce a few of her portfolio companies that’s transforming the world we live in. There will be an Q&A session after.
Her investment areas include: Data Driven Fintech/Financial Inclusion, InsurTech, Artificial Intelligence, Impact/Sustainability, Mobility, Digital Health, Enterprise/Security.
Tiffine was voted as one of the Top 10 Emerging Leaders in Corporate Venture Capital by GCV in 2021.
She previously spent 5 years with Singtel Group, working on investments and strategic partnerships, bridging new technologies from North America to South East Asia and Australia.
She held positions in various global accelerator programs including AngelHack, European Innovation Academy (Portugal, Qatar, Italy, France, China) and Alchemist Accelerator.
Prior to moving into tech/venture, she worked in economic & workforce development. She serves as an Industry Fellow for the Center of Entrepreneurship and Technology (CET) at the University of California, Berkeley and sits on the Advisory Board of UC Santa Cruz's Center for Analytical Finance. Tiffine received her B.A. in Psychology & Sociology from University of California, Davis.
Watch the Recording » -
Daniel Garodnick, President and CEO of the Riverside Park Conservancy
May 12, 2021
From city streets to City Hall and to Midtown corporate offices, Saving Stuyvesant Town is the incredible true story of how one middle class community defeated the largest residential real estate deal in American history. Lifetime Stuy Town resident and former City Councilman Dan Garodnick will join us to recount how his neighbors stood up to mammoth real estate interests and successfully fought to save their homes, delivering New York City's biggest-ever affordable housing preservation win.
In 2006, Garodnick found himself engaged in an unexpected battle. Stuyvesant Town was built for World War II veterans by MetLife, in partnership with the City. Two generations removed, MetLife announced that it would sell Stuy Town to the highest bidder. Garodnick and his neighbors sprang into action. Battle lines formed with real estate titans like Tishman Speyer and BlackRock facing an organized coalition of residents, who made a competing bid to buy the property themselves. Tripped-up by an over-leveraged deal, the collapse of the American housing market, and a novel lawsuit brought by tenants, the real estate interests collapsed, and the tenants stood ready to take charge and shape the future of their community. The result was a once-in-a-generation win for tenants and an extraordinary outcome for middle-class New Yorkers.
Watch the Recording » -
Laura Kavanagh, First Deputy Commissioner, New York City Fire Department
April 21, 2021
The role gossip plays in organizational dynamics is understudied, particularly in examinations of organizational change and reform. It is most often seen as an unserious form of communication, best to be ignored by management. To the contrary, research shows gossip to be a potent social process that helps protect the status quo, perpetuate institutional power, and silence dissent.
There has been recent attention drawn to the insidious impacts of gossip-like discourse against women in public life, through powerful coverage of famous women like Meghan Markle and Britney Spears. In fact, this type of corrosive sex and race-based gossip is prevalent for women in all areas of public life and leadership.
This discourse has particularly negative impacts on women, because it taps into existing stereotypes that paint women as unserious and weak. In contrast, negative coverage of men rarely takes aim at their power and status. In fact, studies show that when both genders are the targets of negative press coverage, that coverage disproportionately causes women to drop out of leadership compared to their male counterparts. This is compounded by online harassment, like trolling and doxing, that is almost exclusively targeted at women.
Understanding the corrosive impacts of gossip is essential for managers. Organizations might have strong programs for mentoring diverse candidates for leadership but are losing those candidates before they become leaders. This is often because they are ignoring the ways organizations unofficially cause those future leaders to feel unwelcome and unsupported. Understanding these unofficial systems is as important as making official policy in seeking organizational change.
Key questions that will be explored further:
- The direct link between gossip, the perpetuation of institutional power, and the lack of diversity in senior leadership roles
- How this form of power is yielded almost exclusively against women, and particularly women of color, by using sex and race-based stereotypes that seek to disempower and shame them
- How today’s web based social platforms amplify and accelerate these trends and perpetuate more violent forms of harassment such as physical threats, trolling, hacking, and doxing
- How employers can recognize and combat these tactics in their organizations
- The need for stricter legal mechanisms that hold bad actors accountable for targeting people online
- Proactive steps employers can implement to protect the targets of this type of harassment, and make their institutions more diverse as a result
Watch the Recording » -
Eli Amdur, Adjunct Professor (retired), Coach, Advisor, T-shirt Philosopher, and Lead Guitarist
April 14, 2021
The history and future of ethical decision making. A theoretical and case-study look at “progress” – with and without ethical guidance and oversight. Given the nature, scope and pace of change, Ethics will be (already is) the single greatest challenge of the 21st century and beyond. Each major civilization-changing progress (invention or discovery) in history comes sooner after the preceding one than that one did after the one before it. This creates the conundrum of having to contemplate larger challenges in less time, with potentially unforgiving consequences of not getting it right. And the lack of – or inattention to – ethics will lead to the greatest disaster(s) of all time. Or we can choose otherwise.
Watch the Recording » -
Rachel Cummings, Assistant Professor, Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
April 7, 2021
Differential privacy is a mathematically rigorous definition of privacy, which has become a leading algorithmic technique used to meet the increasing consumer demand for digital privacy. Despite recent widespread deployment of differential privacy, relatively little is known about what users think of differential privacy. In this work, we conducted a series of user studies (n=2424) to explore users' privacy expectations related to differential privacy. We find that users care about the kinds of information leaks against which differential privacy protects and are more willing to share their private information when the risks of these leaks are less likely to happen. Additionally, we find that the ways in which differential privacy is described in the wild haphazardly set users' privacy expectations, which can be misleading depending on the deployment.
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Tanya Pope, AVP, University Supplier Diversity, Columbia University Facilities & Operations
March 31, 2021
In 2003, Columbia began working with leaders in West Harlem to develop a long-term campus plan—a thoughtfully designed, predictable development blueprint that would provide Columbia with much-needed space for new kinds of academic research, while also providing the kind of middle income jobs to New Yorkers that had largely been shed by the decline of private industry in New York and other older cities. Come to hear the story of Columbia’s Manhattanville campus supplier diversity plan and Community Benefits Agreement as well as the goals and achievements of this multi-decade, best in class campus expansion built with the local community in mind.
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Nuria Esparch Fernandez, Minister of Defense of Peru;
Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;
Krishnakoemarie Mathoera, Minister of Defense of the Republic of Suriname;
Jacqueline O’Neill, Canada’s ambassador for Women, Peace and Security;
Maria-Noel Vaeza, Regional Director of UN Women for the Americas and the Caribbean;
moderated by Augusto Cabrera Rebaza, Director General for International Relations Ministry of Defense of Peru.March 25, 2021
This panel discussion will address the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, which focuses on the vital role that women play in the maintenance of international peace and security.
The WPS agenda is framed by a suite of Security Council resolutions including, and, in addition, to UNSCR 1325 (2000), which provides a four-pillar framework to support its goals: participation, protection, prevention, and relief and recovery.
This panel is convened to support the Women, Peace and Security efforts and to exchange experiences and best practices from countries in the Americas. One of its key goals is to hear High-Level Female Government and non-Government representatives’ experiences and expectations.
Watch the Recording » -
Francisco Pineda, Lecturer in the Discipline of Construction Administration; Academic Director, M.S. Construction Administration
Ike Umunnah, Director Office of Public Affairs at U.S. Economic Development Administration
Community, Careers, and Commerce
March 17, 2021
The economic and societal Impact of construction has been undervalued. The majority of policy makers and the public do not fully grasp the extent and contribution of the construction sector to an economy. Even fewer understand the sector's larger contribution to economic enablement across other core industries. Or, its central role in the creation of jobs and sustainment of blue, gray, purple, and white collar careers and workforce development.
In New York City, the construction sector is over-shadowed by finance, technology, health care, retail and media industries. This limited view is due to the way economists and statisticians classify and account for GDP contribution. Under these accounting standards, the construction sector only accounts for roughly 4.46% of NYC employment and about 5-7% of the NYC GDP barely placing it in the top 10 “industries” and relegating it to a low-impact, low priority sector for policy makers, the media, and the public.
But this picture may be misleading, and the real economic value of construction may in fact be significantly higher – as high as 20%. A broader understanding of the sectors role will better inform policy and investment as well as position it as a destination for high performing jobs that have an impact to our communities, our competitiveness, and our regions equitable economic development.
In light of Biden’s Infrastructure plan, key questions explored:
- how construction is defined and how it is changing
- its interdependencies and impact across NYC most important industries,
- Biden’s national infrastructure vision
- Cuomo’s NY infrastructure strategy
- Albany / NYC love/hate
- Major capital projects, and micro solutions
- Opportunities, challenges, continuities, and discontinuities
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Bernard Moon, Co-founder & Partner at SparkLabs Group
March 10, 2021
The environment and our impact on the earth through daily habits, corporate growth, and human progress has become increasingly important to investors at all stages. This talk will focus on trends in early-stage venture capital and what investors are looking at to combat climate change and help create a sustainable future for the next generations. This will have a Q&A where entrepreneurs are welcome to ask questions and receive feedback on their ideas, or any other questions from the audience.
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Francisco Pineda, Lecturer in the Discipline of Construction Administration; Academic Director, M.S. Construction Administration
March 3, 2021
In the US, infrastructure has always been mired in dysfunctional politics, with often unclear allocation of responsibilities between federal, state and local government. On top of that, it hasn’t been clear what ‘infrastructure’ is, nor has there been an ambitious reimagining of what it could be.
Ultimately, the problems underlying our nation’s infrastructure mess are not just structural. They are also philosophical. It is not just our infrastructure that needs updating, but our concept of infrastructure.
As Joe Biden is inaugurated as president of the United States, we have the political and economic conditions to change that. Biden’s Infrastructure Plan is prepared to offer a long-run vision of how infrastructure can better enable our economy and serve all of its citizens. It also provides as a semblance of a national strategy with pragmatic short-term remedies.
Biden’s $2 trillion infrastructure plan is as close as we have been to understanding infrastructure the way the rest of the world does: as an important piece of national and geo-political strategy. The plan is built around three defining objectives: clean energy, modernizing the current system and ensuring equity. It makes sense. It repositions infrastructure and, by extension, its role in our current and future socio-economic systems.
Key Questions Explored:
- what is the vision, the strategy, the plan, the rationale
- why is it important
- how will it play out in NYS and how does it reconcile with Cuomo’s big plan
- what about the Albany / NYC dysfunction
- Mega projects, major problems, minor issues, and micro solutions for NYC
- future-casting the years ahead...
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Brian Kennedy, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs
February 24, 2021
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Agency serves as the essential backbone for supporting the most dynamic city on the planet, but what happens when a pandemic drops its ridership by 90% in a week? As some prognosticators forecast a continued de-urbanization trend in the aftermath of COVID-19, the fourth largest borrower in the municipal bond market needs to address its debt load and extensive capital needs while simultaneously providing crucial serves needed to keep NYC such a vibrant place to live and work. The challenges are substantial and unprecedented, and have exposed inherent infrastructure funding challenges in the US federal system, where states and local governments are largely left on their own to manage and pay for projects and systems. The MTA provides service to 11 counties across two states, and manages a network of subways, trains, buses, bridges and tunnels that move more people daily than are in the entire population of 44 states, yet it largely relies on a pool of local revenue streams to support its operations and capital needs.
Could the MTA use bankruptcy as a way to reduce it’s $45bn debt load as capital markets have driven credit spreads to high yield levels? The very nature of the MTA’s corporate identity may not allow for bondholders to be forced to take losses as part of a solution, but does the State of New York have the budgetary ability to assist when its own revenues have been impacted? The Municipal Liquidity Fund, a first time program by the Federal Reserve Bank, was authorized by Congress as part of the CARES Act in April 2020, and the MTA is only one of two borrowers that actually utilized that emergency short term lending facility before its expiry on December 31st. With a new administration in the White House and slim control of Congress by the same political party, there is a larger expectation that the MTA will be assisted by additional federal grants to get through this period, but the system itself needs to look at its revenue and expenses over the longer term to ensure structural balance is returned to its budget.
Please join this Food for Thought session for an understanding of some basic principles of the US Public Finance industry through an analysis of one of its largest participants. Ironically, most of us would have used MTA means to meet at IAB for this discussion under normal circumstances, but instead will meet via Zoom, a technology challenge to restoring MTA’s ridership levels.
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William B. Eimicke, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs
February 17, 2021
The short supply of affordable housing threatens the viability of major cities across the United States and around the world. A possible silver lining of the now year-long COVID-19 pandemic cloud is the empty office, hotel and retail space it helped to create. The pandemic will end but a significant number of commuting office workers, hotel guests and in-person shoppers have moved on (and will stay online). Cross-sector partnerships can accomplish the complicated task of converting those empty but often debt-ladened spaces into thousands of high-quality, well-located housing for low- and moderate- income families and individuals. This session will focus on the challenges and opportunities associated with converting empty spaces into affordable housing.
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Edna Handy, Founder of LSC, LLC., a MWBE-certified, management consulting firm that specializes in organizational turnaround and management. She is currently consulting on organization, resident and community engagement with the Federal Monitor overseeing the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA); former first corporate-wide Acting Chief Compliance Officer for NYCHA
January 27, 2021
Essential workers well-deserve the 7 pm concert-playing, hand-clapping, and flag-waving “thank you.” Just by going to work, they expose themselves to the risk of catching the virus those of us who can work from home or who have jobs that carry independence and distance won’t face. Yet many of our essential workers, too many of them—the nurse’s aides, home health aides, delivery people, janitors—will leave their essential and generally low-paying employment and head home to further risks of COVID 19. They will return to apartments in the Far Rockaway that may not have consistent gas, heat, or hot water this winter. Their units in the NYCHA developments in Brownsville may have mold because of inoperative roof fans or unacceptable lead levels yet to be abated. The house they can afford in Staten Island only by doubling and tripling up is in chronic disrepair, allowing for pest infiltration and waste buildup.
Yet, in 1974, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the provision of the Housing and Urban Development Act, known as “Section 3.” It was to address the twin and compounding evils of housing and employment discrimination that trapped low and very low-income persons (who were majority black and brown people) into substandard housing by using existing federal funds to create pipelines to good jobs and wealth-building contracting opportunities—the routes to the American dream of homeownership.
Some forty (40) years later, the goals of Section 3 have eluded many, too many of its intended beneficiaries—our essential workers. However, by advocating for the effective implementation of this law, we can do more than the 7 pm thank you. We can ensure through Section 3 that 40 years from now, we can point to measurable observable goals that include diminishing the health disparities we see now and creating essential workers by choice and not by default.
Our talk will explore the who, what, where, how, and why of effective implementation of Section 3.
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Kristian Denny, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs
January 10, 2021
Part 3: Campaign Review, Role of Congress, What’s Next
The final lecture in this mini-series will serve as a post-game analysis of the election. We will discuss the bad and good bets the candidates made, starting with the primary. We will use hard data and also dig into the "nuts and bolts" of campaigns which includes polling, media, money, messaging and targeting. Some topics will include: target selection; messaging; selection of and rationale for battlegrounds; proactive vs reactive; when and why to go negative.
Finally, we will discuss the role of Congress going forward; how and why should the filibuster be eliminated; the death of bipartisanship; and what happens next. We will discuss individual personalities and examine key players like AOC, who are perceived to have much more power than they actually do. We will also tackle the future of the parties and if there will ever be room for a third party.
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Bridget Gibbons, Benefits Data Trust
December 3, 2020
In the United States, even before the pandemic, more than 39 million people lived in poverty, 40 million faced hunger, and nearly all felt the impact of rising healthcare costs. This doesn’t need to be the case – help is available. Millions of people struggling to pay for food, housing, and healthcare are eligible for assistance but are unaware or are deterred by the complicated processes required to enroll in public benefits. Benefits Data Trust (BDT) is a national nonprofit that helps people live healthier, more independent lives by creating smarter ways to access essential benefits and services. Each year, BDT helps thousands of people receive benefits through the use of data, technology, targeted outreach, and policy change. BDT provides enrollment assistance to individuals in six states (including New York City), and policy assistance to states nationwide. Through our integrated strategies, we have submitted over 948,000 public benefits applications resulting in more than $7 billion in benefits delivered to families and individuals.
In this conversation, BDT’s New York Engagement Manager, Bridget Gibbons (EMPA ’19), will discuss how existing government programs are critical stabilizers for households experiencing economic shock. We will cover how BDT’s model diagnoses barriers to benefits enrollment, and addresses them through its integrated strategies because now, perhaps more than ever, expanding participation in public benefits is of the utmost importance for the health, equity, and stability of our communities.
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Prateek Awasthi, Former Executive Director at Green Party of Canada
In the immediate aftermath of a nationwide lockdown imposed due to Covid-19, the Canadian government launched an unprecedented programme of spending to bolster the economy and avoid the worst consequences of economic collapse. Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan included support for individuals, businesses, organizations, including a taxable benefit of $500 a week to individuals, a wage subsidy for employers, and a rent subsidy for commercial property owners This paper examines how the dynamics of a minority parliament impacted the economic response of a centrist government, with support from a social democrat party holding the balance of power, and suggests some implications for electoral reform and proportional representation.
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John H. Austin, President at iMask Intelligence
November 11, 2020
The scale of international theft of American IP is unprecedented. The effects of this theft are twofold. The first is the tremendous loss of revenue and reward for those who made the inventions or who have purchased licenses to provide goods and services based on them. The second is that illegal theft of intellectual property is undermining both the means and the incentive for entrepreneurs to innovate, which will slow the development of new inventions.
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Milena Gomez, Visiting Research Scholar at School of International and Public Affairs
October 28, 2020
The approximately five million Venezuelans, who have left their country in recent years, represent the largest exodus of migrants in the history of the Western Hemisphere. The arrival of Venezuelans to Colombia began at the beginning of this century when highly educated professionals fled the country, fearing the policies of Hugo Chavez. By 2014, many more decided to leave as the Venezuelan economy continued to collapse and the bolivar, the national currency, went into free-fall leaving a large percentage of the population without basic necessities. This second cohort, mostly low-income residents, were not fleeing a war, but were leaving a country mired in insecurity and lacking access to services, food and medicine.
By the beginning of 2020, Venezuelans continued to arrive to Colombia, overwhelming Colombia’s capacity to absorb and settle them. They joined the close to 1,800,000 compatriots, who call Colombia their home. With the arrival of Covid-19 to the region, the situation deteriorated greatly and swiftly for all, and the Venezuelan population residing in Colombia was hit particularly hard. Since March, many opted to return voluntarily to their country out of fear of the pandemic, as well as mass unemployment, lack of access to health services and forced home evictions. Confinement gave them no other choice and over 100,000 have returned to Venezuela by bus, humanitarian flights or by foot. Venezuelans today are invisible victims of the pandemic’s externalities and, regrettably, have been disproportionately displaced, further exasperating their socioeconomic distress.
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Kristian Denny, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs
October 21, 2020
Part 2: Separation of the Governmental System of Powers in this Millennium
The talk will start with an emphasis on the forefathers and the fact that they didn't write the Constitution or any laws with a Trump-like figure in mind as President. We will talk about how and where the system was stressed by Trump and what may happen to remedy that in the future by making laws to contain someone who is amoral. Here we will discuss the role of SCOTUS. We will delve into the individual personalities and take a look at the 9 circuits. The session will close with a review of how our system differs from a Parliamentary system and why the independence of a Judiciary Branch is essential for a thriving democracy.
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Lisa Hines-Johnson, former COO of the Food Bank For New York City
October 14, 2020
Lisa Hines-Johnson, former COO of the Food Bank For New York City, will facilitate an engaging and informative discussion with Dr. Melony Samuels, Executive Director and Founder of The Campaign Against Hunger and Linda Goode Bryant, Executive Director and Founder of Project EATS - leaders with significant experience in the fight against hunger in NYC. This talk will address practices and policies critical to creating food secure communities and why understanding food justice is imperative in responding to food insecurity. While the need is great, there are ways that you can get involved and make an impact. We will discuss how to make your mark during this session.
Panel will consist of:
Lisa Hines-Johnson, former Chief Operating Officer of Food Bank For New York City
Dr. Melony Samuels, Founder and Executive Director of The Campaign Against Hunger
Linda Goode Bryant, Founder and President of Project EATS
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Rumela Sen, Lecturer in the Discipline of International and Public Affairs
October 20, 2020
What makes some governments more responsive to citizens than others? This question of government responsiveness, a key question in political economy, gains special significance in the context of heterogeneous performance of various state governments in the face of a life-threatening pandemic like Covid 19. Usually diversity and representation in governments have been advocated as key explanations for government responsiveness. However, these explanations tend to focus on elected governments, and virtually ignore the significance of bureaucratic representation. This paper examines the role of bureaucratic representation as a key factor in the successful coronavirus strategy. It uses the Indian state of Kerala, which has been widely applauded as a ‘model’ for effective government intervention in mitigating this public health crisis, to illustrate this argument. This paper also speaks to the debate of embedded v autonomous bureaucracy in public policy making in developing countries, and highlights some of the policy lessons learned from the Kerala model.
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Daniel Naujoks, Interim Director of International Organization and UN Studies Specialization, Lecturer of International and Public Affairs
September 30, 2020
The last decade has seen considerable growth in multilateral approaches to and partnerships among international organizations on human mobility, a term that refers to the broad spectrum of movements associated with migration and displacement. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its global and wide-reaching impacts on virtually all aspects of life, has affected these modes of cooperation and will continue to do so in the future. The talk unpacks five key dimensions of interagency cooperation, and highlights structural factors and trends for interagency cooperation on human mobility. Drawing on lessons from the immediate response to COVID-19, the talk provides a projection of how future features may impact cooperation in the times ahead
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Kristian Denny, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs
September 23, 2020
Part 1: Role of Media in the 2020 Election and Voting Issues During the COVID Era
This talk focused on presidential politics in the COVID era. We discussed voting by mail, why there should be federal guidelines for voting and how that may be accomplished, and touched on the ongoing debate of popular vote vs electoral college and the challenges and benefits therein. We also got into gerrymandering, voter suppression and fraud.
The second part of this interactive lecture focused on the role of media in the Trump era. This was NOT a critique or survey of journalism, but rather how and why media is consumed and how it has changed during Trump's presidency. We also defined and discussed "tribalism" and its effects.
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Joseph Pfeifer, Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness for the FDNY
September 9, 2020
Extreme events like 9/11 and the coronavirus throw us into a global state of trauma. Worldwide, we collectively experience anxiety about the future and turn to crisis leaders to lessen this fear and uncertainty. To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, we can apply the principles of crisis leadership learned from 9/11 and other major crises.
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Joann Baney, Adjunct Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs
August 25, 2020
Challenging times call for exceptional leadership, and much of leadership is about communication. We will drill down to explore some of the fundamental elements upon which exceptional leadership is built.
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Robert Walsh, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs
August 18, 2020
The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans: Who Got What, How Well Did The Loans Perform, What are the Lasting Impacts and Where Do We Go From Here?
Covid-19 has been devastating for the small business community. Part of Congress’s $ 2 trillion Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Stimulus Package, PPP was touted as a lifeline for small businesses suffering from the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.
The launch of the PPP Loans was bedeviled by problems where the Federal government released ever-shifting rules and regulations, systems crashed, banks were not prepared, and many small business waited - many of them not having the cash flow to continue. In “Round II”, the U.S. Small Business Administration made extra efforts to help smaller businesses.
Rob Walsh, who served as the New York City Small Business Commissioner during the Bloomberg Administration, will lead a lively discussion with a financial experts who provides capital to small businesses; an owner of a long time, awarding independent small business; and two seasoned community based leaders who have been on front lines linking mom and pop shops to capital.
Did the PPP loans penetrate into our communities with the greatest needs? What needed to happen to get resources into many fragile communities? Beyond the delays, what are some of the problems with the guidelines of this forgiveness loan? What were some of the positive aspects of the Program? How did State and Local Government react to supplement these loans? What needed to be done? What needs to happen in a Round III? What happens now when many small businesses exhaust their PPP loan?
Panel consisted of:
Ken Giddon, Owner of Rothman’s Men’s Clothing (and PPP loan recipient)
Randy Peers, President of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce
Michael Roth, Managing Partner leading Strategy Partnerships & Products at Next Street
Lisa Sorin, President of The Bronx Chamber of Commerce
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Stanley Litow, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs
August 11, 2020
This talk will address the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put a premium on innovative solutions by the government and the private sector to protect our most vulnerable Americans, ensuring that it doesn't increase income inequality. Instead, we need to identify specific actions that protect education both K-12 and higher education, ensure the stability of the social safety net, protect and grows women and minority owned businesses and commit to addressing the need for diversity and inclusion that advances social justice.
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Brian Gurski, Social Enterprise in Community & Economic Development
August 4, 2020
COVID-19 is a disaster of unprecedented proportions for the small business community, but we know that it wasn’t the first and it certainly won’t be the last form of major disruption it will face. This talk discusses the small business resource ecosystem in New York City and how it could be better aligned to improving the resiliency of the small business community. Topics will include city and state policies and programs, program funding and accountability, technical assistance and training, access to capital and small business networks.
This event is co-sponsored with the USP Program.
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Paola Valenti, Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of International and Public Affairs
Andrea Bubula, Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of International and Public AffairsAugust 4, 2020
This talk discusses the effects of government spending in the U.S. during the Covid-19 epidemic, with a particular focus on income support programs. Topics include aggregate effects, individual outcomes, and issues in financing.
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Adela Gondek, Lecturer in the Discipline of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology
July 21, 2020
As the first reported raging epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic beyond China’s western border, what else did Milan, Italy, and Qom, Iran, have in common? Knowing this may lead us toward the institution of a high-level transparent form of social distancing as an ethical preventative of similar outbreaks.
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Zach Tumin, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs
July 16, 2020
As we struggle to emerge from the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, we see vast changes all around, many the result of developments in information and communications technologies. In this paper and session, titled “The Coronavirus and Information and Communications Technologies: Operating Impacts, Policy Implications, and Managers’ Imperatives,” we explore the myths, facts and mysteries still of how information and communications technologies have transformed our world over the past several months, and what this transformation might mean for our futures.
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A conversation with New York Attorney General Letitia James and State's Attorney for Baltimore City Marilyn Mosby, moderated by Basil Smikle
July 8, 2020
As part of the Food for Thought Lecture Series, this panel of experts will discuss opportunities for social justice reform, changes in governance and policing and the Black Lives Matter movement. Political Commentator and SIPA Lecturer, Basil Smikle, will be moderating a conversation focused on building trust between police and the communities they serve with Letitia James, Attorney General for the State of New York and Marilyn Mosby, State’s Attorney for Baltimore City, Maryland. Please join us in participating in this important dialogue.
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Francisco Rivera-Batiz, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs
June 30, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic is having devastating effects on the world economy and some argue that it marks the end of globalization. This presentation discusses the current and likely future consequences of the pandemic in both high-income and developing countries and its potential short-term and long-run effects on global trade and finance, including the urgent policy implications.
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Richard Greenwald, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs
June 23, 2020
This short paper introduces the value of arts education and its evidence-based role in a well-rounded education for a child. As well, it provides an overview of the vulnerability of these programs during the COVID-19 crisis and how arts and cultural institutions are responding. It also highlights the Soulsville Foundation in Memphis as a case study. Finally, it address what advocates and public leaders can do to capitalize on the lessons being learned in arts education during this pandemic.
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Basil Smikle, Lecturer of International and Public Affairs
June 16, 2020
Events surrounding the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked three weeks of protests and once again, police reform is front and center in American politics. Democrats in the House of Representatives have proposed a slate of reforms, which mirror others already being discussed or advanced in state legislatures around the country. We’ll take a look at legislation put forth in the House and here in New York and discuss their strengths, weaknesses and challenges for implementation.
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Steve Cohen, Professor in the Practice of Public Affairs
June 9, 2020
In the face of COVID-19 challenges, many corporations have placed sustainability efforts on the backburner. In this talk, Dr. Steve Cohen will discuss the sustainability of sustainability in times of financial duress.
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William B. Eimicke, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs
June 2, 2020
The eruption of COVID-19 has completely altered the way that many people work, disrupting staff hours, location and commutes. Professor William Eimicke’s talk will discuss how this time presents an opportunity to revisit what the average work-week looks like.
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