FCCP Annual Winter Convening - Reassessing the Political Moment: Strategies for the Road Ahead

Monday, December 7th – Wednesday, December 9th at the Pew Charitable Trusts | Washington, DC
REGISTER TODAY!

The registration deadline has been extended to Wednesday, November 25th.
The Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) is pleased to invite you to join colleagues from across the country, December 7th to December 9th, at our winter convening Reassessing the Political Moment: Strategies for the Road Ahead. Our three days together will offer civic engagement grantmakers the opportunity to learn about best practices and lessons from 2008, analyze the new political context of our work and explore priorities and strategies as we prepare for the mid-term elections, 2010 Decennial Census, redistricting, and pressing national and state issue campaigns.

Provocative guest speakers including keynote speakers, Lani Guinier, law professor and author of The Miners Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy, and Drew Westen, author of The Political Brain, will share their insights and expertise to inform our conversations and stimulate new ways to look at a range of interconnected civic participation issues.

Please see the full agenda below.
Please note that this conference is open to funders only.
Registration is $335 for FCCP members and $395 for non-members. To register, please follow this link .

Hotel: There may be a few rooms still available at the recently-opened W Hotel (formerly Hotel Washington) at a discounted rate of $269 per night for FCCP convening attendees. To inquire if a room is still available at this rate, please call Nanci FCCP at 503.505.5703. The W Hotel is located at 515 15th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20004.

We look forward to seeing you December 7th – 9th in Washington, D.C. at the beautiful new offices of the Pew Charitable Trusts!

AGENDA

Monday, December 7th
W Hotel | 515 15th St. NW | Washington, DC 20004 | 202.661.2400

6:00 – 8:30pm Opening Dinner

Welcoming Remarks:
• Allison Barlow, FCCP Co-Chair

Introduction:
• Thomasina Williams, Program Officer, Democracy, Rights and Justice Program, Ford Foundation

Keynote Speaker:
• Lani Guinier, Bennet Boskey Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, and author of The Miners Canary: Enlisting Race, Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy

Tuesday, December 8th
Pew Charitable Trusts | 901 E Street NW | Washington, DC 20004 | 202.552.2000

8:00 – 8:30am Breakfast

8:30 – 9:00am Welcome, Overview & Introductions:
• Michael Caudell-Feagan, Deputy Director, Pew Center on the States, and FCCP Co-chair
• Deb Ross, Executive Director, FCCP

9:00 – 10:15am Lessons from 2008: Pointing the Way Forward

Moderator:
• Geri Mannion, Program Director, U.S. Democracy and the Special Opportunities Fund, Carnegie Corporation of New York

Speakers:
• Tom Novick, Executive Vice President, M+R Strategic Services
• Melissa Michelson, California Votes Initiative and Visiting Faculty Fellow, Stanford University Research Institute for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity

10:15 – 10:30am Break

10:30 – 12:00pm Strategies for the Road Ahead: Mobilizing on the Ground in 2010

Moderator:
• Adrianne Shropshire, Senior Program Officer, New World Foundation

Speakers:
• Lisa Abbott, Director of Organizing and Leadership Development, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
• Ryan Friedrichs, Executive Director, State Voices
• Gihan Perera, Executive Director, Miami Workers Center
• Karla Zombro, Training Director, California Alliance

12:00 – 1:00pm Lunch

1:00 – 1:30pm Spotlight on Campaign Finance Reform

Speaker:
• Dick Durbin, U.S. Senator from Illinois (invited)

1:30 – 2:00pm Innovative Funding Strategy: the Joyce Foundation and the Midwest Democracy Network

Speaker:
• Larry Hansen, Vice President, Joyce Foundation

2:00 – 2:15pm Break

2:15 – 3:15pm Delving Deeper into Democracy Issues I (concurrent sessions)

Youth Civic Engagement (concurrent session)

Moderator:
• Ashindi Maxton, Director of Research & Special Opportunities,
Democracy Alliance

Speakers:
• Cathy Cohen, David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science and former Director, Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago; Principal Investigator, Black Youth Project
• Biko Baker, Executive Director, League of Young Voters (invited)

Election Administration Issues at the Forefront (concurrent session)

Moderator:
• Cedric Brown, Director, Mitchell Kapor Foundation (invited)

Speakers:
• Doug Chapin, Director of Election Initiatives, Pew Center on the States
• Susannah Goodman, Director of Voting and Election Reform, Common Cause

Innovations in Technology (concurrent session)

Moderator:
• Molly Schultz Hafid, Program Officer, Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock

Speakers:
• Judith Freeman, Executive Director, New Organizing Institute
• Arif Mamdani, Executive Director, Progressive Technology Project

3:15 – 4:05pm   Was the ’08 Election an Aberration? The Plight of the Drop-Off Voter and Insights from November 2009

Moderator:
• Michael Caudell-Feagan, Deputy Director, Pew Center on the States

Speakers:
• Celinda Lake, President, Lake Research (invited)
• Bill McInturff, Partner and Co-Founder, Public Opinion Strategies (invited)

4:05 – 5:10pm  Delving Deeper into Democracy Issues II (concurrent sessions)

Leadership Development (concurrent session)

Moderator:
• Scott Nielsen, Consultant, McKay Foundation

Speakers:
• Ng’ethe Maina, Executive Director, Social Justice Leadership
• Tracy Sturdivant, Vice President of External Affairs, Center for Progressive Leadership

Preparing for Redistricting (concurrent session)

Speakers:
• Kristen Clarke, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (invited)
• Michael McDonald, Associate Professor, Government and Politics in the Public and International Affairs, George Mason University and Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution (invited)

5:10 – 6:00pm Voting Rights under the Obama Administration

Introduction:
• Cristobal Josh Alex, Program Officer, Democracy and Power Fund, Open Society Institute

Keynote Speaker:
• Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice

6:15 – 7:30pm Reception @ Zola Restaurant | 800 F Street, NW | Washington, DC

Wednesday, December 9th
Pew Charitable Trusts | 901 E Street NW | Washington, DC 20004 | 202.552.2000

8:30 – 9:00am Breakfast

9:00 – 10:00am FCCP Membership Meeting

10:00 – 10:15am Break

10:15 – 12:15pm Closing Keynote & Plenary

Introduction and Moderator:
• Latonya Slack, Senior Program Officer, California Democracy, James Irvine Foundation

Keynote Speaker:
• Drew Westen, Author, The Political Brain

Plenary Speakers:
• Tarso Ramos, Executive Director, Political Research Associates
• Pramila Jayapal, Executive Director, One America (invited)
• Karen Nussbaum, Executive Director, Working America

12:15 – 12:30pm Close
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