What are the bold ideas that can transform Philadelphia? Who is pushing change and bringing solutions to the problems plaguing cities across the country? How can we create a more just, equitable and prosperous Philadelphia?
Find answers at The Philadelphia Citizen’s third annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival™, an annual convening that brings the most innovative urban thinkers and global thought leaders together to share and discuss bold ideas that can move our city forward.
The 2020 Festival will be held virtually, on the first four Tuesdays in December, from 5:30-7:30pm.
This year, we’re having conversations about changing police culture, curbing gun violence, moving the needle on poverty, using capitalism for good, and art as a force for social change.
We’ll hear from such luminaries as Birmingham’s Mayor Randall Woodfin, retired LAPD sergeant-turned-police reformer Cheryl Dorsey, Chicago Beyond CEO Liz Dozier, comedian and Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr., author and poverty fighter Wes Moore, former Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan, professor, author and reverend Michael Eric Dyson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter of The Roots. Check out the confirmed line-up so far below.
The Festival will also mark the launch of one big idea to better the lives of Philadelphians most in need. Find out how—and how you can be part of the change—in December.
Read more about our confirmed speakers here and see below for our line-up thus far. And stay tuned—we’ll be adding many more compelling conversations in the coming weeks. Schedule is subject to change.
December 1
Performance: A vocal performance by Commonwealth Youthchoirs
Abolishing Medical Debt
Jerry Ashton of RIP Medical Debt in conversation with Citizen Executive Editor Roxanne Patel Shepelavy
Velshi Across America
Our own Larry Platt and Roxanne Patel Shepelavy catching up with the best news anchor on TV
The Road to Recovery
Bruce Katz, a leading urbanist thinker, in conversation with Comcast Senior Vice President of External and Government Affairs Bret Perkins on the opportunity to rebuild post Covid-19
Art As A Means of Social Change
Jane Golden, Mural Arts executive director, in conversation with Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter of The Roots and artists Hank Willis Thomas and Shepard Fairey
December 8
Video: Integrity Icon
Changing Police Culture
Author and retired Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant Cheryl Dorsey in conversation with Volusia County, Florida Sheriff Mike Chitwood, Jr., on combating police “warrior culture,” moderated by WURD host Charles D. Ellison
Leadership Class Collaboration
Stefani Pashman of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Conference, on how civic and business leaders can lead vision-mapping in cities, interviewed by Comcast Senior Vice President of External and Government Affairs Bret Perkins
The Opportunity Agenda
Wes Moore, CEO of The Robin Hood Foundation, and John Friedman, co-founder of Harvard’s Opportunity Insights, on the keys to driving social and economic mobility, in conversation with Citizen Co-Founder Larry Platt
Comedy For Social Change
Standup comedian and Daily Show Correspondent Roy Wood, Jr., interviewed by Citizen Co-Founder Larry Platt
December 15
Performance: A vocal performance by the talented students of Hill-Freedman World Academy
What can AirBnB Teach Us About Education?
Liz Dozier, former high school principal and CEO of Chicago Beyond, interviewed by Dalila Wilson-Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer of Comcast Corporation and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation
Race and The City: How Community Foundations Can Lead the Conversation
Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, president and CEO of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, with Pedro Ramos, CEO of the Philadelphia Foundation
Shattering The Glass Ceiling
Comcast Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity officer Dalila Wilson-Scott and venture capitalist Sarah Kunst on what it will take to bring real equity to America’s C-suite, moderated by MSNBC host Ali Velshi
Young Mayors Lead The Way
Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, and Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin on practical problem-solving in cities, moderated by Citizen Co-Founder Larry Platt
December 22
Performance: A poetry reading from Philadelphia’s 2020-2021 Youth Poet Laureate, Cydney Brown
The Billionaire Venture Capitalist Who Started the $15 Minimum Wage Movement
Venture capitalist and civic disruptor Nick Hanauer interviewed by MSNBC anchor and Citizen Board Member Ali Velshi
How Access to the Legal Economy Can Curb Gun Violence
Former Obama Administration Education Secretary Arne Duncan, co-founder of non-profit CRED (Create Real Economic Destiny), Malik Tiger, CRED participant and Wendy Jones, founder of Youth Peace Center, interviewed by Citizen Executive Editor Roxanne Patel Shepelavy
Moving The Needle on Poverty
Paul Born, co-Founder and co-CEO of the Tamarack Institute, in conversation with Greenlight Fund Executive Director Omar Woodard, moderated by United Way CEO Bill Golderer
Benediction—From Reckoning to Reconciling
Bestselling author, professor, preacher and public intellectual Rev. Michael Eric Dyson on his new book, Long Time Coming, and how we can all meet our moment, interviewed by Dr. James Peterson