2012 Luminaries:
Akhil Reed Amar   Professor of Law, Yale
Reclaiming the Constitution   Saturday
The Constitution is at the center of many of today’s most consequential political arguments. In this workshop, learn from acclaimed author and Yale Law School professor Akhil Amar how to read and interpret the Constitution – and how to activate the power of this seminal text of America’s civic religion.
Akhil Reed Amar is the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale where he teaches constitutional law. A Legal Affairs poll placed Amar among the top 20 contemporary US legal thinkers. He is the award-winning author of numerous publications and books, including The Constitution and Criminal Procedure: First Principles, The Bill of Rights: Creation and Reconstruction, and America's Constitution: A Biography. The Supreme Court has cited his work in over 20 cases, including the landmark 1998 decision in Clinton v. City of New York, which ruled the presidential line-item veto unconstitutional. http://www.law.yale.edu/faculty/AAmar.htm
Rahul Bhargava   MIT Center for Civic Media
Data Therapy   Saturday
Got data? Tired of using the same old bar charts to tell your story? You need some Data Therapy! Join MIT Media Lab researcher Rahul Bhargava for an interactive workshop on making creative and compelling civic presentations of data. We will cover: a process for picking appropriate data presentation techniques; real-world examples of various creative techniques; online tools to help you while designing your presentation; "group therapy" time to brainstorm about your specific needs.
Rahul Bhargava creates civic technologies, playful websites, explanatory data visualizations, award-winning educational museum exhibits, and interactive robots. He has led workshops on a number of topics across three continents, leading to a special interest in finding ways to build technologies and experiences that meet the disparate needs of varying communities and cultures. Rahul is currently working on a variety of technologies to support community building and engagement as a Civic Technology Specialist at the MIT Center for Civic Media. http://civic.mit.edu/team/rahul-bhargava
John Bransford   Professor, UW College of Education
Teaching for In-Depth Learning: A Project-Based Approach   Saturday
In-depth learning, and the skills and mindsets for achieving it, are essential for personal success, citizenship and life-long learning. The Knowledge in Action Research Group at the UW College of Education is working with teachers to design a new educational approach guided by five principles: rigorous projects as the spine of the course, quasi-repetitive project cycles (looping), engagement first, teachers as co-designers, and an eye for scalability. This workshop is perfect for anyone who wants to teach project-based courses on any topic. You’ll work interactively to practice some of these principles with a small group of high school students, while working on a collaborative exploration of a real world environmental issue.
An internationally renowned scholar in cognition and technology, Dr. John D. Bransford holds the Shauna C. Larson Endowed Chair in Learning Sciences at the University of Washington College of Education in Seattle, Washington and is also Founding Director of The Learning in Informal and Formal Environments (LIFE) Center, an National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Learning Center. Among many other accomplishments, Dr. Bransford co-edited Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do (2005). His work seeks to understand and advance human learning and guide the design of effective new technologies and learning environments. http://faculty.washington.edu/bransj/
Andrea Brenneke   Attorney, Restorative Circles Facilitator
Restorative Circles   Friday
Experience Restorative Circles – the restorative justice practice that empowers communities to engage conflicts that would otherwise divide them, increases mutual understanding, provides safety, ensures accountability, and enables effective collective problem solving. The Restorative Circle process, developed in Brazil by Dominic Barter, provides the foundation for restorative justice systems in families, organizations, schools, court systems, and communities around the world. In this workshop, you will learn the elements, principles and structure of the Restorative Circle process, engage in exercises to experience parts of the practice, engage a real conflict in a semi-simulated circle, and explore the value of introducing these practices in your own communities.
Andrea Brenneke is a graduate of Harvard Law School with nearly twenty years of experience in civil rights and employment litigation and mediation at MacDonald Hoague & Bayless in Seattle. She learned the Restorative Circles practice from its founder and in the immediate aftermath of a Seattle police officer's fatal shooting of John T. Williams, a First Nations wood carver, she facilitated a Restorative Circle between police, the family and community. As part of Compassionate Seattle’s ten year campaign, she is part of a team cultivating a restorative justice system in Seattle to empower us to address the most painful and important conflicts of our day. http://my.compassionateactionnetwork.com/profile/RestorativeCirclesSeattle
Kristen Cambell   Chief Program Officer, National Conference on Citizenship
Saturday Breakfast Session   Saturday
Civic behaviors such as political involvement, giving, and volunteering create greater flow of information, trust, and connection in communities. Therefore, a community cannot be socially or economically healthy unless its citizens participate fully in civic life. This session will present NCoC research demonstrating this theory, and engage audience in a discussion on the findings, their motivators, and their implications for communities. A light breakfast will be provided.
Kristen is Chief Program Officer at NCoC, where she develops and implements all programs including the Annual Conference, NCoC.net, and the Civic Health Index portfolio. Kristen was previously at the Case Foundation where she was involved in major programs including the Make It Your Own Awards grant program, focused on using citizen–centered dialogue to create community change; America's Giving Challenge, an initiative which used Web 2.0 and social media tools as platforms for online donations to non-profits; and Social Citizens, which took an in–depth look at how a new generation of leaders use digital tools to create social change.
John Collins   Founder, Elevator Repair Service
The Art of Citizenship   Saturday
John Collins and his groundbreaking theater company Elevator Repair Service have made an art form of converting old texts into thrilling new public experiences. Here Collins and his colleagues share their acclaimed methods for making public art and art public – and, in the process, remaking civic life.
John Collins is the director and founder Elevator Repair Service Theater (ERS), one of New York’s most highly-acclaimed experimental theater companies. The group's theater pieces are built around a broad range of subject matter and literary forms. They combine elements of slapstick comedy, hi-tech and lo-tech design, both literary and found text, and the group's own highly developed style of choreography. Among many other honors, John is the recipient of a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship in Drama and Performance Art, and in 2011 received the Lucile Lortel Award for Outstanding Director and the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director. http://elevator.org/
Allison Cook   Director of Special Initiatives, The Story of Stuff Project
Consumers or Citizens: How to Rewrite The Story of Stuff   Saturday
From the moment of birth, Americans are bombarded with messages that elevate the consumer part of our identity relative to all others, including our citizen-selves. Surveys show an increasing commercialization of our culture and a simultaneous decrease in civic literacy and engagement. Not surprisingly, change efforts—from conscious consuming to boycotts—often reflect this cultural emphasis on shopping. In this interactive session, you will dissect two campaign approaches—one consumer-centered, the other citizen-centered—and reflect on their relative effectiveness at change making. Can we buy our way out of the environmental and social mess we’re in? Can we flex enough citizen muscle to rewrite The Story of Stuff?
Allison Cook designs the media, outreach and advocacy strategies for the Story of Stuff Project’s widely acclaimed online movies, most recently for The Story of Citizens United v. FEC and The Story of Broke. The Project’s longest serving staff person, Allison managed the production of several successful offline learning tools, including a curriculum for high school students and a study guide for faith communities. Prior to joining the Story of Stuff Project team, Allison worked with the Sustainability Funders workgroup and the Funders Network on Transforming the Global Economy. She also currently volunteers as a medic with the Berkeley Free Clinic. www.storyofstuff.org
Katie Davis   Project Manager, Harvard Project Zero
Good Digital Citizenship   Saturday
In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore the civic rights and responsibilities associated with digital life, drawing on the methods and key findings from the GoodPlay Project, a Harvard research project investigating the ethical dimensions of young people’s digital media use. We’ll explore activities designed for middle and high school students to encourage reflection and discussion around the distinct ethical challenges associated with online life. Leave the workshop with strategies for promoting digital citizenship, as well as a keener sense of your own digital rights and responsibilities.
Katie Davis is a Project Manager at Harvard Project Zero, where she works with Dr. Howard Gardner and colleagues on a number of projects investigating the relationship between young people’s digital media use and their moral, ethical, and civic lives. The GoodPlay Project explores the distinct ethical issues that youth face online and the habits of mind they bring to bear when confronted with these issues. The Good Participation Project investigates the civic qualities of youth’s digital media practices and the extent to which these practices signal a meaningful shift in the way young people become civically engaged. http://pzweb.harvard.edu/research/GoodWork.htm
Dan Dixon   Vice President, External Affairs, Swedish Medical Center
Creating Healthy Communities: a Story of Corporate Citizenship   Saturday
This workshop is a great primer for anyone interested in how good corporate citizenship contributes to the vibrancy of communities. In response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Swedish Medical Center developed a Community Needs Assessment that became the cornerstone of a clinic providing specialty care for the uninsured in King County. Through partnerships with non-profits and foundations, over 300 Physicians and Dentists are now providing no-cost care for the underserved at this clinic. In this workshop, you will learn how to develop your own Community Needs Assessment, and discuss how to create a vibrant, evolving network of partner organizations to meet a need in your community.
Dan Dixon coordinates public policy and legislative activity for Swedish, works closely with the Washington State Hospital Association and other health-care systems, and oversees corporate communications, marketing, business development, primary care and community outreach. He was the state of Alaska's first director of international trade and investment and practiced law for many years with the firm of Foster Pepper and Shefelman. Dan currently serves as Trustee for Central Washington University, Seattle Public Library, and is also on the Board of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.
Mickey Edwards   Vice President, Aspen Institute
Saturday Closing Panel   Saturday
Mickey Edwards served in the US Congress for 16 years, during which time he was a senior member of the House Republican leadership as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, a member of both the House Appropriations and Budget committees, and ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Foreign Operations. Edwards has chaired task forces on foreign policy for The Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations, has been an adviser to the State Department and has taught at Harvard and Georgetown University. He is currently a lecturer at Princeton and vice president of the Aspen Institute, and is an author, columnist and commentator.
Warren Etheredge   Host, The Warren Report and The High Bar
Journalism and Citizenship Panel   Thursday
Details coming soon.
Warren Etheredge didn't speak until he was 6 years old; he's been going strong ever since. He hosts The High Bar, the award-winning weekly television series devoted to “raising the bar” through conversation with people who care about culture that matters. As the founder of The Warren Report, he promotes "slow culture" through commentary, outreach, events and education. Additionally, Warren is one of the founding faculty of TheFilmSchool, served for six years as the Curator for the 1 Reel Film Festival (at Bumbershoot, Seattle) and before that, worked for the Seattle International Film Festival. http://thewarrenreport.com/
Jessyn Farrell   Activist and Mediator
Making the Pie Bigger   Saturday
Bikes vs. Cars! Taxpayers vs. Teachers! Jobs vs. the Environment! Our civic dialogue is increasingly characterized by “us vs. them” statements and fights over ever dwindling public resources. But can civil society – and a functioning democracy -- survive when we see our neighbors and fellow citizens as adversaries? In this high-energy workshop you will practice advocacy techniques that make space for dialogue, connection, creativity and ultimately, social change. Through games and role-playing, you'll learn how to build coalitions and deliver your message in a way that makes the pie bigger for all of us.
Jessyn Farrell is an expert in building public consensus on major infrastructure projects. As Executive Director of Transportation Choices Coalition, she led the advocacy, messaging and coalition-building strategy to break through gridlocked “roads vs. transit” debate, unleashing over $25 billion in bus, rail, bike and pedestrian investments in Washington State. As a mediator, facilitator, and activist, she played a key role in developing community consensus for the I-90 light rail extension, the Alaskan Way Viaduct Replacement, Sound Transit's successful 2008 ballot package, and the 2005 Transportation Partnership Package. Most recently, for Pierce Transit, Jessyn developed a community-based plan for major transit service reductions. Jessyn has also worked for Washington Public Interest Research Group, Americorps, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, Netherlands. http://www.mediationservices.net/jessyn
Marc Freedman   Founder and CEO, Civic Ventures
Taking Your Biggest Idea to Scale   Saturday
Nearly 10,000 people a day are turning 60, as the Boomers move beyond midlife and longevity continues to grow. Mostly this transformation is portrayed as a drain on society, and a mounting source of generational tension. Less well recognized is a new movement of individuals using their accumulated experience to launch what Purpose Prize creator Marc Freedman calls "Encore careers" aimed at solving the biggest problems facing the nation and the planet. Learn from these Encore pioneers and innovators about how to mobilize a generation - and how to turn a trend into a movement.
Panel discussion, The Power of Movements   Friday
Marc Freedman is founder and CEO of Civic Ventures. He spearheaded creation of Experience Corps, one of America’s largest nonprofit national service programs engaging people over 55, and The Purpose Prize, which annually provides five $100,000 prizes to social innovators in the second half of life. He is author of four books including The Big Shift: Navigating the New Stage Beyond Midlife, and The Kindness of Strangers: Adult Mentors, Urban Youth, and the New Voluntarism. The Wall Street Journal states, “In the past decade, Mr. Freedman has emerged as a leading voice in discussions nationwide about the changing face of retirement.” http://www.encore.org/about
Rodrigo Garcia   Assistant Director, Illinois Department of Veterans
Power of Movements Panel   Friday
At age 29, Rodrigo Garcia is second-in-command over an agency with nearly 1300 employees, numerous facilities throughout the state and a critical mission to support Illinois' 1.2 million veterans. Mr. Garcia served overseas on three separate occasions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom and earned multiple decorations including the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with a Gold Star in lieu of a second award. Moreover, Mr. Garcia serves as the Chairman of the Board for both the Student Veterans of America and the National Hispanic Life Sciences Society. Today, Mr. Garcia helps champion the plight of veterans and remains a pillar of the Latino community.
Tom Gibbon   Project Manager, Swedish Medical Center External Affairs
Creating Healthy Communities: a Story of Corporate Citizenship   Saturday
This workshop is a great primer for anyone interested in how good corporate citizenship contributes to the vibrancy of communities. In response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Swedish Medical Center developed a Community Needs Assessment that became the cornerstone of a clinic providing specialty care for the uninsured in King County. Through partnerships with non-profits and foundations, over 300 Physicians and Dentists are now providing no-cost care for the underserved at this clinic. In this workshop, you will learn how to develop your own Community Needs Assessment, and discuss how to create a vibrant, evolving network of partner organizations to meet a need in your community.
Tom Gibbon is Project Manager for Swedish Medical Center External Affairs Division and the Manager of the Swedish Community Specialty Clinic. He developed the Community Needs Assessment and Community Benefits Program for Swedish. Tom is Chairman of the Board of the Washington Free Clinic Association and has recently served on the Board of Directors for the Lifelong AIDS Alliance. He has worked at Swedish for the past 11 years and is committed to working with programs that focus on Washington State’s underserved and uninsured populations.
Mary Gordon   Founder and President, Roots of Empathy
Empathic Classrooms - Empathic Societies   Friday
Mary Gordon, educator and voice for more compassion and empathy in even the most hard-bitten political and civic contexts, is a treasure. Get a hands-on training in her unique, experiential approach to teaching empathy to citizens of all ages.
Mary Gordon is the Founder/President of Roots of Empathy, a citizen-sector organization that harnesses the power of the parent-infant relationship to build empathy in school children. To date, Roots of Empathy has reached over 450,000 children on three continents. Recognized internationally as an award-winning social entrepreneur, educator, author, child advocate and parenting expert, Gordon has presented and consulted to gatherings organized by institutions such as the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the World Health Organization and the United Nations. Gordon received the 2011 David E. Mitchell Award of Distinction, has had three audiences with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and was elected an Ashoka Fellow in 2002 and an Ashoka Globalizer in 2011. http://www.rootsofempathy.org/en/who-we-are/mary.html
Susan H. Page   Artist, Innovation Institute, McColl Center for Visual Art
Using an Artist’s Tools to Chart Your Path   Saturday
Confused about how to be a good citizen? Perhaps, you must first ask -- how do you take care of yourself? Old ideas about the way life is “supposed” to be are useless. To peak and prosper, you must see with new eyes, tackle risks, face failure. Balance comes from integrating feelings, thoughts and actions to produce beautiful results – the wheelhouse of an artist’s life. In this session, you will work with artist Susan Harbage Page to dig deep, question myths and attack assumptions that hold you back. The day’s result will be your transformed perspective on life, work and meaningful community service.
Susan Harbage Page has exhibited internationally including Bulgaria, France, Italy, Israel, and China. Her work can be found in the Baltimore Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Israel Museum, and her fellowships include the North Carolina Arts Council, the Camargo Foundation, and the Fulbright Program. Her public art includes Crossing Over: A Floating Bridge, Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico and Handmade a municipal project for the Charlotte Area Transit System’s Light Rail Station. She teaches studio art and women’s studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and teaches creativity through the Innovation Institute. http://www.innovationatmccoll.org/
Nick Hanauer   Serial Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, Author and Activist
  Saturday
Nick Hanauer is a Seattle-based serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author and activist with a knack for identifying and building transformative business models. Hanauer directs a significant portion of his time to social and policy issues. He coauthored The True Patriot and The Gardens of Democracy with Eric Liu and cofounded the True Patriot Network, a nonpartisan group committed to furthering patriotic ideals. He also cofounded the Washington State League of Education Voters (LEV), a nonpartisan statewide political organization focused on promoting public education, where he serves as co-president.
Rick Jackson   Center for Courage & Renewal
Healing the Heart of Democracy   Friday
This inspiring workshop is presented by Rick Jackson and Estrus Tucker, Center for Courage & Renewal. In this workshop we’ll actively explore “Five Habits of the Heart” we need to revitalize our democracy. We’ll discover practices and processes to form these habits in the everyday venues of our lives. Author/activist Parker Palmer, whose work is the wellspring of this workshop, writes: “For those of us who want to see democracy survive and thrive—and we are legion—the heart is where everything begins: that grounded place in each of us where we can overcome fear, rediscover that we are members of one another, and embrace the conflicts that threaten democracy...”
Rick Jackson is Co-Founder and Senior Fellow at the Center for Courage & Renewal where he focuses primarily on developing programs for leaders and partnerships and projects with kindred organizations. Rick has been facilitating Courage & Renewal® retreats since 1996 with people from diverse backgrounds and professions. http://www.couragerenewal.org/
Van Jones   Clean Energy Pioneer, Author
Keynote Address   Saturday
Van Jones is the Co-Founder and President of Rebuild the Dream and is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. Van is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and American Progress Action Fund, focusing on “green-collar jobs” and how cities are implementing job-creating climate solutions. Van is a co-founder of three successful non-profit organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green For All. He is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs: The Green-Collar Economy, and served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House in 2009. http://vanjones.net/
Gerda W. Klein   Celebrated Author, Holocaust Survivor and Proud Naturalized Citizen
Naturalization Ceremony   Friday
Gerda Weissmann Klein survived atrocities during the Holocaust, met her future husband on the day of her liberation in 1945, and journeyed to the United States, where her constant fight to promote tolerance, encourage community service and combat hunger continues to this day. Klein’s classic autobiography, All But My Life, has been in print for 54 years and is the foundation for the Oscar and Emmy-winning HBO documentary One Survivor Remembers. Among many other accomplishments, Gerda Klein was the keynote speaker at the United Nation’s First Annual Official Observance of the Holocaust in 2006, and was awarded the 2010 Presidential Medal of Freedom—the nation’s highest civilian honor. In 2008, Gerda founded Citizenship Counts, an organization whose mission is to educate today’s youth on the tenets of citizenship. "To perpetuate the miracle that is America we must teach our children about its rich history as a nation of immigrants who chose this country and have given meaning to its ideals.” citizenshipcounts.org
Gene Koo   Executive Director, iCivics
Using Technology to Teach Civics   Saturday
Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who spoke to us last year at Guiding Lights Weekend, has created iCivics.org, an online platform that has melded video games and civics education. In this hands-on workshop, the executive director of iCivics.org shares strategies and tools for empowering the first generation of ‘digital natives.’
Gene Koo, Executive Director of iCivics, has devoted his career to bringing innovation to educational and civic enterprises. Prior to iCivics, Gene developed new media to help nonprofit organizations connect with their grassroots constituencies. As a Fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society he brought Web-based innovation into law school classrooms and experimented with using virtual worlds for civic engagement. Gene also helped found the nation’s first online skills training program for legal aid attorneys. He holds a J.D. and a B.A. from Harvard. http://www.icivics.org/
David Korten   
To Change the Future: Break the Silence, End the Isolation, and Change the Story   Friday
In this workshop, we’ll reflect with best-selling author and global activist David Korten on the power of our defining cultural stories to hold society captive to the status quo or to unleash our individual and collective capacity for transformational system change. We’ll explore practical strategies for changing the human course by replacing destructive stories with liberating stories and share insights on how a focus on changing a prevailing story might be a key to success in our work as citizen activists.
David Korten is an author and engaged citizen focused on changing the cultural story from one of empire to one of a caring, cooperative Earth Community. He is co-founder/board chair of the Positive Futures Network, which publishes YES! Magazine, co-chair of the New Economy Working Group, founder/president of the Living Economies Forum, and a founding board member of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). His books include Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, and When Corporations Rule the World.
Annie Leonard   Co-Director, The Story of Stuff Project
Keynote Address   Friday
Panel discussion, The Power of Movements   Friday
Author and activist Annie Leonard is the Co-Director, with Michael O'Heaney, of The Story of Stuff Project. Annie's 20-minute movie, The Story of Stuff, takes viewers on a provocative and eye-opening tour of the often hidden costs of our consumer driven culture and has become one of the most successful environmental-themed viral films of all time. Prior to The Story of Stuff Project, Annie spent 2 decades working on international sustainability, environmental and health issues for organizations including Greenpeace International and GAIA. She traveled to 40 countries, visiting the factories where our stuff is made and the dumps where it is dumped. http://www.storyofstuff.org/
Lawrence Lessig   Author and Professor, Harvard
Fighting Corruption   Saturday
Cutting-edge activist, passionate educator, and acclaimed author Lawrence Lessig engages workshop participants in an exploration of how everyday Americans can reclaim their voice in a political arena dominated by big money.
A visionary whose influence extends across the worlds of technology, economics and politics, Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. His books include Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, and Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It. Lessig’s numerous awards include the Free Software Foundation's Freedom Award, Fastcase 50 Award and being named one of Scientific American's Top 50 Visionaries. http://www.lessig.org/
Eric Liu   Author, Founder of the Guiding Lights Network
  Friday
Eric Liu is an author, educator and civic entrepreneur. He’s the author of The Accidental Asian and Guiding Lights and co-author of Imagination First, The True Patriot and The Gardens of Democracy. He is the founder of the Guiding Lights Network, an organization dedicated to promoting great citizenship, and the True Patriot Network, dedicated to promoting progressive civic values. Eric served as a White House speechwriter and the deputy domestic policy adviser for President Clinton.
Eric lives in Seattle, where he teaches civics at the University of Washington and hosts the acclaimed television interview program "Seattle Voices". He serves on the boards of the Seattle Public Library, the League of Education Voters, and the Swedish Medical Center Foundation. He is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School, and a proud Seattle Public Schools parent.
http://www.guidinglightsnetwork.com/
Paul Loeb   Author, Soul of A Citizen
Keep On Keeping On   Friday
An antidote to powerlessness and despair, this session is designed for budding social activists, veteran organizers, and anyone who wants to live by their convictions and make a difference over the long haul. We will discuss how to keep on in the difficult work of change, tell your story powerfully, avoid burnout, draw in new participants and sustain engaged commitment. We will look at commonalities of successful social movements and focus on sharing participant's own stories of effective action, including how you and other participants have gotten past the inevitable obstacles.
Journalism and Citizenship Panel   Thursday
Paul Loeb has spent thirty-five years researching and writing about citizen responsibility and empowerment--asking what makes some people choose lives of social commitment, while others abstain. Paul Loeb is the author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time, and The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear, named the #3 political book by the History Channel and American Book Association, and winner of the Nautilus Award for best social change book. He's in demand as a lecturer and writer and has been interviewed on CNN, NPR, C-SPAN, NBC news, CBC, the BBC, and NPR. http://www.paulloeb.org/
Scott Macklin   Associate Director, Master of Communication in Digital Media, UW
Moving to Action Through Story   Saturday
Stories have always been the heartbeat through which communities are bound and the footsteps by which organizations bridge their mission to the outside world. With the advent of digital media and social technology, an organization now has the ability to create, disseminate, and thus challenge dominant modes of mass media. In this session, we’ll engage in community-centric storytelling for the digital age. We’ll practice transparency and authenticity, and work through the modes of production as means to convene community and move to action.
Journalism and Citizenship Panel   Thursday
Scott Macklin is the Associate Director of the Master of Communication in Digital Media program at the University of Washington. Scott seeks to create a rich infrastructure that supports innovation and collaboration through participatory media and community engagement. Scott is an award winning author, filmmaker and the Executive Producer the Four Peaks TV program - a monthly series that features interviews with leading media and technology visionaries. Scott uses social media as a powerful tool for building meaningful relationships that create opportunities to engage in acts of social justice. http://fourpeaks.org/
Shaniqua Manning   News Anchor, KING 5 TV
Emcee   Saturday
Shaniqua Manning anchors for NorthWest Cable News during the week and KING 5 News on the weekends. She joined NorthWest Cable News in April 2005 as a weekend anchor and midday co-anchor. Shaniqua also anchors the weekly NorthWest Families segment on NWCN, highlighting issues of importance to families in the region.
Previously, Shaniqua was an anchor for WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, NC. During her time with WXII Shaniqua focused on issues affecting children. Her reports on unlicensed day care providers and school bus dangers prompted changes in local policy and state legislation. Shaniqua has previously worked in 24 hour cable news as a reporter for NewsChannel 8 in Washington, D.C.
Courtney E. Martin   Writer, Editor, Changemaker
Writing for Social Change   Saturday
Are you ready to fully engage the power of your pen? Explore real techniques for writing op-ed letters, starting or refreshing your blog, and other tools for writers who are ready to create change. This workshop, led by one of the country’s most effective and engaged solutions-oriented journalists, will activate your values, sharpen your understanding, and give you powerful new skills.
Journalism and Citizenship Panel   Thursday
Courtney E. Martin is an author, blogger, and speaker. She is Editor Emeritus at Feministing.com and a Fellow at Dowser.com. Her most recent book is Project Rebirth: Survival and the Strength of the Human Spirit from 9/11 Survivors. She is also the author of Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists, and Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: How the Quest for Perfection is Harming Young Women. Courtney has appeared on the TODAY Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC, and The O’Reilly Factor, and is the recipient of the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics, a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Centre residency, and is a TED speaker. http://www.courtneyemartin.com/
Mark Meckler   Co-Founder, Tea Party Patriots
  Saturday
Mark has owned a variety of businesses, and has served legal clients across many industries including internet advertising law. Mark is a long-time registered “independent” voter and prior to helping launch the grassroots tea party movement, he was not politically active. He regularly brings the Tea Party Patriots perspective to television and news media including MSNBC, ABC, NBC, Fox News, CNN, BBC, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, L.A. Times, and local outlets nationwide. His first book "Tea Party Patriots, The Second American Revolution" will be released in 2012. His current focus is on teaching the Founder's concept of self-governance as it relates to America’s modern-day challenges.
Cheryl Miller   Director, WhatSoProudlyWeHail.org
Teaching Citizenship Through Story   Saturday
How can we produce citizens who are thoughtfully and knowledgeably attached to our country, devoted to its ideals, and eager to live an active civic life? Studying our documents and learning our history can surely help. But stories are even better. In this workshop, Cheryl will introduce participants to the whatsoproudlywehail.org curriculum and guide a discussion of Herman Melville's classic short story, "Bartleby, the Scrivener." You'll learn how stories can be used to enhance the education of citizens and how a pedagogical approach that stresses learning though inquiry can make primary sources come alive for students of all ages.
Panel discussion, The Power of Movements   Friday
Cheryl Miller is the director of WhatSoProudlyWeHail.org, a new educational resource about what it means to be an American. She also manages the Program on American Citizenship at the American Enterprise Institute. Previously, she worked as head news clerk and editorial researcher at the New York Times and as deputy director of research in the White House Office of Presidential Speechwriting. She is co-author of the AEI reports “Strengthening the Civic Mission of Charter Schools” (with Robin Lake) and “Contested Curriculum: How Teachers and Citizens View Civics Education” (with Daniel Lautzenheiser and Andrew Kelly ).
Sallie Neillie   Executive Director, Project Access Northwest
Creating Healthy Communities: a Story of Corporate Citizenship   Saturday
This workshop is a great primer for anyone interested in how good corporate citizenship contributes to the vibrancy of communities. In response to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Swedish Medical Center developed a Community Needs Assessment that became the cornerstone of a clinic providing specialty care for the uninsured in King County. Through partnerships with non-profits and foundations, over 300 Physicians and Dentists are now providing no-cost care for the underserved at this clinic. In this workshop, you will learn how to develop your own Community Needs Assessment, and discuss how to create a vibrant, evolving network of partner organizations to meet a need in your community.
Sallie Neillie founded Project Access Northwest in 2006 to improve access to needed specialty services for the low-income uninsured and underinsured. Since its inception, Project Access has served over 9,000 patients from all over King and Snohomish Counties. The specialty care services they received are valued at over $20 million dollars. By staying focused on the goal – appropriate and timely specialty care provided by a broad network of providers – Sallie and her organization continue to grow and are an important part of the local safety net. http://projectaccessnw.org/
Diem Nguyen   Director, Knowledge in Action Project
Teaching for In-Depth Learning: A Project-Based Approach   Saturday
In-depth learning, and the skills and mindsets for achieving it, are essential for personal success, citizenship and life-long learning. The Knowledge in Action Research Group at the UW College of Education is working with teachers to design a new educational approach guided by five principles: rigorous projects as the spine of the course, quasi-repetitive project cycles (looping), engagement first, teachers as co-designers, and an eye for scalability. This workshop is perfect for anyone who wants to teach project-based courses on any topic. You’ll work interactively to practice some of these principles with a small group of high school students, while working on a collaborative exploration of a real world environmental issue.
Dr. Diem Nguyen is the Director of the Knowledge in Action Project and is a Research Scientist at the LIFE Center at the University of Washington. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington in 2008. She has authored a forthcoming book, Vietnamese Immigrant Youth and Citizenship: How Race, Ethnicity, and Culture Shape Sense of Belonging and has coauthored peer-reviewed articles appearing in the American Educational Research Journal, the Journal of General Internal Medicine, and the Bilingual Review Journal. Her research interests include exploring issues of equity, diversity, and the quality of education for urban youth.
Michelle Nunn   CEO, Points of Light Institute
Panel discussion, The Power of Movements   Friday
At Points of Light Institute, Michelle Nunn leads the organization in engaging millions of volunteers each year to solve the pressing issues of our time. Michelle helped found HandsOn Atlanta in 1989, which has grown into the largest volunteer network in the country. She has served on the President’s Council on Service and Civic Engagement and as a co-convener of the Service Nation Coalition and Re-Imagining Service. Her awards include the Fast Company Social Capitalist Award and honorary degrees from Oglethorpe University and Wesleyan College. The NonProfit Times has named Michelle to its annual “Power and Influence Top 50” list for four consecutive years.
Michael O’Heaney   Co-Director, The Story of Stuff Project
Consumers or Citizens: How to Rewrite The Story of Stuff   Saturday
From the moment of birth, Americans are bombarded with messages that elevate the consumer part of our identity relative to all others, including our citizen-selves. Surveys show an increasing commercialization of our culture and a simultaneous decrease in civic literacy and engagement. Not surprisingly, change efforts—from conscious consuming to boycotts—often reflect this cultural emphasis on shopping. In this interactive session, you will dissect two campaign approaches—one consumer-centered, the other citizen-centered—and reflect on their relative effectiveness at change making. Can we buy our way out of the environmental and social mess we’re in? Can we flex enough citizen muscle to rewrite The Story of Stuff?
The Story of Stuff Project has produced six acclaimed web films over the past two years, most recently The Story of Citizens United v. FEC and The Story of Broke. Michael’s focus is to provide the over 250,000 members of the Story of Stuff community with the tailored content and tools they need to engage in collective learning and social change. Prior, Michael developed fundraising and communications strategies for environmental, civil rights, reproductive justice and media reform organizations as the principal of Channing Way Consulting. He also served as the Development Director of San Francisco Bay Area-based organizations Global Exchange and Pacific Environment. www.storyofstuff.org
Jennifer Pahlka   Founder, Code for America
How to Open Your City   Saturday
Cities (and the neighborhoods in them) are where most of us live, work and play. In our attempts to make them the best possible places to do all those things, we often neglect the institution designed to make it all work: city government. Local governments haven't endured the same disruptive changes as many other sectors in our society, but budget crises and other factors are starting to have an effect, and an opportunity exists now for regular citizens to accelerate the process of change by helping create structures that are open, participatory, and more efficient. What does and Open City mean, and how can you make yours one?
Jennifer Pahlka is the founder and executive director of Code for America, which works with talented web professionals and cities around the country to promote public service and reboot government. She spent eight years at CMP Media where she led the Game Group, responsible for GDC, Game Developer magazine, and Gamasutra.com; there she also launched the Independent Games Festival and served as executive director of the International Game Developers Association. Recently, she ran the Web 2.0 and Gov 2.0 events for TechWeb and co-chaired the successful Web 2.0 Expo. She is a graduate of Yale University and lives in Oakland, CA with her daughter and six chickens. http://codeforamerica.org/
Walter Parker   Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, UW
Teaching for In-Depth Learning: A Project-Based Approach   Saturday
In-depth learning, and the skills and mindsets for achieving it, are essential for personal success, citizenship and life-long learning. The Knowledge in Action Research Group at the UW College of Education is working with teachers to design a new educational approach guided by five principles: rigorous projects as the spine of the course, quasi-repetitive project cycles (looping), engagement first, teachers as co-designers, and an eye for scalability. This workshop is perfect for anyone who wants to teach project-based courses on any topic. You’ll work interactively to practice some of these principles with a small group of high school students, while working on a collaborative exploration of a real world environmental issue.
Dr. Walter Parker is a professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Washington. He has studied discussion pedagogy, the depth-breadth problem in curriculum development, and critical thinking in the classroom for many years and published over 100 articles and six books on these and other areas of curriculum and instruction. His books include Educating the Democratic Mind (1996), Teaching Democracy (2003), and Social Studies Today: Research and Practice (2011).
Anthony Pennay   Director, Annenberg Presidential Learning Center
Bi-partisan, Cross Partisan, or Non Partisan?   Saturday
Polarized politics often results in a disengaged citizenry. Whether perception or reality, partisanship seems at an all time high in our country. In this workshop we will walk through the assumptions, the language and the frameworks that help inflame a partisan environment. Working together, we will introduce the skills set necessary for a civil society. Focusing on dialogue and discourse, we will explore areas to improve in the arena of education and nonprofits. You will leave this workshop with tools to reengage people of all ages in civil discourse.
Anthony Pennay is the Director of The Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Anthony originally entered the field of education when he worked for the Teach for America program in Pasadena. He taught for five years at Sinai Akiba Academy in Los Angeles, and served as the Director of Curriculum Projects in his final year there. He is Technology Liaison and Advisory Board Member for the Cal State Northridge Writing Project, and his articles have appeared in TinFish, Assembly on Literature for Adolescents, California English, Social Education, and Social Studies Review. http://www.reaganfoundation.org/annenberg-presidential-learning-center.aspx
Ai-Jen Poo   Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance
Love and Muscle   Saturday
Ai-jen Poo and members of the Seattle Care Council will talk about the innovative national campaign, Caring Across Generations. Bringing together people with disabilities, older adults, care workers and all of their families, Caring Across Generations seeks to build a vibrant, intergenerational movement to create millions of jobs and meet the growing need for long-term care and support services in America. The workshop will include storytelling, video and discussion on the campaign as a model for 21st century policy development and organizing strategies.
Ai-jen Poo, Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, has been organizing immigrant women workers since 1996. In 2000 she helped start Domestic Workers United, the New York based organization that spearheaded the successful passage of the state’s historic Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in 2010. In 2007, DWU helped organize the first national domestic workers convening, out of which the National Domestic Workers Alliance was formed. Ai-jen serves on the Board of Directors of Momsrising, National Jobs with Justice, Working America and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Among Ai-jen’s numerous awards are the Ms. Foundation Woman of Vision Award and the Independent Sector American Express NGen Leadership Award.
Gregory Rodriguez   Founder and Executive Director of Zócalo Public Square
Creating a Public Square   Saturday
The internet has created myriad forums for connecting like-minded people globally, but the virtual nature of our interactions and the splintering of the mass media have also led to a rise in narrowcasting. At the same time, the age of digital 'friendship' has made people hungry for tactile interaction: the warmth and civility of face-to-face exchanges as well as the diversity of opinion that comes from meeting in open, public spaces. In this workshop you will learn how to create a public square that brings people who would not normally meet together to discuss serious, high-minded ideas. You will leave with strategies for building a diverse audience and for making intellectual subjects accessible and interesting for the broadest possible audience.
Journalism and Citizenship Panel   Thursday
Gregory Rodriguez, founder and executive director of Zócalo Public Square, is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation and founding director of the Center for Social Cohesion at Arizona State University. He has written widely on issues of social cohesion, civic engagement, national identity, assimilation, race relations, religion, immigration, ethnicity, demographics and social and political trends in such leading publications as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Time, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times, where he is an op-ed columnist. The author of Mongrels, Bastards, Orphans and Vagabonds: Mexican Immigration and the Future of Race in America (Pantheon), which The Washington Post listed among the "Best Books of 2007," Rodriguez is at work on a new book on the American cult of hope.
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner   Executive Director and Co-Founder, MomsRising
Starting a Movement   Saturday
This practical session will begin with rules and best practices that the MomsRising.org founder has developed from her experience creating a massive national civic force. You'll work through group and individual exercises and lay out plans to create, assess, and advance your own citizen movement.
Panel discussion, The Power of Movements   Friday
Executive Director and Co-Founder of MomsRising, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner has been deeply involved in grassroots engagement and policy analysis for more than two decades, and is also an award-winning author of books and articles on subjects covering women and families, public policy, motherhood, economic security, equality, health, civic engagement, and new feminism. Started in May 2006, MomsRising is an on-the-ground and online organization with over 1 million members, as well as more than a hundred aligned national organizations, working together to increase family economic security and to help ensure all children can thrive. In addition to being a grassroots force, in both 2010 and 2011, Forbes.com named MomsRising's website one of the “Top 100 Websites For Women.” http://www.momsrising.org/
Jill Savitt   Human Rights Advocate
Running Your Advocacy Campaign   Saturday
“Awareness-raising” is good — but what do you do when it’s time to create positive change in the world? How can you use the light you are shedding on an issue to create a little heat? Advocacy campaigns — dynamic, time-limited efforts to achieve a specific goal (legislative, reframing, blocking opposition from achieving a goal, etc.) -- are one of the most effective tools for citizen action. Using case studies, Jill Savitt will walk participants through successful campaigns of the past. You’ll use the same approach to outline the contours of future campaigns — real or hypothetical . Participants will leave the session with a campaign game plan for addressing an issue.
Jill Savitt is a human rights advocate. Currently, she is a Special Advisor at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, working with the unit of the Museum that focuses on contemporary genocides. In addition, Savitt is the Human Rights Curator for the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, a new museum in Atlanta that will open in 2014. In 2007, Savitt founded and directed Dream for Darfur. The New York Times Magazine profiled Savitt and the initiative in March 2008. Savitt, based in New York, graduated from Yale and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Rick Shenkman   Author, Just How Stupid Are We?
Fixing TV News   Saturday
Even in the age of Google, Facebook and Twitter, TV is far and away the American people's most popular source for news. Voters learn more about the candidates' positions from TV political spots than from anywhere else. And they turn to TV news shows to keep up on current events. In this workshop we'll try to reform TV. We'll design a thirty second spot for our favorite candidate and we'll produce a local newscast. We'll explore the possibilities TV offers--and its limitations. We'll discuss why TV hasn't lived up to the hopes reformers invested in the medium when it was first adopted by the masses in the 1950s.
Rick Shenkman's latest book, Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter, makes the provocative argument that as American voters have gained political power in the last 50 years, they have become increasingly ignorant of politics and world affairs—and dangerously susceptible to manipulation. An associate professor of history at George Mason University, Rick is regularly seen on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC and is the founder and publisher of George Mason's History News Network, the only website on the Internet wholly devoted to the task of putting events in the news into historical perspective every day. http://home.sprynet.com/~rshenkman/
David B. Smith   Executive Director, National Conference on Citizenship
Saturday Breakfast Session   Saturday
Civic behaviors such as political involvement, giving, and volunteering create greater flow of information, trust, and connection in communities. Therefore, a community cannot be socially or economically healthy unless its citizens participate fully in civic life. This session will present NCoC research demonstrating this theory, and engage audience in a discussion on the findings, their motivators, and their implications for communities. A light breakfast will be provided.
David B. Smith is the Executive Director of NCoC. Founded in 1946 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1953, NCoC measures and promotes civic engagement with the goal of building a more informed, engaged, giving and trusting citizenry. Prior to joining NCoC, David founded and directed Mobilize.org, and under his tenure, Mobilize.org expanded from a team of 10 students to a national organization with activists in over 200 communities. David serves as Chairman of Mobilize.org, Vice Chair of the Youth Policy Action Center (YPAC), Treasurer for Prepare the Future, Director of Common Sense California, and Trustee of Americans for Generational Equity.
Jacob Soboroff   Executive Director, Why Tuesday?
Jumpstarting Citizenship   Saturday
With towns, neighborhoods and communities across our nation hit hard by challenges, now is the perfect time to consider the alchemy of 'what makes a person step up to become an active citizen?' After he hosted the NBC show “School Pride,” Soboroff learned some powerful lessons about activating everyday Americans to reclaim the assets all around them.
Jacob Soboroff co-hosted the NBC series “School Pride”, a reality series that told the stories of communities coming together to renovate their aging and broken public schools. Jacob is executive director of Why Tuesday?, an organization founded in 2005 to find solutions to increase voter turnout, and a member of the associates board of City Year Los Angeles. He is a correspondent for AMC News and KCET, is executive producer and narrator of the AMC original documentary “Committed” (directed by Oscar and Emmy nominee Morgan Spurlock), and has contributed reporting to CNN, NPR’s “Weekend Edition,” and the PBS/Wired Magazine series “Wired Science.” http://www.whytuesday.org/
Saket Soni   Organizer and the Director, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial
  Saturday
The New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice was formed after Hurricane Katrina to organize African-American and immigrant workers and residents across the colorline. Along with the members and organizers at the Center, Saket Soni has crafted and led strategic campaigns on international labor trafficking, human rights conditions in detention centers, ICE collusion with employers, and the enforcement regime in the post-Katrina Gulf Coast. He is also Executive Director of the National Guestworker Alliance, which works to improve conditions for minority workers, day laborers, guestworkers and others who face exploitation, treacherous working conditions, abuse and wage theft at the hands of corporate giants.
Barbara Spradling   Director, Innovation Institute, McColl Center for Visual Art
Using an Artist’s Tools to Chart Your Path   Saturday
Confused about how to be a good citizen? Perhaps, you must first ask -- how do you take care of yourself? Old ideas about the way life is “supposed” to be are useless. To peak and prosper, you must see with new eyes, tackle risks, face failure. Balance comes from integrating feelings, thoughts and actions to produce beautiful results – the wheelhouse of an artist’s life. In this session, you will work with artist Susan Harbage Page to dig deep, question myths and attack assumptions that hold you back. The day’s result will be your transformed perspective on life, work and meaningful community service.
Prior to her appointment as Director of the Innovation Institute at McColl Center for Visual Art, Barbara Spradling spent more than 20 years as a senior vice president with Bank of America. She successfully led large domestic and global enterprise efforts in the areas of operations, technology, finance and risk. She developed and led the implementation of crisis management initiatives and business and data recovery programs following global natural disasters and acts of terrorism. Barbara has volunteered on behalf of the Arts and Science Council, Council for Children’s Rights, YWCA, Children and Family Services Center and National Alliance of Artist Communities. http://www.innovationatmccoll.org/
Janet Tran   Education Manager, Annenberg Presidential Learning Center
Bi-partisan, Cross Partisan, or Non Partisan?   Saturday
Polarized politics often results in a disengaged citizenry. Whether perception or reality, partisanship seems at an all time high in our country. In this workshop we will walk through the assumptions, the language and the frameworks that help inflame a partisan environment. Working together, we will introduce the skills set necessary for a civil society. Focusing on dialogue and discourse, we will explore areas to improve in the arena of education and nonprofits. You will leave this workshop with tools to reengage people of all ages in civil discourse.
Janet Tran is the Education Manager of the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Presidential Learning Center at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and is charged with authoring National Civics curricula and programming. Janet has worked as a high school teacher and education innovator and is College Board certified in AP US History, AP US Government and AP Psychology. The Educational Testing Services (ETS) has selected her as an AP Reader for United States History since 2006. Janet has successfully authored significant grants for her schools. Her work has been published in journals, presented at conferences, and featured on NPR. http://www.reaganfoundation.org/annenberg-presidential-learning-center.aspx
Estrus Tucker   Center for Courage and Renewal
Healing the Heart of Democracy   Friday
This inspiring workshop is presented by Rick Jackson and Estrus Tucker, Center for Courage & Renewal. In this workshop we’ll actively explore “Five Habits of the Heart” we need to revitalize our democracy. We’ll discover practices and processes to form these habits in the everyday venues of our lives. Author/activist Parker Palmer, whose work is the wellspring of this workshop, writes: “For those of us who want to see democracy survive and thrive—and we are legion—the heart is where everything begins: that grounded place in each of us where we can overcome fear, rediscover that we are members of one another, and embrace the conflicts that threaten democracy...”
Estrus Tucker specializes in designing and leading conversations and retreats across the country in support of personal, professional, and community transformation. Estrus is a seasoned Courage & Renewal® Facilitator. His mission is to inspire courage and life giving values that promote community, nonviolence and justice. http://www.couragerenewal.org/
Sarah van Gelder   Co-founder and Executive Editor, YES! Magazine
Journalism and Citizenship Panel   Thursday
Details coming soon.
Sarah van Gelder is co-founder and executive editor of YES! Magazine and YesMagazine.org, which feature powerful ideas and practical actions towards a more just and sustainable world. YES! covers issue ranging from community resilience to prison alternatives, from climate justice to sustainable happiness. Sarah also edited, “This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99% Movement” and wrote the lead essay. Sarah co-founded a cohousing community, organized tenants, built a produce cooperative. She serves on the board of the Suquamish Tribe’s foundation and is among those organizing a new “occupy” group in Kitsap County. http://www.yesmagazine.org/
Jose Antonio Vargas   Founder, Define American
Defining "American"   Saturday
How do we define an American? Why do people come to this country? Who are the American citizens who help them? When it comes to undocumented immigrants, what would you do? As a teacher? A friend? A mother? This workshop will shine a light on a growing 21st century Underground Railroad: American citizens who are forced to fill in where our broken immigration system fails. From principals to pastors, these everyday immigrant allies are simply trying to do the right thing. They, like Harriet Tubman and countless brave Americans before them, are willing to take personal risks in order to do what is right. Learn how to locate the nodes in your local Underground Railroad, organize these heroes and bring them to the center of this national conversation about immigration. Together, we are going to fix a broken system.
Special Presentation; Journalism and Citizenship Panel   Thursday
Award-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas is the founder of Define American, a new campaign that seeks to elevate our nation’s immigration conversation. In the summer of 2011, Jose stunned the media and political circles with his groundbreaking New York Times Magazine essay, "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant." Born in the Philippines, he emigrated to the United States at age 12. Jose has served as a senior contributing editor at the Huffington Post, covered tech, HIV/AIDS, and the 2008 presidential campaign for the Washington Post, and was part of the team that won a Pulitzer Prize for covering the 2007 massacre at Virginia Tech. http://joseantoniovargas.com/
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