The Citizen’s fourth annual Ideas We Should Steal Festival brought to Philly changemakers and problem-solvers from around the country to share how they are transforming the way cities respond to this moment to optimize Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Prosperity.
Here’s who we saw at Fitler Club on December 13 and December 14, 2021.
Emily Bazelon
Journalist and Author
Omolara Fatiregun
CEO, Thrive!
Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Professor and Author
Bill Golderer
President and CEO, United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey
Peter Georgescu
Chairman Emeritus, Young & Rubicam
Arlie Russell Hochschild
Professor and Author
Piper Kerman
Author and Activist
Michael Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Kasim Reed
Former Mayor of Atlanta
Robert Rooks
CEO, REFORM Alliance
Terri Sorensen
CEO, Friends of the Children
Aqeela Sherrills
Director, Newark Community Street Teams
Russ Stark
Chief Resilience Officer, City of St. Paul
Stew
Singer-songwriter and Playwright
Ali Velshi
Host, Velshi on MSNBC / Correspondent, NBC News Business
Emily Bazelon
Journalist and Author
Emily Bazelon is a staff writer at the New York Times Magazine and the author of Charged: The New Movement to Transform American Prosecution and End Mass Incarceration. She also co-hosts the popular Slate podcast Political Gabfest.
Omolara Fatiregun
CEO, Thrive!
Omolara Fatiregun is a resident fellow with the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation where she is building Thrive!—a social enterprise that uses technology to spark citizen engagement in government and root out systemic racism in local government spending and policies. As vice president at the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation and as senior fellow at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Fatiregun has partnered with school districts, leaders of child welfare and juvenile justice agencies to scale evidence-based programs for vulnerable youth. Follow her on Twitter @OFatiregun.
Eddie S. Glaude Jr.
Professor and Author
Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor and chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University. He is the former president of the American Academy of Religion and the author of several books including Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, which has been described as “one of the most imaginative, daring books of the 21st century,” and Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own. Follow him on Twitter @esglaude.
Bill Golderer
President and CEO, United Way of Greater Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey
Bill Golderer is best described as our Poverty-Fighting Convener. He leads United Way of Greater Philadelphia & New Jersey‘s mission to fight poverty and expand opportunity by harnessing the collective power of more than 100,000 donors, advocates and volunteers within our region. As senior pastor at Arch Street Presbyterian Church and founder of Broad Street Ministry, Golderer has a natural ability to embolden and inspire people from all walks of life to work together for a more equitable and inclusive community. Follow him on Twitter @golderer.
Peter Georgescu
Chairman Emeritus, Young & Rubicam
Peter Georgescu joined Young & Rubicam in 1963 as a research intern and retired 37 years later as chairman and CEO. He has served on the boards of seven public companies, and continues as vice chair of New York Presbyterian Hospital. He has written three books, the latest of which is the award-winning Capitalists ARISE! End Economic Inequality, Grow the Middle Class, Heal the Nation.
Arlie Russell Hochschild
Professor and Author
A sociologist emerita at U.C. Berkeley, Arlie Russell Hochschild is the author of nine books, including The Second Shift, The Managed Heart, Global Woman, (co-edited) and most recently, Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right, a 2016 New York Times best seller and finalist for the National Book Award. She is currently collaborating on a four-part documentary film focusing on the origins of the current political impasse.
Piper Kerman
Author and Activist
Piper Kerman is the author of the memoir Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison from Spiegel & Grau. The book has been adapted by Jenji Kohan into an Emmy-winning original series for Netflix, which ran for seven seasons. Piper collaborates with nonprofits, philanthropies, and other organizations working in the public interest and serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Prison Association and the advisory boards of the PEN America Writing for Justice Fellowship, InsideOUT Writers, Healing Broken Circles and JustLeadershipUSA. Follow her on Twitter @Piper.
Michael Nutter
Former Mayor of Philadelphia
Michael A. Nutter is a former two-term mayor of Philadelphia who previously spent nearly 15 years in the Philadelphia City Council. Since leaving public office in 2016, he has remained active in public policy, government and civic life. He is the inaugural David N. Dinkins professor of professional practice in urban and public affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and holds fellowships at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics.
Kasim Reed
Former Mayor of Atlanta
Kasim Reed served as the mayor of Atlanta for two terms, from 2010 to 2018. He was credited for increasing core city services while reducing the city’s spending during the worst recession in 80 years. Mayor Reed hired more than 900 police officers, creating the largest police force in the city’s history. He oversaw a 37 percent drop in crime during his tenure, improved fire rescue response times and re-opened all the city’s recreation centers as safe havens for young people.
Robert Rooks
CEO, REFORM Alliance
Robert Rooks is the CEO of the leading national organization dedicated to replacing America’s broken probation and parole systems with approaches to safety that are fair, effective, and racially just. He co-founded and was CEO of Alliance for Safety and Justice, the nation’s largest state-by-state public safety reform organization, and served as the first criminal justice director for the NAACP. He has more than two decades of experience as a grassroots organizer, strategist, and movement leader. Follow him on Twitter @RobertRooks5.
Terri Sorensen
CEO, Friends of the Children
Terri Sorensen leads Friends of the Children, a national nonprofit breaking the cycle of generational poverty. Friends of the Children pairs children facing the greatest obstacles with a salaried, professional mentor who stays with each child from ages 4 to 6 through high school graduation. Since 2012, Sorensen has led a national expansion campaign, growing the organization from five to 24 locations and quadrupling the number of children served. Friends of the Children is a leader in evidence-based practice for its rigorous research and evaluation efforts. Follow her on Twitter @Terri_Sorensen.
Aqeela Sherrills
Director, Newark Community Street Teams
Aqeela Sherrills is a spirit-centered organizer and activist who has worked for three decades to promote community ownership of public safety and facilitate healing from violence in marginalized communities. A nationally recognized expert in victim service and community-based public safety, Sherrills has created and led multi-million-dollar nonprofit organizations focused on reducing violence and fostering safety in urban communities, and advised hundreds of organizations. Follow him Twitter @aqeela28.
Russ Stark
Chief Resilience Officer, City of St. Paul
Russ Stark is Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Saint Paul, working in Mayor Melvin Carter’s Office, and leads the City’s climate action and sustainability work. Previously, Russ served for 10 years on the Saint Paul City Council including three years as Council President.
Stew
Singer-songwriter and Playwright
These days, Stew, a Tony and two-time Obie award-winning playwright and performer, critically acclaimed singer-songwriter and veteran of multiple dive-bar stages, is focusing on creating song-driven films, alternative TV and teaching. He is currently composing songs for Spike Lee’s upcoming (and yet-to-be-titled) full-length movie musical, and he teaches at Harvard, Sarah Lawrence and The New School, where his classes are hothouses of multi-disciplinary, self-challenging experimentation that encourage celebratory transformation via myth-making. Follow him on Twitter @StewTNP.
Ali Velshi
Host, Velshi on MSNBC / Correspondent, NBC News Business
Ali Velshi brings his sharp analysis and point of view to the weekend morning show, Velshi, airing from 8 to 10am ET on Saturdays and Sundays on MSNBC. Velshi has covered a wide range of domestic, global and economic issues throughout his career, including climate change, the spread and defeat of ISIS, the refugee crisis, the Iran nuclear deal, tensions between Russia and the west, the Greek debt crisis and the global financial crisis. Follow him on Twitter @AliVelshi.