The Philadelphia Citizen’s Ideas We Should Steal Festival® presented by Comcast NBCUniversal returned for its 7th year. We scoured the country for the changemakers and innovators whose transformative ideas could fuel much-needed progress in our city. The mission: to expand the problem-solving table, inspire change and bask in hope.
Thursday, November 14 and Friday, November 15
Thursday, November 14
Film Screening: Punch 9 for Harold Washington
Punch 9 For Harold Washington, about Chicago’s late, legendary first African-American mayor, whose charisma and machine-toppling ways speak to us today. Followed by a conversation and live How to Really Run a City podcast recording with director Joe Winston; New Yorker writer, Princeton professor and MacArthur “genius,” Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of Race for Profit:How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership; and podcast co-hosts former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and The Citizen’s Larry Platt.
Friday, November 15
All panels take place in the Ralph J Roberts Forum.
9:30am | Welcome
9:40am-10:00am | How to Quiet Our Politics In The Age of Trump.
Jon Grinspan, author of The Age of Acrimony: How Americans Fought To Fix Their Democracy, 1865-1915, walks us through how America recovered from a previous era’s rise of anti-democratic populism, in conversation with MSNBC’s Ali Velshi, who has had a front row view to American politics during the convulsive Trump years. Moderated by The Citizen’s Larry Platt.
10:00-10:25am | Wanted: Voters Who Shower After Work.
Batya Ungar-Sargon, author of Second Class: How the Elites Betrayed America’s Working Men and Women with former PA Congressman and Undersecretary of the Army Patrick Murphy, on the changing allegiances of working class voters. Moderated by MSNBC Chief Correspondent Ali Velshi.
10:25-10:40am | Give Local.
Piper Stege Nelson, Amplify Austin CEO, on launching the city’s wildly successful one day giving contest that has raised more than $100 million for 1,100 nonprofits in 10 years — often through donations under $50 each.
10:45-11:15am | Cracking The Code on Housing.
Mark Ethridge, chief of Charlotte’s Housing Impact Fund, on how Naturally-Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAHs) can fuel supply; Brookings Metro’s Andre Perry, author of Know Your Price: Valuing Black Lives and Property in America’s Black Cities, on how to reappraise and revalue Black homeownership; and Sonja Trauss, executive director of Yes In My Back Yard. Moderated by Bruce Katz, founding director of Drexel University’s Nowak Metro Finance Lab.
11:15-11:40am | When Public Meets Private.
Kathryn Wylde, CEO of The Partnership for New York City, in conversation with Michael Forman, Chairman and CEO of FS Investments, on how business leaders can help government serve the common good. Moderated by Dalila Wilson-Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation and President of Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation.
11:45-12:00pm | How To Catch A Would-Be Assassin.
Garrett Langley, Flock Safety CEO, on the company’s license plate reader tech that has helped police departments capture suspects in cities around the country.
12:00-12:50pm | Lunch.
12:50-1:10pm | Thriving After Prison.
Thriving After Prison. Laurin Leonard, co-founder of Mission: Launch and R3 Score, which are using technology to rethink the background check and to prepare incarcerated citizens for prosperous lives upon their release. In conversation with MSNBC Correspondent Trymaine Lee.
1:10-1:25pm | Power for the People.
Gilbert Campbell, Volt Utility CEO, on green jobs for African American workers, and mitigating against climate change for at-risk urban communities.
1:30-2:00pm | Building the Human Rights Economy.
Devin Cotten, founder & CEO of Universal Basic Employment & Opportunity, with Dr. Amy Castro, co-founder of the Center for Guaranteed Income Research and Associate Professor in the School of Social Policy & Practice at the University of Pennsylvania, on how to build a more inclusive economy. Moderated by Managing Director of the Wharton Coalition for Equity and Opportunity Dr. Fareeda Griffith. Learn more about this panel.
2:00-2:30pm | The Key To Philly’s Growth? Regionalism.
Philadelphia is the only city in the country with no regional strategy. Brookings Metro’s Marek Gootman, CEO of Greater Washington Partnership Kathy Etemad Hollinger, and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s Chief of Staff Anne Caprara on who’s doing it right. Moderated by Comcast’s SVP of External and Government Affairs Bret Perkins.
2:45-3:15pm | How To Return Democracy to Voters.
American Promise CEO Jeff Clements, and actor/activist Debra Winger inside the movement to rid our politics of dark money and undue influence. Moderated by MSNBC’s Ali Velshi. Learn more about this panel.
3:20-4:00pm | What Would King Say Today?
Jonathan Eig, author of King: A Life, which won the Pulitzer Prize, in conversation with professor and author Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, who has written two books on MLK. Moderated by Rutgers law professor Stacy Hawkins.
4:00-5:00pm | Happy Hour at Pizzeria Salvy.
