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We all know the right messages to get the environmental activist base on board with taking action on climate change. Now, what are the most compelling ways to talk to a broader audience to engage them in the fight for a just transition to a clean energy future? NextGen Climate has worked with pollsters, researchers and allied organizations to identify the best messages that work for diverse audiences. By talking about a just transition to a clean energy future, we know we can broaden the intersectionality of the climate movement. Come hear from message experts and organizers from the field as they discuss how we can broaden our movement through better messaging and engagement.

Led by: Andrea Purse

Panelists: Celinda Lake, Ben Wessel, David Winkler

In the 2016 election cycle, the Latinx and immigrant community have been demonized by Donald Trump. However, this framework and racism has been driving policy in America for generations. Meet Latinxs who are challenging the national discourse and owning perceived wedge issues to tackle the biggest issues of our time. As the Latinx community continues to grow, something is shifting and we’ve found power at the intersections. Hear from some wise Latinxs about how to build a path forward.

Led by: Hemly Ordonez

Panelists: Jessica González-Rojas, Zenen Jaimes Pérez, Nelini Stamp, Catalina Velasquez

Over 40 million people in the United States are carrying debt from student loans worth $1.3 trillion, an average of over $30,000 a borrower. Many people struggle with making their monthly payments, while others worry that this debt will follow them throughout their life. The weight of this debt is having a massive impact on our personal and national economic well-being: people are putting off buying a home or starting a family, and money that could be spent on goods and services that could spur economic growth are going to service the debt accrued while financing an increasingly expensive college education. Further, student debt has a more profound impact upon communities of color and women.

However, the federal government has free programs available that can help many student loan borrowers lower their monthly payments and, in some cases, even have their debt forgiven. Unfortunately, these programs are not well known, and can be somewhat confusing – opening a space for scammers who charge borrowers to enroll in free programs.

The AFT recognizes that these programs can help a huge number of our members and their families. To that end, we are rolling out Student Debt Clinics, developed with the help of Jobs with Justice, to provide people with the information they need to enroll in income-driven student loan repayment programs and Public Service Loan Forgiveness. More importantly, these clinics are a member engagement and community engagement opportunity, and the run-up and follow-through for the clinics provide multiple opportunities to have meaningful conversations with members, and their communities, and organize them to take action to help student loan borrowers and make a college education more affordable before another generation finds themselves in debt.

A Student Debt Clinic is 75-90 minute session where attendees are educated on the systemic injustices of our current student debt national crisis. Participants are encouraged to shift their perspectives and stop seeing student debt as just a personal issue, but rather a shared national crisis that will require collective action to address. Participants are then guided through enrolling in Income-Driven Repayment programs – where monthly payments can be as little as $0/mo – and Public Service Loan Forgiveness, two under-utilized programs that work in tandem to lower payments and forgive debt. Following a Q&A session on the programs, participants are presented an organizing ask.

Panelists: Samantha Jordan, Justin Tzuanos

Congress is messed up. How can activists push the government to address pressing problems constructively amidst political polarization and gridlock? As Senator Elizabeth Warren noted in last year’s Netroots Nation keynote address, “personnel is policy.” One key takeaway is to make sure that the president aggressively enforces powerful laws already on the books. From the Sherman Antitrust Act and Clean Air Act to Dodd-Frank and the ACA, regulatory action and inaction shape the country in which we live. Join our panelists to learn who makes these decisions—and how activists can impact the direction of the executive branch.

Led by: Marcy Wheeler

Panelists: Alexis Goldstein, Angela McCall, Kurt Walters

In low-income, Black communities disenfranchised by the criminal legal system, millions of dollars are spent each year on courts and police that could be invested into public services to meet basic needs of the community and combat inequity. What if we could empower community members to envision how they would like resources to be spent to promote genuine public safety? What would it look like to hold political officials accountable to these community-led visions? Join grass roots St. Louis organizers as we chart a path to redirect resources from traditional policing and court models into public services that meet basic needs of the community and address root causes of crime.

Led by: Thomas Harvey

Panelists: Kayla Reed, Kennard Williams

The Democratic presidential primary has been intense. But nothing will be more intense, scary, and destructive than a Donald Trump White House. We all know that. Come hear how our side will unite and win the 2016 presidential election. Panelists include senior leaders from the Democratic presidential campaign, SEIU, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, NARAL, and MoveOn. Folks on both sides of the democratic primary. People on the inside and outside. If voters hear our message on wealth inequality, the fight for Black Lives, women’s access to abortion and health services, debt-free college, expanding Social Security, Wall Street reform, a humane immigration policy, and fighting Trump’s hate-filled agenda — we will win.

Led by: Adam Green

Panelists: Sasha Bruce, Anna Galland, Marlon Marshall

From the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement to the impact Black people have on social media with platforms such as #BlackTwitter to the rising number of Black women running for office, it is clear that Black women’s work and voices in the progressive movement are monumental and significant. The discussion will focus on two elements—how Black women have shaped current social movements such as racial justice, criminal justice reform and reproductive justice; and how Black women have emerged as the largest voting bloc in the U.S. Panelists will engage the audience on why Black women matter in transforming our country.

Led by: Anay Bickham

Panelists: Jessica Byrd, Glynda C. Carr, Maria Chappelle-Nadal, L. Joy Williams

Want to learn how the LGBT and disability communities have been intertwined for years as they have helped each other achieve rights? Want to learn how to be an educated and effective ally with the disability and LGBT movements? Want to learn how to make lasting social change? If so, this panel is for you. Led by the first lesbian Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, this panel of change agents from both communities will talk about stopping discrimination against people with disabilities and LGBT people – for real.

Led by: Chai Feldblum

Panelists: Rebecca Cokley, Anupa Iyer, Shannon Price Minter

Over the past year, the LGBTQ movement has struggled to find direction in dealing with the right-wing backlash after winning marriage equality. From over 100 attacks in state legislatures, to the unending murders of trans women of color, to the recent massacre at a gay club during Latinx Night, LGBTQ people are still very much fighting for our liberation. Join this session to learn more about the challenges the movement is facing, as well as how you can join the fight for LGBTQ liberation.

Led by: Michael Crawford, Heather Cronk, Reuben Hayslett

This year has seen a nearly unprecedented rise in the political targeting of refugees—from bigoted rhetoric to xenophobic legislation on the state and federal levels. Fear-mongering from Trump and other politicians has opened up space for anti-refugee sentiment to move into the mainstream, but the groundwork for this explosion of bigotry was laid by the increasing collaboration of the organized anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim movements. This panel will expose the drivers of anti-refugee policy and rhetoric and discuss how our communities can—and must—fight back.

Led by: Lindsay Schubiner

Panelists: Asha Noor, Stephen Piggott, Faizan Syed

Storytelling is one of the most sought-after ways to change cultural and political landscapes; however, sometimes the ways in which stories are collected, shared, and used can replicate the same systems of oppression we seek to disrupt. How can centering Black women’s expertise in storytelling and story sharing move policy and culture? Participants will leave this session with an understanding on how to approach, respect, and uplift the expertise of Black women story tellers.

Led by: Quita Tinsley

Panelists: Jessica Byrd, Suzette Gardner, Regina Mahone

We have a rape culture problem in the progressive movement. After the high-profile closure of FitzGibbon Media and the rise of a survivor-justice movement, addressing everyday sexism, sexual harassment and assault in the movement has become a hot topic. But how do we fix it? The reality is this abuse is not just the product of a few isolated actors, but the result of a permissive and often supportive culture in our organizations. Serial abusers move from one group to another for years, making our movement a toxic and sometimes dangerous place. This panel will discuss how to address this issue, what a positive structured response could look like and how to make our progressive organizations and movement safer.

Led by: Mariana Ruiz Firmat

Panelists: Molly Haigh, Austen Levihn-Coon, Bridget Todd, Wagatwe Wanjuki

NetChange Consulting (formerly Communicopia) recently released a report that maps the strategies and practices that made today’s most successful advocacy campaigns work while so many others fail to create lasting change on the issues they address. The result of a deep dive into nearly 50 case studies, the Networked Change report puts special focus on what we’re calling “directed network campaigns,” a model for building people-powered movements that are centrally framed and managed in a way that leads to staying power and concrete wins. What’s a directed network campaign? Look no further than the four hottest movements of the moment: #Fightfor15, BlackLivesMatter, Keystone/Tar Sands/Climate, and Bernie Sanders. Our session will unpack the strategic and operational elements common to these campaigns, and panelists will share real stories from the front lines running innovative campaigns that reflect these principles.

This panel features NetChange principal consultant Jason Mogus, Marissa Franco, the Campaigns Director at Not1More Deportation and Mijente.net, Faith Cheltenham, President of #BiNet, and Kyle Tanner, the Digital Director at #Fightfor15.

Led by: Jason Mogus

Panelists: Faith Cheltenham, Marisa Franco, Kyle Tanner

Wondering how to take your Facebook content to the next level? How to create and plan content to maximize your reach and impact? Join a session with Facebook strategists to see the latest trends, understand the newest tools, and get the most out of your time on Facebook.

Led by: Crystal Patterson

Panelists: Kaiya Waddell

We’ve seen that storytelling can give visibility to the invisible, destigmatize experiences considered controversial, and mobilize social justice movements. Join us as people with diverse identities and experiences discuss their strategies for relating personal stories through art, social media, spoken word, and other genres to achieve innovative activism.

Led by: Daniela Ramirez

Panelists: Renee Bracey Sherman, Julio Salgado, Leora Tanenbaum, Sonya Renee Taylor

In order to break the toxic grip that Fox and other right-wing outlets hold over so many of our fellow Americans, progressives need to have a deeper understanding of how right-wing media manipulators work, what forces enable their continued success, and how to fight “The Fox Effect” where they are—be it at family dinner, at church, or on the doors during a field canvass. Attend this session and you’ll leave with insights, tools, techniques, and motivation to help counter the misinformation and divisive influence of right-wing media in our relationships, politics, and culture.

Panelists: Dave Ninehouser, Erin Ninehouser, Jen Senko

In the past year, organizations across the progressive space have done amazing work measuring the digital tactics and tools that do and don’t work for a variety of persuasion and mobilization campaigns. Come learn from some of the cutting edge techniques that agencies and vendors are building and using to optimize programs—and the outstanding questions that organizations should keep top of mind for planning programs in 2016.

Led by: Amy Kelleher

Panelists: Brandt McCool, Tatenda Musapatike, Dan Scarvalone, Aaron Strauss, Ben Wessel

The 2015 Supreme Court decision in favor of marriage equality brought with it a slew of blatantly discriminatory bills against the LGBTQ community from state-to-state. This harmful legislation most frequently includes religious exemption bills and bathroom regulations directly targeting the transgender community. The ultimate goal of these bills is to prevent transgender people from transitioning, or even functioning on a day-to-day basis. In this panel discussion, we will hear from statewide and national advocates and activists on how to address these bills, from messaging and organizing on how to defeat these proposed laws, to strategic responses in states in which these measures passed. We will also discuss where these bills are coming from, and how we are coordinating with organizations to challenge them legally and constitutionally in court.

Led by: Zack Ford

Panelists: Jaimie Hileman, Kirstin Palovick, Brynn Tannehill, Kayley Whalen

This panel will center Black women and femmes who explicate on their experiences, Black feminist resistance and popular culture analysis to dissect and examine the ways in which Black women are constantly surviving violence, voyeurism and erasure while being the most important demographic for political shifting and public policy implementation. From Beyonce getting us InFormation to Love & Hip Hop politicking, there is a power and politicization within popular culture that is created by Black women and femmes that links to how public policy around Black women and femme bodies is shaped. Topics addressed in this panel will include public policy, reproductive and sexual rights, consent, #BLM and labor/wage justice.

Led by: Ashleigh Shackelford

Panelists: Rian Brown, Bri Carter, Tyrell Cooper

We have a Black jobs crisis on our hands—and the impact that race has played in our ability to obtain employment has devastated many of our communities. From Black unemployment rates in the double digits to the severe underemployment of Black transgender women, this panel will discuss the history of our economy built on slave labor, the current crisis the Black community faces as we strive for full employment, and actions our organizations and communities can take as we look forward to true employment equity.

Led by: Carmen Berkley

Panelists: Elle Hearns, Fareed Michelen, Bill Spriggs

For 40 years the Hyde Amendment has targeted poor women, women of color, and young women by banning abortion coverage from Medicaid, condemning many to unsafe procedures or unwanted pregnancies.Women of color in the reproductive justice movement have risen up to take on Hyde—and with it, 40 years of stigma and silence. In five years, organizations like All* Above All introduced the EACH Woman Act and proactive state and local policies and mobilized thousands of grassroots supporters to stand up against Hyde. This year, for the first time ever, both Democratic candidates have called for the repeal of Hyde. Learn how our leaders are braving a political hornet’s nest and where we’re going next with this fight.

Led by: Morgan Hopkins

Panelists: Ravina Daphtary, Jessica González-Rojas, Yamani Hernandez

The old funding models have stopped working well for 21st Century progressive movements, but the new ways are still being created. Join this session for an informative and dynamic discussion about some new models for funding movement-building work that are being implemented among progressive donor networks, individual small-dollar donors, and social-change organizations themselves. Funding of movements has changed dramatically in the last 40 years. Are our current models working to support real social change? What has worked and where are we failing? What new models can we lift up that free us to do the real work of organizing? Join us and help reinvent what it means to be a movement philanthropist.

Led by: Jenifer Fernandez Ancona

Panelists: Tram Nguyen, Sara Velten, Howard Watts III

Join Progress Missouri and leaders from four coalition partners to discuss the importance of building strong coalitions and sticking together in the face of seemingly non-stop attacks. Attendees of this panel will come away with new strategies and ideas for their organizations to survive—and even thrive—when operating in states where they are part of a significantly out-numbered minority. This honest discussion will bring to light debates, strategies, disagreements and solutions necessary for carrying out the missions of progressive organizations in the very real world of red state politics.

Led by: Laura Swinford

Panelists: Ashli Bolden, Nancy Cross, Molly Fleming, Katie Stuckenschneider

Many of the challenges facing progressive political tech startups are unique. VCs are inherently skeptical of poli-tech and the measure of early success is often much different than it is in Silicon Valley. Whether you’re weighing a startup or are already past early stage, this session will offer insight from entrepreneurs at all stages of the startup cycle.

Led by: Kate Maeder

Panelists: Jessica Hyejin Lee, Jason Putorti, Perry Rosenstein, Kendall Tucker

Momentum is key to 21st-century movements. Whether built over years or in days, campaign velocity necessitates effective planning and response to real-time situations on the ground. Bridging the gap between your offline and online advocacy efforts can be made easier with the right technology and strategy.

Budget constraints should no longer dictate the reach or size of your campaigns. Join us to hear from seasoned experts in grassroots coalition building with experience in winning local, state, and federal campaigns that have developed a blueprint for winning campaigns how you can leverage from the 4-year election cycle.

Led by: Michael Moschella

Panelists: Ximena Hartsock, Bo Shuff

TRUTH, a collaboration between Transgender Law Center and GSA Network, is a national storytelling and movement-building campaign led by transgender and gender nonconforming young people from across the U.S. Through videos, selfie campaigns and other creative new media projects, TRUTH empowers trans and gender nonconforming youth to share their stories as a way to challenge media narratives, create community with other young people and build empathy. This discussion of youth leaders will allow the audience to hear directly from trans and gender nonconforming young people about their experiences and work building an intersectional movement.

Led by: Juniper Cordova-Goff

Panelists: Violet Martinez, Ka'Milla McMiller, Foster Noone, Zeam Porter

News and entertainment media can act as a mirror to our understanding of abortion in the U.S. It It can also be a platform for moving society by generating programming that questions existing practices. We will explore how the media talks about abortion, from right-wing examples of abortion stigma to examples of media dismantling stigma and discussing it with authenticity and facts. Examining ways in which media can be used as a tool to shift stigma, we will highlight fresh efforts to tackle abortion stigma creatively through culture and art. We will share best practices on how to talk about abortion outside of the political paradigm and creative ways to reach new audiences whose support is critical for the longterm fights ahead. And we’ll touch on what things are being done to protect—and expand—access to abortion around the country.

Led by: Lauren Himiak

Panelists: Kathy Plate, Rachel Tardiff

It’s 2016, so why are we still seeing male dominance within the progressive movement? It’s not uncommon to see issues of particular importance to women—especially reproductive health, rights, and justice—sidelined as “social issues” while the progressive agenda is defined by economic issues that are framed as somehow separate. Yet reproductive and sexual self-determination are core economic issues, as is freedom from identity-based discrimination. In this panel, we’ll talk about why the progressive movement can and must move beyond brogressives, mansplaining and unhelpful comments targeting activists who speak up on Twitter and how we can work toward greater inclusion and an agenda that offers meaningful opportunity to everyone.

Led by: Erin Matson

Panelists: Gregory Cendana, Imani Gandy, Atima Omara, Erica Prosser

Save Kesha! #OscarsSoWhite and & #StopWhiteWashing are just some of the powerful campaigns our panelists have waged to influence Hollywood, pop music and even the comic book industry. Because pop culture shapes the public imagination, activists are fighting for diversity both behind the camera and in front of it. Campaigns around popular culture provide opportunities to expose oppression that can go unnoticed and unchallenged. Online activism is already making a difference in the entertainment we consume. We’ll teach you how to do it!

Led by: Elana Levin

Panelists: Brandi Collins-Dexter, Cayden Mak, Audine Tayag

Over the last decade, a number of states have enacted laws that aim to keep juveniles out of adult prisons and court systems—a reversal of the tough-on-crime legislation of the 1980s and 1990s. The new laws stem from concerns about teenage suicides in adult jails and new research showing that young people held in adult courts are more likely to be repeat offenders than juveniles not held in adult jails. Youth of color particularly are disproportionately impacted by this practice. Join us for a discussion about the long-term impacts of treating children as adults in the criminal justice system.

Led by: Brian Evans

Panelists: Alton Pitre, Angel Sanchez, Rev. Dr. Dietra Wise Baker

While it has always been true, it seems today’s life or death stakes, high-stress environment means front-line activists face increasing amounts of stress, pressure and violence or threats of violence in their daily work. With the urgency of our work so acute, it can feel selfish to take care and do essential healing work for ourselves. But love is justice and justice is love—especially when that love means developing practices of self-care and healing that are as expansive as our vision and as rigorous as our task. Engaging and creating communities that can help us find space to develop personal practices keeps us sane, healthy and balanced for the long run, which both history and the current moment tells us is likely the path before us. Join us to explore strategies and tools to show up for the work that needs be done, while creating the space needed to heal, care for and resource ourselves so we can thrive along the way.

Panelists: Carla Goldstein, Andrea Cristina Mercado, Rod Owens, Jasmine Sydeullah, angel Kyodo Williams

Over the past 10 years, Democrats and progressives have built a superior campaign data and technology infrastructure and a more effective ground-game than Republicans. What’s been our secret weapon and how will we continue innovating and expanding upon our “progressive tech edge”? This panel will feature key leaders in progressive tech to discuss what has contributed to our current tech advantage, and what types of technology progressive campaigns are building to continue winning up and down the ballot for elections to come.

Led by: Amanda Coulombe

Panelists: Kassia DeVorsey, Josh Hendler, John Lee, Matthew Saniie

Flint and Detroit Public Schools were both assigned the same Emergency Manager, and in both cases, infrastructure crumbled, resulting in a disastrous impact on local communities. In Flint, residents were subject to lead-poisoned water, and in Detroit, students were subjected to toxic mold in their schools. Democracy was subverted by this law, and communities had an unrepresentative manager who did not respond to their needs. We’ll examine the underlying issues of democracy and austerity and how they ended up harming public health. We’ll also talk about what can do to prevent disasters like these in other parts of the country.

Led by: Chris Savage

Panelists: Emily Figdor, Bishop Brenadel Jefferson, Terrence Martin, Vien Truong

Despite the Supreme Court’s recent decision to put a temporary hold on the Clean Power Plan, climate and public health advocates and activists are still making one thing clear: it won’t revive the fortunes of the coal industry, slow the transition to clean energy or disrupt progress toward meeting the climate commitment the U.S. made in Paris last year. As the Supreme Court legal process unfolds, something else will continue unfolding as well—the steady progress of activists to retire dirty coal-fired power plants and replace them with clean, safe energy sources. Learn about the judicial process related to the Clean Power Plan and how to keep telling positive, progress stories that beat out the noise of opponents.

Led by: David Weiskopf

Panelists: Aliya Haq, Mary Anne Hitt, Michelle Romero

In 2015, a shocking report from the Reflective Democracy Campaign found that 79 percent of the 2,437 elected prosecutor positions in the U.S. are filled by white men, and only 1 percent by women of color. When it comes to sheriffs, women are only 1.3 percent of the 3,081 sheriffs in this country. From district attorneys to sheriffs to elected judges and attorneys general, it is our duty to elect representatives who reflect the diversity of our communities to ensure a truly just application of the law. This panel will discuss and share strategies and approaches to recruiting women—specifically women of color—to run for elected law enforcement offices in order to dismantle racist structures within our judicial system and police departments.

Led by: Brenda Choresi Carter

Panelists: Kim Foxx, A'shanti Gholar, Melba Pearson

Though it’s long been an issue, recent high-profile incidents have highlighted the persistent problem of so-called progressive people, businesses, and organizations that ostensibly fight for justice and equality, yet sexually harass, assault, and otherwise abuse their fellow activists, colleagues, and employees behind closed doors. How can we address this issue, through organizational accountability and restorative justice models? How do we balance the need to keep people—particularly girls, women, and members of the LGBTQIA community—safe, while also making space for people to learn from and overcome harmful mistakes? Join us for a participatory working session to develop movement-wide solutions.

Led by: Sabrina Joy Stevens

Panelists: Robyn Swirling, Rachel Tardiff, Bridget Todd

Anti-worker advocates in the Show Me State’s Legislature have in recent years tried to repeatedly push through bills that would curb workers’ collective bargaining rights and their ability to contribute to their union through so-called right-to-work and paycheck deception legislation. Those efforts have been fueled by corporate dollars. But Missouri isn’t the only state where this is going on. This panel will discuss the struggle for workers’ rights.

Led by: Tyler Longpine

Panelists: Theresa Hester, State Senator Jamilah Nasheed, Sean Soendker Nicholson

Many non-Black progressives profess anti-racist values online and in conversation but fail to show up when action is needed. How do we move people with privilege up the ladder of engagement to riskier actions? How do we get them to show up — in the streets, in the office and in institutions—and is showing up enough? Solving the puzzle of turning out groups that aren’t most affected by our issues is critical to building strong movements. Panelists on the front lines of social justice campaigns will share case studies and lessons learned from turning out co-conspirators to protest, donate and lead.

Led by: Julien Burns

Panelists: Heather Cronk, Cayden Mak, Johnny Mathias, Dara Silverman, Monique Teal

As the movement for Black lives increases in visibility, so do the voices and strategies of those working on and offline to end state-sanctioned violence against Black people. As we work to shift culture and change the way people think and behave toward one another, we employ bold, visionary digital and traditional communications tactics rooted in the Black experience. Hear from organizers and communicators who work at the intersection of race, digital strategy and communications about how they organize and mobilize people to broaden international conversations about the impact of state violence on Black communities and drive critical conversations from the ‘hood to the White House about an authentic transformation of American democracy.

Led by: Miski Noor

Panelists: Malkia Cyril, Mervyn Marcano, Autumn Marie

When Bernie Sanders calls for a “political revolution,” he isn’t thinking just about the race for the White House. Bernie knows that the political revolution involves millions of people standing up to transform our country by electing progressive leaders up and down the ballot, especially candidates for Congress. This panel will explore how we can elect bold new candidates—taking the political revolution to Congress.

Led by: Charles Chamberlain

Panelists: Maria Chappelle-Nadal, Rep. Alan Grayson, Alexandra "Alex" Rojas, Misty Snow

Distributed organizing has proliferated across the advocacy space. Far from the early create-your-own-petition sites, many organizations are running programs that give members a larger role in campaigning strategy and execution, putting their trust in members’ abilities. The benefits are huge, including list growth from people engaged in heartfelt causes and a powerful leadership pipeline. There are also challenges: balancing the needs of growth and impact, wrangling campaign support resources, avoiding brand damage and finding the right technology. Join us for a conversation with Color of Change, MoveOn, 350.org and Fission Strategy about what’s working, what’s not and what’s next as we move toward more participatory campaigning.

Led by: Josh Nelson

Panelists: Emily Figdor, Allyse Heartwell, Yeshimabeit Milner, Hemly Ordonez

Over the last several years, we’ve seen grassroots organizing turn the tide and deliver progressive victories on several key climate battles, including the Keystone pipeline and Arctic drilling. Now, the Keep It in the Ground movement is building on those victories and turning to an even-more ambitious goal: ending all new leases for coal, oil, gas and tar sands extraction on our citizen-owned federal public lands. Sen. Jeff Merkley, the lead author of the Keep It in the Ground Act, will join others in the climate movement to discuss the successes of the past few years and how the progressive community can work with grassroots organizers, Congress and the Administration to take even bolder steps to save our planet.

Panelists: May Boeve, Senator Jeff Merkley, Tom Steyer, Murshed Zaheed

What is the role of art and culture in movement building? How are we developing artist leadership in cultural organizing? How do we create structures which support cultural work in our organizations? Based on their new book “When We Fight, We Win! 21st Century Social Movements and the Activists that are Transforming our World,” Greg Jobin-Leeds joins forces with AgitArte, Paulina Helm-Hernandez of SONG and other organizers and artists to further the discussion on the role of cultural work within our organizations, communities and movements. This panel will consider the mutual impact that arts and social movements have on each other and explore how the arts as cultural forms contribute to social transformation.

Led by: Jorge Díaz

Panelists: Sasha Costanza-Chock, Paulina Helm-Hernández, Dey Hernández, Greg Jobin-Leeds

The unexpected death of the late Justice Antonin Scalia has opened a rare window of opportunity to undo perhaps the most despised Supreme Court decision of the modern era: Citizens United. With a new 4-4 divide on the high court, and with the hope of a progressive court majority in 2016 or early 2017, the time to chart a course for reversing Citizens United and its doctrinal predecessor, Buckley v. Valeo, has finally arrived. It’s time for campaign finance and corporate power reformers to move from defense to offense, and to heed a new call to redeem the promise of American democracy.

Led by: John Nichols

Panelists: John Bonifaz, Spencer Overton, Zephyr Teachout

During this election season we have seen insults and offensive rhetoric to demean different ethnic groups and pit them against each other. And we all know that when working people are divided, corporate interests win. The wealthy few focuses on our divisions to encourage working people to attack each other instead of fighting for new rules that will level the playing field and make the economy fairer. The outcome of the 2016 election cycle will determine union rights, voting rights, campaign finance reform, free speech rights, corporate rights, and reproductive rights for many years too come.

This panel will focus on how to unite working people around an agenda that will level the playing field for all Americans and fight for a more inclusive democracy. This agenda includes restoring the Voting Rights Act, delivering on comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship, driving sentencing reforms for nonviolent drug offenses, and for an end to school disciplinary practices that push kids into the mass incarceration system.

Led by: Gregory Cendana

Panelists: Neidi Dominguez, Denise Feriozzi, Cietta Kiandoli, Michael Podhorzer

It’s time for progressives to have a serious discussion about how Israel has become an apartheid state. For nearly 50 years, the Palestinian people have lived under a military occupation by a foreign government that limits their freedom of movement and equal access to water, forces the usage of segregated roads and buses, and allows for the murder of tens of thousands of Palestinians in what the U.S. State Department has described in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices as “institutional and societal discrimination against Arab citizens, in particular in access to equal education and employment opportunities; societal discrimination and domestic violence against women.”

Led by: Dan Goldman

Panelists: Ali Abunimah, Max Blumenthal, Rania Khalek, Ari Wohlfeiler

On September 29, a diverse coalition came together to deliver more than 2.4 million petition signatures, hold more than 350 events nationwide and organize hundreds of thousands of pink-clad women, men and young people to #PinkOut and #StandwithPP online and off. The coalition—which included MoveOn, CREDO, DFA, Sierra Club Rise, UltraViolet, ACLU, NARAL, SEIU, NLIRH, Color of Change and others—stepped up to #StandwithPP and its patients after a group of anti-abortion extremists attacked Planned Parenthood in July 2015. This panel will go behind the scenes and discuss how we did it—including the importance of that moment, coalition building, our online-to-offline presence, and why the campaign was so successful.

Led by: Beth Lynk

Panelists: Stephanie Castro, Emily Figdor, Heather Holdridge, Sara Hutchinson Ratcliffe, Brad Lichtenstein, Anne Pfrimmer

Our political system is out of touch with an electorate that is more diverse and demanding than ever before. This session explores bold strategies such as engaging new voters, providing alternative candidates, and revamping political structures that hold back nontraditional candidates. Through specific examples and data, the panelists show that it’s possible to reclaim our power even in the face of expensive campaigns, special interests and entrenched incumbents.

Led by: Aimee Allison

Panelists: Sayu Bhojwani, Carol McDonald, Steve Phillips

Prosecutors may be the most powerful people in our criminal justice system. They have broad discretion to choose if and how to charge. Too many refuse to hold police accountable when they kill Black people while over-prosecuting and incarcerating Black folks for far less damaging crimes. Most prosecutors are chosen by the people, but who do they really serve? Nationwide, there are nearly 2400 elected prosecutors, yet more than 70% run unopposed. Prosecutor elections offer an opportunity to make voting feel meaningful for so many people by holding bad actors accountable. How do we shift the narrative in prosecutor races and create a framework that truly responds to our communities’ needs? And where are the best opportunities to unseat bad prosecutors in the future?

Led by: Scott Roberts

Panelists: Josie Duffy Rice, Johnny Mathias, Blake Strode

More than 50 years have elapsed since the passage of the Voting Rights Act, and communities of color are still fighting for their right to vote. This panel looks at how the SCOTUS decision in Shelby County v. Holder opened the floodgates for discriminatory voter suppression laws nationwide, what’s being done to fight back, and what it means to fight for voting rights in the age of #BlackLivesMatter. Leaders from the movement to #RestoreTheVRA will discuss both defensive strategies that protect voters and offensive strategies that seek to secure the right to vote and increase voter turnout. The panel will also focus on strategic communications and how to push back against harmful narratives that support voter suppression.

Led by: Jennifer Farmer

Panelists: Judith Browne Dianis, Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, Kayla Reed

Government actions such as racially explicit zoning, public housing segregation and federal requirements for white-only suburbs systematically segregated African Americans—setting the stage for the protests and racial tension following Michael Brown’s death. Join us for a conversation about how truly moving forward as a nation will require addressing the century of public policy that created our segregated metropolises. Remedies for our racial problems will be unlikely unless we understand how this racial landscape was created.

Led by: Chris King

Panelists: Sherrilyn Ifill, Richard Rothstein

Could debt-free college be to 2016 what healthcare reform was to 2008? A huge grassroots push in 2015 put debt-free college center stage in the presidential debate and political lexicon. Clinton and Sanders both endorsed it, and it has come up in every Democratic presidential debate. Over half of Senate Democrats and more than 100 members of Congress have endorsed it—and candidates across the country are running on it. This panel will explore the history of student debt activism and discuss how debt-free college became a hugely popular issue in 2016. We’ll also discuss how to build bridges between lawmakers and the grassroots so that we enter 2017 with a mandate and an inside-outside legislative strategy to pass debt-free college into law.

Led by: Natalia Abrams

Panelists: Keith Ellison, Mark Huelsman, Ann O'Leary, Kayla Wingbermuehle

On the left, Bernie Sanders built a movement against the buying of our democracy by billionaires like the Koch brothers, and a broad coalition of groups fighting for free and fair elections staged mass mobilizations in April to ratchet up the pressure for change in DC. On the right, moneyed, establishment candidates backed by the Koch network fell by the wayside to self-funding billionaire Donald Trump, defying the media narrative around money in politics. Hear from grassroots activists building the money-out movement about strategies that are working on the ground to harness the energy of this anti-establishment election cycle.

Led by: Lauren Windsor

Panelists: Lisa Graves, Kai Newkirk, Angie Wells, Winnie Wong

Join us for a powerful and emotional conversation with fathers of children murdered at the hands of the police. Hear how they navigate a criminal justice institution that too often views them as criminal. What are the realities that fathers face in the wake of “justifiable homicides” of their own children? And how are these fathers contributing to the movement for freedom and justice today? These questions and more will be explored in this panel.

Led by: cephus johnson

Panelists: Michael Brown Sr., Ron Davis, Kenneth Johnson Sr., Andrew Joseph

This election cycle is a pivotal moment for the Supreme Court. For decades, the Court has been profoundly conservative, standing against progress on issues from voting rights to guns to racial and economic justice. The bitter lesson is that it matters who serves on our courts, particularly the Supreme Court. Now, in the throes of a political battle over one vacancy, we must remember that the next president will likely fill three additional seats, controlling the Court for a generation. Join us as we discuss the issues at stake and how activists can make a difference in judicial selection—including tools for local activism and advocacy.

Led by: Nan Aron

Panelists: Renee Bracey Sherman, Keith Ellison, Senator Jeff Merkley, Ambar Pinto, Anisha Singh

Behind the scenes of the Movement for Black Lives, strategic communicators work to amplify the movement’s visibility and maintain a national dialogue about police brutality and the criminalization of people of color. This panel discussion will offer a unique opportunity to hear directly from these strategists about the most effective tools and strategies they employ in their work. The panel will emphasize the movement’s focus on amplifying the voices of organized communities of color from the local to the national level and explore the innovative, next-generation tactics they’ve used to affirm the lives of people of color.

Led by: Danielle Belton

Panelists: Malaya Davis, Chelsea Fuller, Ian Mann

Community schools bring together academics, health & social services, community development, and parental engagement to turn around struggling schools, disrupt the school-to-prison-pipeline, and stand up for the needs of whole neighborhoods. These schools are transformative. Learn how this progressive solution improves academics and supports entire school communities without turning to the privatization schemes of charters and takeover districts.

Led by: Kyle Serrette

Panelists: Eric R. Brown, Jitu Brown, Jane Quinn

The Iran nuclear agreement was a huge accomplishment for the Obama administration, for the U.S., and for a progressive vision of foreign policy. In contrast to the Iraq war—which cost trillions of dollars, killed more than 4,000 Americans and 100,000 Iraqis and was disastrous for our security—the Iran agreement advanced our security by working with international partners and putting diplomacy first. But the work isn’t done. The battle over the agreement in Congress was hard fought. Building a more progressive foreign policy requires supporting those members who supported the deal and blocking the right’s efforts to undermine it. We’ll discuss that, and what’s needed to develop and strengthen a progressive foreign policy vision.

Led by: Matt Duss

Panelists: Marie Harf, Heather Hurlburt, Ilya Sheyman

One in five college women are sexually assaulted. Campus rape is a national crisis, but we are finally at a tipping point. This panel will explore how survivors from across the country have transformed the conversation about sexual assault and turned student activism into a national movement. As we have gained momentum—and won many important victories—the backlash has grown. From George Will’s “survivor privilege” to Rolling Stone, we’ll explore media’s contribution to rape culture—in particular, the alarming trend of victim-blaming and rape denial and how it impacts survivors of color. Panelists will discuss how students are leveraging social media and online advocacy to change the conversation and hold their institutions accountable.

Led by: Kaili Lambe

Panelists: Melissa DeGezelle, Sofie Karasek, Zoe Ridolfi-Starr, Kamilah Willingham

The Progressive data movement has long been heralded as a space of innovation, yet the space remains overwhelmingly white and male. Meet a group of women leading in their respective data fields and learn how they navigated the minefield of white tech bros, overcoming impostor syndrome, negotiating effectively, fighting bias in the workplace (sometimes perpetuated by other women) and building a necessary and supportive data lady squad.

Panelists: Kassia DeVorsey, Genny Mayhew, Annie Wang

In the Spring of 2015, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed himself as a partisan Republican in a way that he hadn’t publicly before. This created the space for “mainstream” progressivism regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Put another way, it became more comfortable to identify as an American whose progressive values apply to United States politics as well as the situation in the Middle East. But what does that mean? From Israeli settlement expansion to the BDS movement to the peace process to human rights, the progressive space has paved several paths toward the common goal of peace. This panel seeks to have a constructive conversation about the merits of various approaches from organizations active on the issue.

Led by: Mitchell Plitnick

Panelists: Joseph Berman, Lara Friedman, Heather Hurlburt, Yousef Munayyer

In 2011, Republican state legislators drew outrageous partisan and racial gerrymanders—at times, even bragging about their skills at skewing lines—while Democrats in the biggest redistricting states were forced to watch from the sidelines as future elections were rigged to favor the Tea Party. In 2016, Democrats are fighting back. State and federal courts have struck down Republican-drawn maps in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia because of the extreme measures Republicans took to enshrine partisan and racial discrimination into legislative and congressional districts. Alabamas discriminatory legislative districts might soon be next. Join us as we talk about the Democratic plan to prevent GOP gerrymandering after 2020.

Led by: Carolyn Fiddler

Panelists: Rep. Larry Hall, Jessica Post, Rep. Katrina Shankland

Momentum is building for long-needed systemic changes in our nation. People across the nation and leaders at all levels are increasingly understanding that true economic security can’t happen without specific, focused attention to achieving racial justice in our country. With this growing understanding, economic security and racial justice policies—including on fair pay, childcare, sick days, paid family leave, immigration policy and ending police brutality and mass incarceration—are playing a major role in this elections. During the election season, we have tremendous power to to focus the spotlight on advancing effective policies that move our nation forward. We’ll talk about why now and cover the how-to during this panel.

Led by: Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner

Panelists: Monifa Bandele, Greisa Martinez, Vicki Shabo, María Urbina

With organizers in 30 states and more than 900 staffers, the Koch Brothers are trying to beat progressives at their own game—grassroots organizing. We need to double down on effective field organizing. Join us for a look at the Koch field network and a discussion of best practices for how to mobilize voters to defeat the far right. We’ll also talk tactics for mobilizing both the New American Majority and working families to turn out to vote.

Led by: Keith Ellison

Panelists: Adriana Barboza, Kelly Beadle, Matt Morrison, Aaron Strauss

The criminal legal system has drawn wide condemnation from progressives, including both democratic presidential candidates. Yet its impact on individuals and communities—Black, queer, Muslim, woman, immigrant—is far from widely understood. We lack popular alternatives to the system, one which has historically been built and fueled by white men for their own financial gain. What do today’s feminist leaders of color say about this racist and hyper-masculine capitalist enterprise? What alternatives to prisons are they proposing to hold our communities accountable for harmful behavior, such as gender-based violence? What other solutions can we imagine? And how can we build alternatives without recreating racist and sexist violence

Led by: Lori Adelman

Panelists: Rose Afriye, Josie Duffy Rice, Mahroh Jahangiri, Erika Jones

This nation and, more importantly, our unions have always been uncomfortable when it comes to addressing racial inequalities in an honest and solution-oriented way. In this workshop, union leaders, educators and community organizers will present strategies on how to approach the conversation on race when interacting with different ideologies. Our unions are agents of change, and we should not be afraid of having tough dialogue. Some folks are in denial, many are tired, but everyone is still learning. This workshop will share the best tools and tips for how to lead your union and your community to addressing the sensitive and critical issue of racism in America.

Led by: Carmen Berkley

Panelists: Gregory Cendana, Regena Thomas, Robin Williams

The next Democratic president may face a Republican Congress. Some say nothing can get done. Yet, lots can be done by using existing executive powers that were granted as far back as 1890 but are under-utilized today. Antitrust law is a top power the next president can use. On the campaign trail, candidates have talked about breaking up Too Big to Fail banks. Across America, hundreds of once-competitive markets for goods and services are now controlled by a few firms, feeding economic inequality and hindering entrepreneurship, innovation and price and wage competition. Top experts will lay out a blueprint for the next president to use antitrust law as a game-changer in the economic lives of millions.

Led by: Sarah Miller

Panelists: David Dayen, Lina Khan, Barry C. Lynn, Sarah Miller, Zephyr Teachout

The media narrative around Paid Family and Medical Leave has largely highlighted heterosexual, married, professional white women who want to “have it all” by having children and a career. This panel highlights the family caregiving stories of members of our own broad progressive community and connects those stories to the facts about families in America. In this session, we will create a new narrative for the American family to inform our movement’s work to advance paid family and medical leave, along with other policies that strengthen our families.

This panel is organized by PL+US and Family Story

Led by: Mia Birdsong

Panelists: Monifa Bandele, Kimberly 'Dr. Goddess' Ellis, Sabrina Hersi Issa

If we are ever to achieve full equality, we must figure out how to strengthen our bonds while standing firm in demanding respect for our unique Black culture and history within the LGBTQ struggle. Join us for this interactive panel that looks at anti-Blackness, Black Lives Matter, and white supremacy in relation to the LGBTQ community from a humorous perspective. We’ll talk and lol about how to address the community’s racism in a positive, uplifting, educational and fun manner.

Panelists: Faith Cheltenham, Derrick Clifton, Reuben Hayslett, Monica Roberts, Ashton P. Woods

With a targeted focus on down ballot races, our goal is to facilitate an informative discussion on the ways in which campaign staff and organizers can take advantage of better data, innovative tools and proven strategies as they organize in their local communities. With new tools, better data and evolving digital strategies, this panel will illustrate how technology is bringing large budget, top-of-the-ticket best practices to down ballot races.

Led by: Raven Brooks

Panelists: Chelsea Peterson, Russ Swindell, Danielle Winterhalter

Think civil rights laws are gathering dust on the shelf? Think again! A new generation of youth activists are creatively using civil rights frameworks and legal tools to advance a radical, intersectional vision of equality, safety and justice on campus. Disability justice advocates are using Title II to fight for disabled students, and anti-rape advocates are using civil rights laws to strengthen non-carceral responses to sexual violence. Trans youth fight for safety and access under Title IX as students of color use Title VI to combat racial discrimination on campus and draw on the anti-segregation movement to advance educational access for undocumented youth. Join us to discuss the power and possibility of these bold strategies.

Led by: Zoe Ridolfi-Starr

Panelists: Lydia Brown, Andy Kim, Shane Windmeyer

It’s no secret that Wall Street billionaires have rigged our economy and our democracy. Come learn about the exciting next stage of Wall Street reform from the activists and elected officials who are on the front lines. We’ll discuss innovative programs to engage millions of Americans and our plan to pass key pieces of legislation that will help us fix our financial system and make it work for ordinary Americans.

Led by: Jon Green

Panelists: Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Brenda Goins, Renata Pumarol, Jessica Ramirez, Bret Thompson

Voters’ opposition to job-killing trade policies has fueled the surge of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has generated an unprecedented diverse opposition movement reflective of its potential to negatively affect all our lives. This panel will explore how growing public ire about job-killing trade policies will shape the election and our ability to combat issues like climate change and income inequality. The elite political class has systematically misread the depth of voters’ ire about the harm done by 20 years of NAFTA-style trade deals supported by Democratic and GOP presidents. Or are they dismissing voters’ anger as ill-informed even as economists that supported past pacts increasingly oppose the TPP?

Led by: Lori Wallach

Panelists: Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Keith Ellison, Stan Greenberg, Ilana Solomon, Bill Spriggs

Amazing organizations like Emerge, Close the Gap, Ready to Run and VoteRunLead are recruiting and training women to be great candidates, but the start-to-finish campaign marketplace remains fractured. This panel will look at the state of the democratic “farm team,” especially for women; where we are today; and what can be done to make sure we not only train women but get them elected to office with the resources they need. This panel of women run the gamut in experience getting women to run for office and what it takes to win.

Led by: Liz Jaff

Panelists: Kimberly Ellis, Kate Maeder, Emily Schwartz

It’s not good enough to have all cis-white male leadership in organizations that do social justice work. Many youth organizations have figured out how to center people of color, queer folks and women who are directly affected by the issues we work on as leaders, volunteers and staff. While some organizations have gone through elaborate processes to achieve equity and inclusion, others have centered their core mission and values to uplift the new American majority and have successfully grown their membership. Join this workshop to hear best practices around our approach to changing organizational culture, leadership and membership to reflect the people we serve.

Led by: Brenna Ross

Panelists: Hemly Ordonez, Angela Peoples, Catalina Velasquez, Jamal Watkins

Dylann Roof, the terrorist responsible for the Charleston massacre in June of 2015, is likely the first violent right-wing extremist to have been radicalized entirely online. His entry into the world of racist propaganda came courtesy of a savvy web master who used Google News to create alarm around a so-called “epidemic” of black-on-white crime. Similarly savvy white nationalists and members of the new “Alt-Right” movement use culture jamming tactics on Facebook and Twitter to inject racist memes like #WhiteGenocide into popular political and cultural discussions. And, of course, @realDonaldTrump retweets them all to his 5 million-plus followers. Join members of the Southern Poverty Law Center and other experts to discuss how haters operate.

Led by: Angbeen Saleem

Panelists: Jessie Daniels, Keegan Hankes, Vidhya Ramalingam

In the 1970s, climate scientists at Exxon warned their bosses that oil could bring about catastrophic global warming. Instead of acting to protect humanity, Exxon decided to corrupt our democracy to protect its profits while the planet’s climate destabilized. Panelists will discuss whether ExxonMobil and the rest of the fossil-fuel industry can be brought to justice—as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have called for—much as the tobacco industry was for its deadly deception. We’ll also talk about how to mobilize to restore the democratic institutions that have been polluted by Exxon’s decades-long campaign.

Led by: Brad Johnson

Panelists: Lydia Avila, Sharon Eubanks, Ted Lieu

At least 23 trans* and gender non-conforming people were murdered in 2015, and at least 6 have been murdered in 2016—the vast majority of whom were trans* women of color, and many of whom were immigrants, people with HIV and/or trans* disabled people. One in 4 trans* people have experienced violence, and 47 percent of trans* people have attempted suicide. Trans* people across the U.S. are leading the efforts to end this violence. On this panel, organizers who are trans* people of color, trans* disabled people, trans* immigrants and trans* people who are HIV positive will share their work. We’ll also address hate violence, intimate partner violence, ending laws that criminalize our lives, HIV, disability, organizing in the South and racial justice.

Led by: Kayley Whalen

Panelists: Lydia Brown, Arianna Lint, LaLa Zannell

Young people continue to be a lightning rod in politics. Some believe they’re the future of the left, while others point to their unreliability in electoral politics as a reason to not invest in their long-term political power. This election cycle has seen its fair share of generational strife, complicating effective engagement strategies. Four young leaders of different organizations and movements will shed some light, offering insight on how we can ensure demographics are destiny for the progressive movement. They’ll challenge the audience and larger movement to integrate the next generation into their work as powerful actors while supporting Millennial-led organizations and movements to translate mobilization to sustained power. What can we do leading up to and post November to entrench Millennials as a political force?

Led by: Michelle Romero

Panelists: Joelle Gamble, Greisa Martinez, Denzel McCampbell, Becca Rast

The Koch-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has relentlessly promoted a toxic brew of steep tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, cuts to health care and the social safety net, and union busting and wage suppression measures—all with profound consequences for working families and particularly communities of color. Since 2013, some 40 localities have approved minimum wages above the federal level, but ALEC is fighting to reverse this progress and prohibit localities from raising the wage. ALEC politicians are attempting the same preemption strategy for paid sick days and LBGTQ rights. This agenda is only deepening poverty in many states. Join us as we discuss the consequences of this toxic brew and talk about the tactics that have been successful in fighting back.

Led by: Rep. Rosa DeLauro

Panelists: Lisa Graves, Carol Joyner, Sherrette Spicer

For too long, the progressive movement writ large has largely ignored foreign policy while neocons and war hawks have set our country’s agenda. We must as a movement join together to push back on the ever-escalating militarism in the Middle East and around the world. Join us as we discuss practical solutions and organizing strategies to counter U.S. militarism and transform U.S. engagement with the world. We’ll talk about how to push our Congressional allies to end drone warfare and how to mobilize support for a diplomatic solution to the Syrian civil war, among other goals.

Led by: Kate Gould

Panelists: Keith Ellison, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Yasmine Taeb

Ella Baker’s practice of “participatory democracy” has shaped grassroots organizing models from SNCC to #Occupy to #BlackLivesMatter. The #Ferguson police and the DOJ. Loretta Lynch is now Attorney General and Michelle Obama is still our First Lady. Marilyn Mosby is still prosecuting six police officers for #FreddieGray in Baltimore. Erica Garner endorsed Bernie Sanders while her mother and other “Mothers of the Movement” endorsed Hillary Clinton. Donna Edwards has run for the Senate. The Supreme Court has an opening. Will a Black woman finally be appointed? Meanwhile, Black women are still the largest democratic voting bloc, yet remain inadequately represented in online and offline campaigns. Now in its sixth year, you’d betta #AskaSista.

Panelists: Lizz Brown, Kimberly 'Dr. Goddess' Ellis, Elle Hearns, Natalie Jackson, Nina Turner

Since 9/11, officials have used the specter of Muslim terrorists to justify an ever-expanding police state. We’re fed a steady stream of FBI-manufactured plots, exaggerated threats and blanket otherization of Muslims. In the name of protecting us from these vague yet ever-present threats, governments have implemented policies that affect all Americans, including omnipresent surveillance, draconian immigration programs and the use of counter-terrorism resources to intimidate and silence activists. The level of government resources and authority to spy, abuse, detain and disappear has never been greater. We cannot effectively campaign against the police state until we dismantle the Islamophobic policies and narratives that underpin it.

Led by: Linda Sarsour

Panelists: Dante Berry, Shahid Buttar, Dawud Walid, Vincent Warren

State level races, from state house to county and city offices, reflect the future of the Democratic party. When Ferguson erupted post-Michael Brown, many wondered: why does the city council not look like its community? That same question can be asked nationwide. Electing more people of color, LGBT individuals and progressive women to serve in local and state offices is how we build the party of the future.

Led by: Chris Reeves

Panelists: Patricia Bynes, Elise Higgins, Sandra Meade, Michael Poppa, Rep. Mark Takano

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders continue to be used as a wedge for racial justice and stereotyped as the model minority. Despite this, people are standing up, taking action and organizing to advance worker, immigrant and civil rights. Join us for a discussion about the opportunities and challenges facing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in movements for racial justice. How are Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders amplifying their racial identities especially in a time of demographic change? How are they asserting and centering their solidarities with other communities of color including with the movement for Black lives and the movement led by undocumented youth?

Led by: Gregory Cendana

Panelists: Eileen Cheong, Deepa Iyer, Kabzuag Vaj