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Home » 2025 Speakers

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2025 Speakers

Meet the speakers for the 8th Annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival.

 

SECURE YOUR SPOT

Alexandra Niedbalski-Sykes

Co-founder of The Philadelphia Sisters™

Fred Guttenberg

Gun Safety Advocate and author

Donna Brazile

Former Chair of the Democratic National Committee

Pam Harris

President, The Sanitation Foundation

Ali Velshi

MSNBC Chief Correspondent

Michele Howard

Chief Program Officer, Hope Chicago

Congressman Brendan Boyle

U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District

Joe Walsh

Former Tea Party Republican Congressman

Dalila Wilson-Scott

EVP and Chief Impact & Inclusion, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Foundation

Dreama Gentry, J.D.

President & CEO, Partners for Rural Impact

Jason Wright

Managing Partner and Head of Investments, Project Level®

Joan C. Williams

UCSF Professor, author of Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back

Max Boot

Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Bryan K. Barnett

Mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan

Sean M. O’Brien

Teamsters General President

Nate Weyand-Geise

Urban Planner, Covington, KY

Bill Golderer

President and CEO, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

Michael A. Nutter

Former Mayor of Philadelphia

Kasim Reed

Former Mayor of Atlanta

Bruce Katz

Nowak Metro Finance Lab Founding Director, Drexel University

Alexandra Niedbalski-Sykes

Co-founder of The Philadelphia Sisters™

Alexandra Niedbalski-Sykes is a Paris-born, Philadelphia-based leader, co-founder of The Philadelphia Sisters™, and driving force behind bringing women’s professional sports to Philly. First the WNBA, now Unrivaled! A former executive and global business leader, she blends vision, grit, and community passion to champion equity in business and sports. When women win, cities win! Her motto: Dream Big!

Fred Guttenberg

Gun Safety Advocate and author

Fred Guttenberg began his public life after the murder of his 14-year old daughter Jaime, and death of his brother Michael who passed away in from cancer related to his service in 9/11. Following his involvement in these two distinctly American Tragedies, Fred traveled the country talking about both events, but also talking about perspective, perseverance and resilience. He discusses pivotal moments in our life and how we respond to those moments. Fred’s mission ultimately led him to write his first book Find The Helpers and his follow up book American Carnage with Tom Gabor. Fred Guttenberg’s professional life previously included over a decade of experience management with Johnson & Johnson, followed by almost 15 years as an entrepreneur.

Donna Brazile

Former Chair of the Democratic National Committee

Donna Brazile is a veteran political strategist, New York Times bestselling author, Senior Advisor at Purple Strategies, former Chair of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, and sought-after Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning media contributor to such outlets as ABC News, USA Today, The Hill and The Grio. 

She became the first African American woman to serve as the manager of a major party presidential campaign, running the campaign of former Vice President Al Gore.  She previously served as interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee and of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute.  She is a current member of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee. 

Pam Harris

President, The Sanitation Foundation

Pam Harris is the President of the Sanitation Foundation, the official nonprofit of the NYC Department of Sanitation. She has made a career out of turning New Yorkers’ pride into action – most recently launching the “Don’t Do New York City Dirty” PSA campaign to rally New Yorkers against littering. Previously, she led marketing for the New York Knicks and served as the chief marketing officer for Madison Square Garden. Raised in Brazil and Mexico, Pam holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from Stanford University.

Ali Velshi

MSNBC Chief Correspondent

Ali Velshi is an award winning journalist, host of “Velshi” and Chief Correspondent for MSNBC, and a weekly economics contributor to NPR’s “Here And Now.” He has covered multiple U.S. Midterm and Presidential elections and significant news stories around the globe, including extensive reporting from Israel during the war with Israel and Hamas, Ukraine and across Central and Eastern Europe during the Russian invasion, the Syrian refugee crisis from Turkey and Jordan, and the Iran Nuclear Deal in Tehran. He hosts the “Velshi Banned Book Club” on MSNBC, and the “Velshi Banned Book Club” podcast. Velshi is known for his immersive on-the-ground reporting and his interactive discussions with small groups, which form part of his ongoing series, Velshi Across America.

He previously worked as an anchor and correspondent for Al Jazeera America and CNN. He has been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards, and is the recipient of two National Headliner Awards and a Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award.

Michele Howard

Chief Program Officer, Hope Chicago

Michele Howard serves as the Chief Program Officer at Hope Chicago, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing debt-free higher education opportunities to students and their families within the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system. In this role, she oversees the implementation and management of Hope Chicago’s programs, ensuring that both students and their parents have access to the necessary resources and support to succeed in postsecondary education.

Prior to joining Hope Chicago in September 2021, Howard had a distinguished career in education and community service. She served as a Senior Project Manager for K-12 Scholarships at Chicago Public Schools, where she was instrumental in developing and managing scholarship initiatives aimed at increasing college access for underserved students for almost a decade.Howard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing degree from Howard University and a Master of Arts in Education Administration from Concordia University Chicago.

Congressman Brendan Boyle

U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District

Congressman Brendan F. Boyle was born and raised in a working class neighborhood of Philadelphia. The son of an Irish immigrant, he grew up in a proud union household. His father worked as a warehouse worker and later a janitor for SEPTA, while his mother was a school crossing guard.
The first in his family to attend college, Congressman Boyle attended the University of Notre Dame and later graduated from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government with a master’s degree in public policy.
Now in his sixth term, Congressman Boyle serves as Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee. In this role, he has become a leading champion for working-class families across Pennsylvania and throughout the nation. In 2017, he founded the Congressional Blue Collar Caucus to focus on the unique challenges facing working class Americans.
Congressman Boyle is also a Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University.

Joe Walsh

Former Tea Party Republican Congressman

Joe Walsh is a former Republican Congressman from Illinois elected to Congress in the TEA Party wave of 2010. Following his service in Congress, Walsh became one of the most popular conservative talk radio hosts in the country, syndicated in major markets throughout the U.S. In August of 2019 Joe became a candidate for President of the United States, waging a Republican primary challenge against Donald Trump. Joe is the author of F*CK SILENCE: Calling Trump Out for the Cultish, Moronic Authoritarian Con Man He Is released in February of 2020.

Dalila Wilson-Scott

EVP and Chief Impact & Inclusion, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Foundation

Dalila Wilson-Scott serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Impact & Inclusion Officer of Comcast Corporation and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. In these roles, she oversees diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and philanthropic strategy for the corporation, focusing on advancing digital equity and economic mobility through Project UP. Wilson-Scott leads Comcast’s community impact initiatives and oversees efforts to bring greater attention to the company’s philanthropic partners. Before joining Comcast, she was Head of Global Philanthropy and President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.

Dreama Gentry, J.D.

President & CEO, Partners for Rural Impact

Dreama Gentry unabashedly works to ensure rural children, families and places are seen, heard, and invested in. She is founder and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact, a national intermediary that works to ensure the 14 million children and youth living in rural America are on a path to upward mobility.

A fifth generation Appalachian Kentuckian, Dreama is a graduate of Berea College and the University of Kentucky College of Law. She serves on the Economic Mobility Alliance and the National Comprehensive Center Advisory Board.

Jason Wright

Managing Partner and Head of Investments, Project Level®

Jason leads the deal sourcing, due diligence, execution, portfolio management and value creation efforts for Project Level, a women’s sports fund. Previously President of the Washington Commanders, he was also a McKinsey partner and NFL veteran. Jason holds a BA from Northwestern and an MBA from Chicago Booth.

Joan C. Williams

UCSF Professor, author of Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back

Joan C. Williams is a scholar of social inequality and Distinguished Professor of Law (Emerita) at University of California Law San Francisco. Williams’ influential work on class includes Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back (2025), White Working Class (2017), and her 2016 Harvard Business Review article, “What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Class.” 

Williams is well-known for her work on diversity, equity and inclusion — using data-driven approaches to combat racial and gender bias in today’s workplaces.

Max Boot

Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Max Boot is a best-selling historian, biographer, and foreign policy analyst. He is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a columnist for The Washington Post. His last book, Reagan: His Life and Legend, was named one of the 10 best books of 2024 by the New York Times, which described it as a “landmark work.” It also made best-of-the-year lists at The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Economist, and Air Mail. His previous biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in biography.

Bryan K. Barnett

Mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan

Bryan K. Barnett has served as the mayor of Rochester Hills since 2006. A frequent national speaker on topics including innovative government, sustainability, parks infrastructure and economic development, Mayor Barnett is chair of the Global Parliament of Mayors and is a past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Sean M. O’Brien

Teamsters General President

Sean M. O’Brien is a fourth-generation Teamster from Boston and General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He leads North America’s strongest union, representing 1.3 million members and growing. O’Brien is committed to securing and defending strong national contracts, organizing new members, mobilizing rank-and-file Teamsters, and aggressively taking on employers.

Nate Weyand-Geise

Urban Planner, Covington, KY

Nate Weyand-Geise is an urban planner and community advocate dedicated to making cities more livable, connected, and equitable. As an urban planner in the Cincinnati area, Nate blends hands-on problem-solving with civic creativity—most notably winning the City of Cincinnati’s “Pave the Way” Innovation Lab competition for his idea to crowdsource smartphone accelerometer and GPS data to better identify and repair potholes. His work spans housing, mobility, and public space restoration, including the award-winning Peete Alley preservation project where he led the hands-on restoration of the historic cobblestone alley. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s School of Planning, Nate’s approach combines design thinking, public engagement, and local insight to help communities repair, reimagine, and thrive.

Bill Golderer

President and CEO, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

Reverend Bill Golderer leads United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey‘s mission to fight poverty and expand opportunity. Bill is the founder of Broad Street Ministry, Rooster Soup Company and is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and Yale University Divinity School.

Michael A. Nutter

Former Mayor of Philadelphia

Michael Nutter served as Philadelphia’s mayor from 2008 to 2016. Prior to that he served for 15 years on City Council. Since leaving public service on January 4, 2016, Mayor Nutter has remained active in public policy, government, and civic life. He is also the co-host of The Philadelphia Citizen’s acclaimed podcast, How to Really Run a City.

Kasim Reed

Former Mayor of Atlanta

Kasim Reed served as the Mayor of Atlanta for two terms, from 2010 to 2018. Reed was credited with increasing core city services while reducing Atlanta’s spending during the worst recession in 80 years. He also hired more than 900 police officers, creating the largest police force in his city’s history, oversaw a 37 percent drop in crime, improved fire rescue response times and re-opened all the city’s recreation centers as safe havens for young people. He is also the co-host of The Philadelphia Citizen’s acclaimed podcast, How to Really Run a City.

Bruce Katz

Nowak Metro Finance Lab Founding Director, Drexel University

Bruce Katz is the Founding Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University in Philadelphia and the Founder of New Localism Associates. He regularly advises public, private and civic leaders on strategies that leverage the competitive advantages of their cities and metropolitan areas. Previously he served as the inaugural Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution and as vice president and founding director of Brooking’s Metropolitan Policy Program for 20 years. He is a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics, and previously served as chief of staff to the Secretary of US Housing and Urban Development and staff director of the US Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs. He is coauthor of The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism and The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros are Fixing our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy.



 

 

 

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Alexandra Niedbalski-Sykes

Co-founder of The Philadelphia Sisters™

Fred Guttenberg

Gun Safety Advocate and author

Donna Brazile

Former Chair of the Democratic National Committee

Pam Harris

President, The Sanitation Foundation

Ali Velshi

MSNBC Chief Correspondent

Michele Howard

Chief Program Officer, Hope Chicago

Congressman Brendan Boyle

U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District

Joe Walsh

Former Tea Party Republican Congressman

Dalila Wilson-Scott

EVP and Chief Impact & Inclusion, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Foundation

Dreama Gentry, J.D.

President & CEO, Partners for Rural Impact

Jason Wright

Managing Partner and Head of Investments, Project Level®

Joan C. Williams

UCSF Professor, author of Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back

Max Boot

Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Bryan K. Barnett

Mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan

Sean M. O’Brien

Teamsters General President

Nate Weyand-Geise

Urban Planner, Covington, KY

Bill Golderer

President and CEO, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

Michael A. Nutter

Former Mayor of Philadelphia

Kasim Reed

Former Mayor of Atlanta

Bruce Katz

Nowak Metro Finance Lab Founding Director, Drexel University

Alexandra Niedbalski-Sykes

Co-founder of The Philadelphia Sisters™

Alexandra Niedbalski-Sykes is a Paris-born, Philadelphia-based leader, co-founder of The Philadelphia Sisters™, and driving force behind bringing women’s professional sports to Philly. First the WNBA, now Unrivaled! A former executive and global business leader, she blends vision, grit, and community passion to champion equity in business and sports. When women win, cities win! Her motto: Dream Big!

Fred Guttenberg

Gun Safety Advocate and author

Fred Guttenberg began his public life after the murder of his 14-year old daughter Jaime, and death of his brother Michael who passed away in from cancer related to his service in 9/11. Following his involvement in these two distinctly American Tragedies, Fred traveled the country talking about both events, but also talking about perspective, perseverance and resilience. He discusses pivotal moments in our life and how we respond to those moments. Fred’s mission ultimately led him to write his first book Find The Helpers and his follow up book American Carnage with Tom Gabor. Fred Guttenberg’s professional life previously included over a decade of experience management with Johnson & Johnson, followed by almost 15 years as an entrepreneur.

Donna Brazile

Former Chair of the Democratic National Committee

Donna Brazile is a veteran political strategist, New York Times bestselling author, Senior Advisor at Purple Strategies, former Chair of the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, and sought-after Emmy- and Peabody-award-winning media contributor to such outlets as ABC News, USA Today, The Hill and The Grio. 

She became the first African American woman to serve as the manager of a major party presidential campaign, running the campaign of former Vice President Al Gore.  She previously served as interim Chair of the Democratic National Committee and of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute.  She is a current member of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee. 

Pam Harris

President, The Sanitation Foundation

Pam Harris is the President of the Sanitation Foundation, the official nonprofit of the NYC Department of Sanitation. She has made a career out of turning New Yorkers’ pride into action – most recently launching the “Don’t Do New York City Dirty” PSA campaign to rally New Yorkers against littering. Previously, she led marketing for the New York Knicks and served as the chief marketing officer for Madison Square Garden. Raised in Brazil and Mexico, Pam holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from Stanford University.

Ali Velshi

MSNBC Chief Correspondent

Ali Velshi is an award winning journalist, host of “Velshi” and Chief Correspondent for MSNBC, and a weekly economics contributor to NPR’s “Here And Now.” He has covered multiple U.S. Midterm and Presidential elections and significant news stories around the globe, including extensive reporting from Israel during the war with Israel and Hamas, Ukraine and across Central and Eastern Europe during the Russian invasion, the Syrian refugee crisis from Turkey and Jordan, and the Iran Nuclear Deal in Tehran. He hosts the “Velshi Banned Book Club” on MSNBC, and the “Velshi Banned Book Club” podcast. Velshi is known for his immersive on-the-ground reporting and his interactive discussions with small groups, which form part of his ongoing series, Velshi Across America.

He previously worked as an anchor and correspondent for Al Jazeera America and CNN. He has been nominated for multiple Emmy Awards, and is the recipient of two National Headliner Awards and a Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award.

Michele Howard

Chief Program Officer, Hope Chicago

Michele Howard serves as the Chief Program Officer at Hope Chicago, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing debt-free higher education opportunities to students and their families within the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system. In this role, she oversees the implementation and management of Hope Chicago’s programs, ensuring that both students and their parents have access to the necessary resources and support to succeed in postsecondary education.

Prior to joining Hope Chicago in September 2021, Howard had a distinguished career in education and community service. She served as a Senior Project Manager for K-12 Scholarships at Chicago Public Schools, where she was instrumental in developing and managing scholarship initiatives aimed at increasing college access for underserved students for almost a decade.Howard holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing degree from Howard University and a Master of Arts in Education Administration from Concordia University Chicago.

Congressman Brendan Boyle

U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District

Congressman Brendan F. Boyle was born and raised in a working class neighborhood of Philadelphia. The son of an Irish immigrant, he grew up in a proud union household. His father worked as a warehouse worker and later a janitor for SEPTA, while his mother was a school crossing guard.
The first in his family to attend college, Congressman Boyle attended the University of Notre Dame and later graduated from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government with a master’s degree in public policy.
Now in his sixth term, Congressman Boyle serves as Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee. In this role, he has become a leading champion for working-class families across Pennsylvania and throughout the nation. In 2017, he founded the Congressional Blue Collar Caucus to focus on the unique challenges facing working class Americans.
Congressman Boyle is also a Visiting Lecturer at Princeton University.

Joe Walsh

Former Tea Party Republican Congressman

Joe Walsh is a former Republican Congressman from Illinois elected to Congress in the TEA Party wave of 2010. Following his service in Congress, Walsh became one of the most popular conservative talk radio hosts in the country, syndicated in major markets throughout the U.S. In August of 2019 Joe became a candidate for President of the United States, waging a Republican primary challenge against Donald Trump. Joe is the author of F*CK SILENCE: Calling Trump Out for the Cultish, Moronic Authoritarian Con Man He Is released in February of 2020.

Dalila Wilson-Scott

EVP and Chief Impact & Inclusion, Comcast Corporation and President, Comcast Foundation

Dalila Wilson-Scott serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Impact & Inclusion Officer of Comcast Corporation and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation. In these roles, she oversees diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and philanthropic strategy for the corporation, focusing on advancing digital equity and economic mobility through Project UP. Wilson-Scott leads Comcast’s community impact initiatives and oversees efforts to bring greater attention to the company’s philanthropic partners. Before joining Comcast, she was Head of Global Philanthropy and President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation.

Dreama Gentry, J.D.

President & CEO, Partners for Rural Impact

Dreama Gentry unabashedly works to ensure rural children, families and places are seen, heard, and invested in. She is founder and CEO of Partners for Rural Impact, a national intermediary that works to ensure the 14 million children and youth living in rural America are on a path to upward mobility.

A fifth generation Appalachian Kentuckian, Dreama is a graduate of Berea College and the University of Kentucky College of Law. She serves on the Economic Mobility Alliance and the National Comprehensive Center Advisory Board.

Jason Wright

Managing Partner and Head of Investments, Project Level®

Jason leads the deal sourcing, due diligence, execution, portfolio management and value creation efforts for Project Level, a women’s sports fund. Previously President of the Washington Commanders, he was also a McKinsey partner and NFL veteran. Jason holds a BA from Northwestern and an MBA from Chicago Booth.

Joan C. Williams

UCSF Professor, author of Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back

Joan C. Williams is a scholar of social inequality and Distinguished Professor of Law (Emerita) at University of California Law San Francisco. Williams’ influential work on class includes Outclassed: How the Left Lost the Working Class and How to Win Them Back (2025), White Working Class (2017), and her 2016 Harvard Business Review article, “What So Many People Don’t Get About the U.S. Working Class.” 

Williams is well-known for her work on diversity, equity and inclusion — using data-driven approaches to combat racial and gender bias in today’s workplaces.

Max Boot

Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations

Max Boot is a best-selling historian, biographer, and foreign policy analyst. He is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a columnist for The Washington Post. His last book, Reagan: His Life and Legend, was named one of the 10 best books of 2024 by the New York Times, which described it as a “landmark work.” It also made best-of-the-year lists at The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Economist, and Air Mail. His previous biography, The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam, was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in biography.

Bryan K. Barnett

Mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan

Bryan K. Barnett has served as the mayor of Rochester Hills since 2006. A frequent national speaker on topics including innovative government, sustainability, parks infrastructure and economic development, Mayor Barnett is chair of the Global Parliament of Mayors and is a past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Sean M. O’Brien

Teamsters General President

Sean M. O’Brien is a fourth-generation Teamster from Boston and General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He leads North America’s strongest union, representing 1.3 million members and growing. O’Brien is committed to securing and defending strong national contracts, organizing new members, mobilizing rank-and-file Teamsters, and aggressively taking on employers.

Nate Weyand-Geise

Urban Planner, Covington, KY

Nate Weyand-Geise is an urban planner and community advocate dedicated to making cities more livable, connected, and equitable. As an urban planner in the Cincinnati area, Nate blends hands-on problem-solving with civic creativity—most notably winning the City of Cincinnati’s “Pave the Way” Innovation Lab competition for his idea to crowdsource smartphone accelerometer and GPS data to better identify and repair potholes. His work spans housing, mobility, and public space restoration, including the award-winning Peete Alley preservation project where he led the hands-on restoration of the historic cobblestone alley. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s School of Planning, Nate’s approach combines design thinking, public engagement, and local insight to help communities repair, reimagine, and thrive.

Bill Golderer

President and CEO, United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey

Reverend Bill Golderer leads United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey‘s mission to fight poverty and expand opportunity. Bill is the founder of Broad Street Ministry, Rooster Soup Company and is a graduate of Southern Methodist University and Yale University Divinity School.

Michael A. Nutter

Former Mayor of Philadelphia

Michael Nutter served as Philadelphia’s mayor from 2008 to 2016. Prior to that he served for 15 years on City Council. Since leaving public service on January 4, 2016, Mayor Nutter has remained active in public policy, government, and civic life. He is also the co-host of The Philadelphia Citizen’s acclaimed podcast, How to Really Run a City.

Kasim Reed

Former Mayor of Atlanta

Kasim Reed served as the Mayor of Atlanta for two terms, from 2010 to 2018. Reed was credited with increasing core city services while reducing Atlanta’s spending during the worst recession in 80 years. He also hired more than 900 police officers, creating the largest police force in his city’s history, oversaw a 37 percent drop in crime, improved fire rescue response times and re-opened all the city’s recreation centers as safe havens for young people. He is also the co-host of The Philadelphia Citizen’s acclaimed podcast, How to Really Run a City.

Bruce Katz

Nowak Metro Finance Lab Founding Director, Drexel University

Bruce Katz is the Founding Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University in Philadelphia and the Founder of New Localism Associates. He regularly advises public, private and civic leaders on strategies that leverage the competitive advantages of their cities and metropolitan areas. Previously he served as the inaugural Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution and as vice president and founding director of Brooking’s Metropolitan Policy Program for 20 years. He is a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics, and previously served as chief of staff to the Secretary of US Housing and Urban Development and staff director of the US Senate Subcommittee on Housing and Urban Affairs. He is coauthor of The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism and The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros are Fixing our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy.

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