Conference Agenda

All conference events are at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel, 415 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC.

Thursday, May 8th
6:30 - 8:30 PM Evening Kickoff Reception
Speakers include Tamara Draut and Heather McGhee, Demos.
Mandie Yanasak, United Food and Commercial Workers
Drinks and Light Food will be served.

Sponsored By:

United Food and Commercial Workers Young Workers Program

Friday, May 9th
8:30 - 9:00 AM Breakfast Buffet

9:00 - 9:45 AM Breakfast Keynote Speaker Andy Stern
Demos President Miles Rapoport will introduce.

10:00 - 11:15 AM Panel A: Paycheck Politics
This panel will focus on the quality of jobs available to young adults in the New Economy, comparing wages, job security, unionization and benefits to the jobs that sustained previous generations. Speakers will also offer strategies for improving job quality, including living wage laws, career ladder and green job programs, traditional unionization and alternative organizing strategies including worker centers. 10:00 - 11:15 AM Panel B: Generation Debt
This panel will focus on the rise of personal debt among young adults, explaining how culture, financial pressures and new lending industry practices have played a role. Panelists will discuss strategies to combat payday lending, abusive credit card practices, predatory home loans and other high-cost credit. 11:30 AM - 12:00 PM Lunch Buffet

12:00 - 12:30 PM Keynote by Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation

12:30 - 1:30 PM Lunch Plenary: We're Broke and We Vote
This panel will focus on strategies to build a movement for a better deal for young adults. Panelists will discuss the power of young voters, the obstacles to moving a young adult economic agenda and how to mobilize young adults around these issues. 1:45 - 3:00 PM Panel A: Getting a Life - Housing, Health Care and Child Care
This panel will focus on affordability barriers to the necessities of middle-class life: housing, health care and child care. Panelists will describe why and how costs have risen, what public policies and non-governmental initiatives could help young adults and families, and how activists can play a role. 1:45 - 3:00 PM Panel B: Higher and Higher Education
This panel will focus on issues of higher education access, affordability and debt. The panel will explore the attack on affirmative action amidst the widening racial gap in higher education, the drivers behind skyrocketing tuitions and student debt, and offer policy solutions. 3:05 - 4:15 PM Plenary: Race, Ethnicity and Economic Destiny
Snacks will be served.
This panel will explore the connection between the millennial generation's two claims to fame: the most diverse generation in American history and the first that is widely predicted to not surpass their parents' standards of living. Panelists will discuss the economic status of immigrants and their children; the effect of the racial wealth gap; the economic contours of mass youth incarceration, and issues of political power and the challenges of winning broad government investments in a more diverse population. 4:30 - 5:30 PM User-Generated Breakout Sessions
Registrants are given the chance to submit either topic requests or proposals to host a session during online registration. At the conference, these small group discussions or training sessions will allow participants to learn from each other and connect with other activists in their region or issue area. Attendees will choose among the available sessions by signing up the morning of the conference.

5:30 - 6:00 PM Plenary: Conference Wrap-Up and Next Steps
A Better Deal Conference is a project of Demos. For more information about Demos, the Economic Opportunity Program or other Demos projects and affiliated programs visit: Demos.org.