The What’s the Big Idea? Lecture Series is designed to expand our understanding about conditions, causes, consequences, and solutions regarding social equity and opportunity.

The 2007-2008 What’s the Big Idea? Lecture Series Included:

• Maya Wiley - Moving Forward: An Inclusive Agenda for Sustainability

• Jared Bernstein - Prospects for a New Economy: Beyond Crunch Economics and the Squeeze on Working America

• Daniel Kemmis - Is the Presidency Over-rated?

• Rajiv Bhatia - Planning for Health: Health Impact Assessments as a Tool to Make Cities More Livable

• Andy Stern - America: A Country of Greed or Greatness?

• Marion Wright Edelman – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute

• Michael Shellenberger - Breakthrough: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility

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We concluded the 2007-2008 What’s the Big Idea? Lecture Series on May 28th with this event featuring Maya Wiley, founder and director of the Center for Social Inclusion a research and advocacy organization that works to build a fair and just society. A graduate of Columbia University School of Law, Ms. Wiley has worked in national and international settings and is a contributing author to Growing Smarter: Achieving Livable Communities, Environmental Justice and Regional Equity (2007).

Maya’s talk was the capstone to a daylong summit, “Planning for Opportunity: An Inclusive Agenda for Sustainability” - the Coalition for a Livable Future’s Sixth Annual Regional Livability Summit, co-hosted this year by SEOF and the Sidney Lezak Project and attended by over 300 people.

Following Ms. Wiley's presentation, a panel of community leaders from diverse sectors shared their perspectives on moving an equity agenda forward in our region. Panelists included: Sam Brooks, Portland Business Alliance and Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs; Barbara Dudley, Working Family and Hatfield School of Government; Michael Jordon, COO Metro; Chuck Sheketoff, Oregon Center for Public Policy; and Jeri Williams, City of Portland, Office of Neighborhood Involvement.

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April 28th

Prospects for a New Economy: Beyond Crunch Economics and the Squeeze on Working America

Author-economist Jared Bernstein shed light on current economic conditions and offered specific solutions for the future. Bernstein demystifies economics, and helped us understand the state of working America, the policies assaulting the Middle Class, implications of growing inequality, and steps necessary to build an economy that works for all of us, not just the chosen few.

Bernstein is a senior economist and director of the Living Standards Program at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC. A leading authority on issues of labor and income inequality, he frequently testifies on Capitol Hill and advises members of Congress on economic policy. Co-author of eight editions of The State of Working America, he is also the author of All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy, a weekly commentator on CNBC, a regular source for media outlets such as NPR and the New York Times, and host of the bi-weekly podcast EconoCorner.

This lecture was co-sponsored by the Oregon Center for Public Policy, the Sidney Lezak Project, and PSU’s Center for Academic Excellence.

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April 2nd

Is the Presidency Over-Rated?

SEOF co-sponsored with the College of Urban & Public Affairs’ Hatfield School of Government and the National Policy Consensus Center, Daniel Kemmis - a senior fellow at The University of Montana’s Center for the Rocky Mountain West. Mr. Kemmis was formerly Mayor of Missoula, Montana, and a former Speaker and Minority Leader of the Montana House of Representatives. Mr. Kemmis serves on the Board of Directors of Philanthropy Northwest and the Missoula Redevelopment Agency. He is Chair of the Board of the Northwest Area Foundation and Chair of the Program Committee of the Kettering Foundation Board of Trustees.

During a time of inundating presidential election coverage, Mr. Kemmis challenged us to ask whether a healthy democracy should put so much emphasis on one particular office. Is the “imperial presidency” itself a threat to democracy? Should we be trying to spread power more evenly between branches and across jurisdictions?

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February 27th

Planning for Health: Health Impact Assessments as a Tool to Make Cities More Livable

Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, MD, MPH, discussed Health Impact Assessment (HIA) as a tool for bridging planning and community health interests. Through research and practice, Dr. Bhatia has emerged as one of the nation’s foremost experts on the use of HIA and the intersection of planning, policy, and health. He nimbly discussed a range of social determinants of health - covering topics as diverse as housing, green industry, food access, neighborhood design, and transportation. Dr. Bhatia’s insights drew from his experience working for the City of San Francisco, the non-profit Human Impact Partners, and his practice as a physician.

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January 28th

America: A Country of Greed or Greatness?

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January 17th

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tribute

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November 1st, 2007

Breakthrough: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility

SEOF’s inaugural event in the “What’s the Big Idea?” lecture series drew a crowd of over 180 people. Michael Shellenberger, co-author of Breakthrough: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility delivered a provocative, inspiring talk suggesting that global climate change must be addressed in ways that spur economic development and social justice.

For inquiries about any of these events, please contact Rod Johnson at 503-725-4044 or rod@pdx.edu