Focus Policy Blog

CPIO5P2W8AQjkjG

Joint Center at CBC ALC Week

This past week, lawmakers, scholars, private sector leaders, and others gathered for the 2015 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Leadership Conference.

The Joint Center attended panels discussing STEM technology and education, civil rights and police brutality, voting rights, development of young leaders, and the power of Black voices in the media.

Joint Center President Spencer Overton moderated the A. Leon Higginbotham Annual Voting Rights Brain Trust, hosted by Congresswoman Marcia Fudge.  The first panel featured young elected officials, including Marilyn Mosby (Baltimore City State Attorney), Emilia Sykes (Ohio House of Representatives), and Jumaane Williams (New York City Councilman).  The second panel featured leaders from national mobilization organizations, including Aunna Dennis (Lawyers’ Committee), Sammie Dow (NAACP), and Ashley Spillane (Rock the Vote).  A consistent theme was that African American voting in local, state, and federal elections is key to educational, criminal justice, and financial change. Spencer also participated on a U.S. Black Chambers CBC policy panel on entrepreneurship and the presidential elections featuring Michele Jawando (Center for American Progress), Damon Dozier (Materials Research Society), and moderated by former White House Staffer Michael Blake.