Funders for a Just Economy 2020 Policy Briefing

Over the past few weeks, NFG has been reviewing our upcoming events in response to COVID-19 including FJE’s upcoming Policy Briefing in Washington, D.C. on March 23-24.

NFG cares about you, your loved ones, and the communities that you live and work in. While public health authorities have so far not prohibited domestic travel, public meetings, and gatherings, our priority is that participants and speakers are comfortable, healthy, and safe during our events.

We recognize the urgency of a conversation on how to strategically build philanthropic and community and labor partnerships for worker power. Considering what we know today (Monday, March 9, 2020) about COVID-19, we have decided to move the FJE Policy Briefing to a fully virtual event via Zoom. We hope that the virtual engagements will be a critical step forward for this conversation and we appreciate your understanding of this shift.

If you have already registered for the Policy Briefing, you will receive a confirmation email and a revised schedule with Zoom link information. Please note that each panel and the keynote will have its own distinct Zoom link.

Registration is still open and we encourage your participation! Please see the complete event description and agenda below. We look forward to an engaging event and please contact Manisha Vaze, Senior Program Manager - Funders for a Just Economy, at manisha@nfg.org with any questions about the Policy Briefing.

The 2020 elections are flanked by both deepening inequality hitting marginalized communities hardest but also groundbreaking movement on economic justice. From successful teacher’s strikes addressing intersectional issues to new long-term policy visions like the Green New Deal, grassroots and labor organizations are imagining and enacting new possibilities for an economy that works for all. Funders for a Just Economy’s 2020 Policy Briefing in Washington, DC looks to bring these conversations – and foundations and movement partners – together at this dynamic moment.

We’ll hear from field leaders about their latest strategies and policy campaigns towards the upcoming 2020 elections, from the local to the national. How are labor unions and community groups utilizing this moment to build a stronger movement to build power for marginalized communities? How are these efforts tied to transformational strategies for longer term reforms toward democracy and economic inclusion? And most importantly, how can philanthropy partner with social movements to support intersectional economic change, through and beyond 2020?

All times below are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

Day 1: Monday, March 23

10:45 am    Welcome & Logistics

11:00 am    Centering Race and Gender in Worker Policy in 2020

• Adriana Rocha, Neighborhood Funders Group (Moderator)
• Rebecca Dixon, National Employment Law Project
• Celeste Faison, 'me too.'
• Nyla Foster, LGBTQ Workers Center and Trans Women of Color Collective

1:00 pm     Restructuring the Economy: Worker Organizing to Take on Corporate Power

• Marissa Guananja, W.K. Kellogg Foundation (Moderator)
• Abdirahman Muse, Awood Center
• Derecka Mehrens, Working Partnerships USA and Silicon Valley Rising
• Lisa Donner, Americans for Financial Reform
• Malini Cadambi-Daniel, Service Employees International Union

3:00 pm     Winning in 2020: Key Policies on the Federal and State Stages

• Andre Oliver, James Irvine Foundation (Moderator)
• Adam Mason, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement
• Margarida Jorge, Health Care Action Now
• Wendy Chun-Hoon, Family Values @ Work
• Sandeep Vaheesan, Open Markets Institute

4:30 pm    Closing

4:45 pm    Adjourn

Day 2: Tuesday, March 24

10:45 am     Welcome & Reflections

11:00 am     Keynote

• Stephanie Luce, CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies
• Manisha Vaze, Neighborhood Funders Group's Funders for a Just Economy (Moderator)

12:00pm     Transformational Strategies and Freedom Dreams

• José García, Ford Foundation (Moderator)
• Ed Whitfield, Fund for Democratic Communities
• Alice Aguilar, Progressive Technology Project
• Erica Smiley, Jobs with Justice
• Samantha Winslow, Labor Notes

2:00 pm    Emergency Action to Protect Workers Amidst the Coronavirus Crisis

• Roxana Tynan, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE)
• Nadia Marin-Molina, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)
• Nafisah Ula, Jobs with Justice

4:00 pm    State of Labor and Keynote

• Damon Silvers, AFL-CIO

This event is offered free of charge and open to foundations, donor collaborative representatives, and invited guests only. Due to the sensitivity of the materials that will be presented and the strategy discussions, we can only accept registrations from participants that have a demonstrated history and commitment to racial, social, economic, or gender justice in the United States.