Agenda-At-A-Glance
9:00am - 10:15am
OPENING PLENARY SESSION - Grand Ballroom
Leveraging Social Capital Networks to Advance Economic Mobility
Can an individual's social network be a factor in their ability to earn more and achieve the American Dream? Can socially connected communities provide a pathway out of poverty? This session will explore economic connectedness and its association with upward mobility. This session will also discuss the relationship between upward mobility and other factors like racial segregation and poverty. This session will end with recommendations on how communities can leverage social networks to help families who are experiencing poverty advance economically.
Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Raj Chetty: Professor of Public Economics at Harvard University and Director of Opportunity Insights
Panelist:
Dr. Camille Bussette: Director - Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative, Brookings Institute
Moderators:Mr. Scott Hansel: Chief Executive Officer, Community Partners of South Florida
10:30am - 11:30am
Safety and Justice - Ballroom C
Barred from Employment: Promoting Criminal Justice Policy Reform to Promote Economic Mobility
Some policies promoted within the criminal justice system adversely impacts an individual's ability to obtain gainful employment. When a person is imprisoned, family members may struggle to make ends meet and children struggle mentally and emotionally causing an enormous amount of stress on the family unit. Returning citizens experience even more stress when attempting to reintegrate into society. This session will uncover ways to eliminate barriers to economic mobility so that families can thrive economically during and after an interaction with the criminal justice system.
Ms. Sarah Couture: Florida State Director, Fines and Fees Justice Center
Ms. Regenia Herring: Executive Director, Palm Beach County Criminal Justice Commission
Mr. Orie Bullard: Director, Reentry Center, City of Riviera Beach
Moderator: Ms. Jessica Hildago: Program Manager, Reentry Center, Palm Beach County Public Safety
10:30am - 11:30am
Health and Wellness - Ballroom A
Taking the Long View: Using Health as a Lever to Advance Economic Mobility
The Health and wellness of a person can significantly impact their ability to gain and/or maintain employment. Individuals with poor health are more likely to experience poverty; those who are employed often do not get paid when they miss work due to an illness. Many families struggle to pay for medical care which perpetuates a cycle of mental anguish and emotional distress. This session will focus on innovative strategies to promote health and wellness while aligning policies and institutional practices to enhance opportunities for economic mobility.
Mr. Mighty Fine: Director, Center for Public Health Practice and Professional Development, American Public Health Association Moderator: Mrs. Andrea Stephenson Royster: Chief Executive Officer, Health Council of Southeast Florida
10:30am - 11:30am
Food and Hunger - Ballroom B
Food and Economics: Leveraging the Food System to Promote Economic Mobility
Key stakeholders within Palm Beach County are engaging in a new endeavor to alleviate the hunger needs of impoverished families, whereby improving their ability to gain and maintain employment. This comprehensive hunger relief strategy could also create opportunities for entrepreneurship in the food and hunger space. This session will share insights on recent efforts to enhance the county's food infrastructure and ways it could help promote economic mobility for individuals and families.
Panelists:
Florence French Fagan: Southeast Senior State Organizer, Bread for the World
Ms. Jamie Kendall: Chief Executive Officer, Palm Beach County Food Bank
Ms. SueJay Collins: Southeast Regional Economic Self-Sufficiency Program Manager, Department of Children and Families
Moderator:
Terri Shermett: Vice President of Hunger Relief, United Way of Palm Beach County
10:30am - 11:30am
Employment - Room 2EF
Intentional Relationships: Improving Pathways for Upward Mobility for Low-earning workers
Families experiencing poverty have limited social and human capital to support their opportunities to advance economically. Research has shown that these social networks can significantly improve an individual's prospect to become financially independent. This workshop will explore evidence-based models that can help families build social capital, whereby enhancing pathways for employment and opportunities to advance economically.
Panelists:
Dr. Camille Bussette: Director - Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative, Brookings Institute
Ms. Kamatara Johnson: Executive Director, Circles USA
Moderator:
Ms. Kemberly Bush: Chief Executive Officer, Pathways to Prosperity
12:00pm - 1:15pm
Lunch Panel - Grand Ballroom
Land of Opportunity: Place, Race and Economic Mobility Rates of upward mobility vary substantially based on where children grow up; low-income families are segregated into lower-opportunity areas. Oftentimes, communities of color, limited to specific zip codes throughout Palm Beach County, struggle with poverty and economic mobility. This plenary session will explore how a person's zip code and race can impact their future. The session will close with action items organizations can implement to be a catalyst for change.
Panelists:
Dr. Camille Busette: Director - Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative, Brookings Institute
Mr. Josh Kirschenbaum: Chief Operating Officer, PolicyLink
Moderators:
Marsha Guthrie: Deputy Director of Network Strategies, Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE) at Race Forward
1:30pm - 2:30pm
Childcare - Ballroom C
For the Public Good: Investing in Childcare to Promote Economic Mobility
The lack of affordable, quality childcare is a significant barrier to employment for parents of young children. When parents are unemployed or out of the labor force, it is more challenging for them to move up the economic ladder. Furthermore, substantial research demonstrates that accessible high-quality childcare positively affects childhood growth, physical development and health, cognitive, behavioral, and school outcomes; thus, lack of such child care access limits the child’s future economic mobility. This session will focus on strategies to enhance childcare supports to help individuals advance economically.
Panelists:
Mr. Warren Eldridge: Chief Executive Officer, Early Learning Coalition
Dr. Julian Serrano: Executive Director, Head Start Palm Beach County
Dr. Herman Knopf: Senior Research Scientist, University of Florida
Dr. Michele Watson: Chief Executive Officer, Florida Alliance of Children's Councils & Trusts
Moderator:
Mr. Randy Palo: Director of Programs, Children’s Services Council
1:30pm - 2:30pm
Housing - Room 2EF
Housing and Opportunity: Best Practices for Addressing Housing Barriers to Advance Family Economic Mobility
Housing is a significant driver for economic mobility. There are a number of efforts currently underway to increase the availability of affordable housing throughout Palm Beach County. This workshop will discuss housing strategies that can improve access to affordable housing supports and will share policy recommendations that can help families advance economically
Panelists:
Ms. Wendy Tippett: Director of Human Services and Community Action: Palm Beach County Community Services Department
Dr. Philip Lewin: Professor of Sociology, Florida Atlantic University
Ms. Chantelle Wilkinson: Campaign Manager for Opportunity Starts at Home, National Low-Income Housing Coalition
Moderator:
Sherry Howard: Deputy Director, Palm Beach County Department of Housing & Economic Development
1:30pm - 2:30pm
Education = Ballroom B
Opening the Door: Educations' Role in Earnings, Employment, and Economic Mobility
Education is a clear pathway to upward economic mobility. In today’s high-tech world, highly skilled labor is in demand, and increasingly, an education or technical certification beyond high school is viewed as a requisite for earning an adequate standard of living. This workshop will discuss the relationship between education and economic mobility and will share strategies and policy recommendations that will maximize opportunities for impoverished families to advance economically.
Panelists:
Mr. Keith Oswald: Chief of Equity and Wellness, School District of Palm Beach County
President Ava Parker: President, Palm Beach State College
Rachel Hirsch:Vice President, State Strategies & Policy Relations at Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL)
Tiffney Marley:Senior Vice President, Practice Transformation, National Community Action Partnership
Moderator:
Mr. Michael Corbit:Vice President, CareerSource Palm Beach County
1:30pm - 2:30pm
TRANSPORTATION - Ballroom A
Getting Around to Get Ahead: The Role of Transportation in Fostering Economic Mobility
Lack of reliable transportation can prevent individuals from gaining or maintaining employment. Furthermore, transportation is the second largest expense for American households, costing more than food, clothing and sometimes healthcare. In this session, we will discuss the critical impact transportation has on a family’s ability to advance economically and share ways that key stakeholders are promoting upward mobility through transportation policy.
Panelists:
Mr. Andrew Uhlir: TPA Deputy Director of Programs, Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency
Mr. Joshua Pedersen: Interim Senior Director, 211, United Way Worldwide
Mr. Clinton Forbes: Executive Director, Palm Tran
Moderator:
Sharon L'Herrou: President and Chief Executive Officer, 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast
2:45pm - 3:45pm
CLOSING PLENARY SESSION - Grand Ballroom
TECHNOLOGY - Grand Ballroom
Opportunity Accelerator: Advancing Economic Mobility Through Technology
This session will discuss the use of technology and system integration to improve access to health and human service supports. It will also discuss ways that the county's workforce development organization uses technology to identify industry trends and to match unemployed and underemployed skills with future job opportunities. Finally, this session will highlight ways that communities can use broadband as a tool to advance economic mobility.
Panelists:
Taruna Malhotra: Deputy Director, Palm Beach County Community Services Department
Peter Pignataro: Manager of Performance Analysis, CareerSource of Palm Beach County
Jaime Lee-Bradshaw: Chief Strategy Officer, Community Partners of South Florida
Moderator:
Mr. Eric Kelly: President, Quantum Foundation
