2016 Post-Election Briefing: Politics, Policy and Philanthropy
November 16-17, 2016 | Washington, DC

READING LIST

Below, you’ll find a brief reading list to help acquaint you with the issues that our meeting sessions and speakers will address. For each session, we suggest some “quick reads” – brief magazine and newspaper articles, blogs, and issue briefs – as well as “deeper dives,” – journal articles and in-depth reports.

National and State Election Outcomes: Insights, Lessons and Future Implications 
This keynote session will provide a comprehensive overview of the election outcomes and set the context for our work moving forward. Panelists will share data on who voted, what issues and messages moved voters and discuss the results of key races and ballot measure campaigns. They will also explore how the new political landscape will affect potential shifts in public and political will on economic and social policies (including health and human services, criminal justice, inequality, education, and labor).

• Donald Trump Is Elected President in Stunning Repudiation of the Establishment – This article by Matt Flegenheimer and Michael Barbaro in The New York Times explores how a largely overlooked coalition of anti-establishment, white working-class voters elected Donald Trump as President. Published November 9, 2016.
• Which ballot initiatives passed? Marijuana, minimum wage and more – This blog post by David Crary, Associated Press, in the PBS NewsHour “The Rundown” blog shares the results from key ballot measure campaigns in the states. Posted November 9, 2016.
• The Four Groups That Will Decide the Presidential Race – This article by Ronald Brownstein in The Atlantic describes how the outcome of the election hinges on how pronounced a handful of demographic trends turn out to be. Published November 7, 2016.

New Windows of Opportunity for Advancing a Policy Agenda for Low Income Families, Workers and Communities
In what policy arenas can philanthropy make a difference today? A panel of experts will reflect on the outcomes of the federal and state elections and what it suggests in terms of opportunities and threats at both the federal and state level.

• Who could be in Trump’s Cabinet? – This web post by CNN staff outlines who might be included in a Trump Cabinet and inner White House circle. This web page is continually updated.
• How President Trump Could Reshape the Supreme Court—and the Country – This article by Jeffrey Rosen in Politico describes how the Trump presidency will shape the Supreme Court, where he has one vacancy to fill and the possibility of more in the years ahead. Published November 13, 2016.
• Obamacare’s future in critical condition after Trump’s victory – This article by Amy Goldstein in The Washington Post discusses what Trump’s election means for the Affordable Care Act.  Published November 9, 2016. 
  
• What will President Donald Trump do? Predicting his policy agenda – This article by Oliver Laughland, Spencer Ackerman, Julian Borger, Amanda Holpuch, Molly Redden, Oliver Milman, Dominic Rushe and Jamiles Lartey for The Guardian shares insights on President-elect Donald Trump’s policy agenda on immigration, healthcare, gun control and women’s rights. Published November 9, 2016.
• How Clinton And Trump Plan To Address The Issue Of Poverty – This podcast by Pam Fessler for NPR Morning Edition “What’s The issue” series examine the Presidential candidates’ plans to address poverty. Published October 12, 2016.
• The Missing Conversation about Work and Family: Unique Challenges Facing Women of Color – This report by Jocelyn Frye for the Center for American Progress examines the unique challenges that many women of color face at work and at home and identifies workable solutions that are responsive to all women and their many diverse needs. Published in October 2016.
• Child Care Deserts Report and Interactive Map – This report by Rasheed Malik, Katie Hamm, Maryam Adamu, and Taryn Morrissey and interactive map produced for the Center for American Progress provides an analysis of child care centers by ZIP code in eight states. Posted on October 27, 2016
• The Cost of Work-Family Policy Inaction – This report by Sarah Jane Glynn and Danielle Corley for the Center for American Progress quantifies the costs families currently face as a result of lacking U.S. work-family policies. Published in September 2016.
• Make Work Great Again – This commentary by Christine L. Owens in U.S. News & World Report explores how little has been said by the Presidential candidates on jobs and the economy and offers suggestions for building an economy that “delivers opportunity, security and prosperity to all – especially those most often left behind.” Published September 2, 2016.
• A Conservative Push for Paid Family Leave – This article by Russell Berman in The Atlantic discusses efforts led by a Republican-backed research group to establish a paid-leave benefit for the working poor. Published August 15, 2016. 
  
• Where States Are and Where they Should Be on Unemployment Protections – This issue brief by Rachel West, Indivar Dutta-Gupta, Kali Grant, Melissa Boteach, Claire McKenna, & Judy Conti supported by the Center for American Progress, National Employment Law Project, and Georgetown Center for Poverty and Inequality identifies the main challenges facing states’ Unemployment Insurance (UI) programs, provides recent state-level data on UI programs, and recommends steps to substantially strengthen UI programs. Published July 7, 2016.
• 2016 End-of-Session Legislative Report – This report by the State Innovation Exchange, examines some of the best – and worst – state policies from this year’s legislative sessions and underscores the consequences of conservatives possessing disproportionate power in the states. Released in July 2016.
• Calculating the Hidden Cost of Interrupting a Career for Child Care Report and Calculator– This report by Michael Madowitz, Alex Rowell, and Katie Hamm for the Center for American Progress explores the ways in which families who opt out of the labor force bear the hidden costs of the lack of access to quality, affordable child care. The corresponding Calculator is a simple, customizable interactive tool that allows the public to input their information to learn how much the failing child care system in the United States could cost them. Published in June 2016.
• Big Changes Coming in States’ Child Care Subsidy Policies – This blog post by Katie Stevens & Lorraine Blatt in the Urban Wire Blog describes the November 2014 reauthorization of the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act, including three key changes required by the new law. Published May 4, 2016.
• Early Education and the Presidential Election – This blog post by Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children Eye on Early Education Blog explores various efforts underway to encourage candidates and already-elected officials to talk about early education. Published April 12, 2016.
• Raising Our Nation: Forging a More Robust and Equitable Childcare System in America– This report by Dr. Sanjay Pinto for the Ms. Foundation for Women provides a comprehensive look at the country’s childcare landscape, including its underlying gender- and-race-based inequities. Published in 2016.
• Election 2016: Which Political Candidates Value Work? Policy Clues to Look For – This workforce development report by Maureen Conway for the Aspen Institute explores key issues to watch during the 2016 election, including education, labor standards, immigration policy and social policy. September 4, 2015.
• Top Ten for 2Gen: Policies and Principles to Advance Two-generation Efforts – This report by Anne Mosle, Nisha Patel, and Jennifer Stedron for Ascend outlines six principles and ten specific policies to guide the design and use of two-generation approaches to help parents and children break out of the cycle of poverty. Published in October 2014. Watch a video on the release and a discussion here.

Economic Justice Breakout Session

• Transitioning to a Trump Administration: What It Could Mean for the Department of Labor and OSHA – This article by Sandy Smith in EHS Today shares Former Assistant Secretary of Labor Ed Foulke’s thoughts on what to expect from a Trump Administration. Published November 10, 2016.
• Clinton or Trump? The Future of Employment Law and Workplace Safety Regulation– This article by Kara M. Maciel, Eric J. Conn and Nick W. Scala in The OSHA Defense Report provides employer perspectives on the impact of a Trump presidency on workplace standards. Published November 6, 2016.
• Post-Election Roundup from State Innovation Exchange – A series of post-election postings on the State Innovation Exchange Six from SiX Weekly Digest. Published November 2016.
• A Trump OSHA Likely to Enforce Less, Make Fewer Rules – This article by Stephen Lee in Bloomberg BNA outlines potential threats to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration under a Donald Trump presidency. Published June 2, 2016.

Poverty and Opportunity Breakout Session

• A Window of Opportunity II: An Analysis of Public Opinion on Poverty –This 2016 report by Opportunity Agenda examines existing polling and survey data in an effort to identify major attitudinal shifts, lasting challenges, and opportunities for advocates and leaders seeking to advance anti-poverty narratives and policies. Released September 29, 2016.
• 10 Lessons for Talking About Race – This webinar by the Opportunity Agenda shares a few tips on talking about race, racism and bias, and examples from advocates who have learned how to have these important conversations in their work. Published September 16, 2016.
• Make action on poverty a national priority – This editorial in The National Catholic Reporter describes efforts by the Circle of Protection coalition to seek “a new bipartisan dialog on what it will take to end hunger and poverty.” Published September 7, 2016.
• Clinton, Ryan team up on anti-poverty plan – This article by Ben Weyl in Politico explores bipartisan support for the 10|20|30 Formula to Fight Persistent Poverty, an anti-poverty proposal that cuts across racial and party lines. Published August 24, 2016.
  
• “Billion Dollar Bets” to Create Economic Opportunity for Every American – This report by Debby Bielak, Devin Murphy, and Jim Shelton for The Bridgespan Group explores how a billion dollars could best reduce place-based concentrated poverty. Published May 2016.
• Opportunity, responsibility, and security: A consensus plan for reducing poverty and restoring the American Dream. This comprehensive report is the result of 14 months of work by 15 experts in the AEI-Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity. Its consensus plan to reduce poverty and restore the American Dream bridges the partisan divide and suggests a way forward despite the political polarization and gridlock that has paralyzed much of Washington. Published December 2015.
• Pope Francis Speech at World Meeting of Popular Movements – See the full text of Pope Francis’ prepared address for the World Meeting of Popular Movements in Santa Cruz, Bolivia calling for economic change and social justice. Delivered on October 7, 2015.
• Obama tackles poverty on a panel in front of Catholic and evangelical leaders – This article by Michelle Boorstein and Sarah Pulliam Bailey in The Washington Post explores the intersection of faith and politics and shares highlights from the Catholic-Evangelical Leadership Summit on Overcoming Poverty at Georgetown. Published May 12, 2015.
• Social Justice Comic Book and Video – Helvetika Bold is a social justice superhero created by the Opportunity Agenda to bring to life some of the principles communicated in their social justice communications toolkit (see above).
• Circle of Protection: A Statement on Why We Need to Protect Programs for the Poor –This statement of principles was developed in 2011 and signed by more than 65 heads of denominations, relief and development agencies, and other Christian organizations working to protect vital programs for people in or near poverty in the United States and around the world.

Workforce Development Breakout Session

• American Institute for Innovative Apprenticeships Library – This online library provides a selective list of articles and reports on apprenticeship.
• Skills for Good Jobs: An Agenda for the Next President – This document by the National Skills Coalition offers concrete goals and proposals for the next president to put millions of Americans on a pathway toward a good paying, middle‐skill jobs and to do so in a manner that will bring greater capacity and profits to millions of U.S. companies, particularly small‐ and medium‐size firms that need and want to hire locally to fill skilled positions. Published November 9, 2016.
• From Medieval to Millennial: Building & Marketing Modern, Youth-Oriented Apprenticeship Programs – This report by Eve Rips for Young Invincibles highlights three key misconceptions that Millennials hold about apprenticeships and makes six recommendations for building and branding youth-friendly apprenticeship programs. Published in August 2016.
• Employer’s Playbook for Building an Apprenticeship Program – This playbook is a product of a collaboration including Alcoa, Dow, and Siemens, and is an easy-to-use guide for any private employer that seeks to develop an Apprenticeship Program. Published in December 2014.
• An Effectiveness Assessment and Cost-Benefit Analysis of Registered Apprenticeship in 10 States – This study by Debbie Reed, Albert Yung-Hsu Liu, Rebecca Kleinman, Annalisa Mastri, Davin Reed, Samina Sattar, and Jessica Ziegler for Mathematica Policy Research examined the effectiveness and performed a cost-benefit analysis of Registered Apprenticeships and career-training programs administered by the Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Apprenticeship in the U.S. Department of Labor in conjunction with state apprenticeship agencies. Published July 25, 2012.

Philanthropic Efforts to Support and Shape the Transition to a New Administration and Congress

• Presidential Transition Center – This first-of-its-kind Center is helping the presidential candidates and their transition teams, the outgoing administration and federal agencies navigate the transition process and ensure our next president will be ready to govern on day one. 
  
• Opportunity 2017: Pivotal Time for Action on a Federal Policy Agenda to Reduce Poverty and Promote Opportunity – This PowerPoint presentation describes Opportunity 2017, an initiative led by The Annie E. Casey Foundation that aims to identify key areas for consensus building that are ripe for policy action in 2017, affordable, and where there is possibility for bipartisan consensus. Updated November 15, 2016.
  
• New Realities for Philanthropy in the Trump Era – This article by Benjamin Soskis in the Chronicle of Philanthropy explores the role of philanthropy in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. Published November 10, 2016.
• Bypassed: How Philanthropy Forgot About the White Working Class – This article by David Callahan for Inside Philanthropy explores philanthropy’s role in alienating white working-class voters. Published November 8, 2016.
• The Most Important Takeover of Any Organization in History: Inside the Years-Long Push to Perfect the Presidential Transition – This article by Russell Berman in The Atlantic discusses pitfalls of Presidential transitions and recent efforts to improve the transition process. Published April 22, 2016.
• Community Foundation Opportunity Network Aims to Narrow the Opportunity Gap –This blog post by Lois R. Shea for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Blog describes how a group of community foundations have joined forces to increase opportunity for America’s kids. Published August 10, 2016.
• Funders Together to End Homelessness Policy Priorities for the Next Administration – This web page will serve as a collection of information that will continually be updated with new reports, fact sheets, websites, and other resources that support these priority areas.         Updated in November 1, 2016.
• The Early Childhood Funders’ Collaborative is developing an opportunity memo, highlighting early childhood and education policy priorities for the transition team. Forthcoming.
• The Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities is developing a transition team memo, highlighting policy priorities that yield environmentally sustainable, socially equitable and economically prosperous regions and communities. Forthcoming.

US Partnership on Mobility From Poverty
The US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty is a new collaborative, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, aimed at discovering permanent ladders of mobility for the poor.

• What Would Substantially Increased Mobility from Poverty Look Like? – This paper, prepared for the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty by Gregory Acs, Diana Elliott and Emma Cancian Kalish, considers different ways to think about mobility from poverty, shows differences in poverty and mobility over time and across people, and illustrates the potential effects of changing underlying patterns and trends on poverty and mobility. Published July 20, 2016.
• Building Blocks and Strategies for Helping Americans Move Out of Poverty –This working paper, prepared for the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty by Mary Bogle, Gregory Acs, Pamela J. Loprest, Kelly Mikelson, and Susan J. Popkin, provides a framework for thinking about the programs and initiatives that help individuals and families beat these odds and move out of poverty. Published August 24, 2016.
• Creating Mobility from Poverty: An Overview of Strategies – This paper, prepared for the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty by David Ellwood, Mary Bogle, Gregory Acs, Kelly S. Mikelson, and Susan J. Popkin, broadly outlines the types of strategies being used to help people move up from poverty. Published August 25, 2016.

The Role of the News Media in the 2016 Elections and Beyond
The way we communicate is quickly changing. Our access to news and information has increased dramatically, as has access to a broader variety of voices and opinions. This session will explore the role of the media – both traditional and nontraditional – in the elections and consider implications for our economic security and justice work.

• A ‘Dewey Defeats Truman’ Lesson for the Digital Age – This article by Jim Rutenberg in The New York Times explores the failure of the media “to capture the boiling anger of a large portion of the American electorate that feels left behind.” Published November 9, 2016.
• How did everyone get it so wrong?– This article by Kenneth Vogel and Alex Isenstadt for Politico explores how polls failed to predict Trump’s strength and his ultimate election as the next U.S. President.  Published November 9, 2016.
• Shame on Us, the American Media – This article by Brian Beutler in the New Republic explores the role of media in the election. Published November 8, 2016.
• Rigged election? A chorus of complaint from Team Trump – This article by David Jackson and Susan Page in USA TODAY explores the claims by Donald Trump of a rigged election and discusses fears of violence at the polls and after the election. Published October 16, 2016.
• Stop Whining About ‘False Balance’: Everyone wants to blame reporters for the rise of Donald Trump. How about the media consumer? – This article by Matt Taibbi for the Rolling Stone explores complaints of horse-race journalism during the elections, and asserts the public’s role in creating the demand for it. Published September 16, 2016.
• Ten Facts About the Changing Digital News Landscape – This blog post by Katerina Eva Matsa and Kristine Lu in the Pew Research Center blog, Fact Tank: News in the Numbers, shares key findings from the recent Pew Research Center surveys and analyses and explores how these rapid digital shifts are reshaping Americans’ news habits. Published September 14, 2016.
• How the Media Have Covered the 2016 Election – This podcast byJody Avirgan, Nate Silver, Clare Malone, and Harry Enten for FiveThirtyEight’s Election Podcast Series looks at the challenges the press faces in covering the 2016 campaign. Aired September 6, 2016.
• The Summer of the Shill: Campaign 2016 won’t just have lasting implications for American politics. It’s obliterated what was left of our news media – This article by Matt Taibbi for the Rolling Stone asserts that virtually all the major news organizations are producing partisan news, with “private news organizations now doing the work that political parties used to have to pay for in the form of ads.” Published August 15, 2016.
• The Modern News Consumer: News Attitudes and Practices in the Digital Era – This report by Amy Mitchell, Jeffrey Gottfried, Michael Barthel, & Elisa Shearer for the Pew Research Center explores the influence of digital innovation on the public’s news habits. Published July 7, 2016.
• A deep dive into the news media’s role in the rise of Donald J. Trump – This article by John Sides and Kalev Leetaru in The Washington Post explores whether the media’s coverage of Donald Trump helped him become the presumptive Republican nominee. June 24, 2016.
• State of the News Media 2016 – This annual report produced by the Pew Research Center provides detailed information on 13 separate segments of the news industry, each with its own data-filled fact sheet, along with an overview that highlights and weaves together trends in audience, economics, newsroom investment and ownership across the industry. Published June 15, 2016.
• Is the future of social justice journalism still bright? This interview of NPR TV critic Eric Deggans by Benjamin Mullin for Poynter explores social justice journalism’s trajectory in today’s swiftly changing media landscape. Published March 29, 2016.
• How to Talk about Race – This TED talk by Eric Deggans at TEDxBloomington explores how the conversation about race in America is just beginning and the importance of not shying away from it. Published May 5, 2013.
• Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation – This book by Eric Deggans dissects the powerful ways modern media feeds fears, prejudices, and hate, while also tracing the history of the word and its consequences, intended or otherwise. Published October 30, 2012.

Tapping Into American Aspirations and Values to Drive Social Change

Building on our conversations about the role of communications and framing of issues in our work, this session will share groundbreaking research on how communicating effectively about American values and aspirations can change the national narrative to support broadly shared prosperity and opportunity for all.

• American Aspirations Web Site – Learn more—and join forces with others – to drive new narratives that inspire and engage people in your cause.
• American Aspirations at ComNet16 – This Hattaway Communications resource was shared at the ComNet16 conference and includes data and insights on how people can connect to their audience’s aspirations. Shared September 30, 2016.
• The Death of Idealism – This op-ed by David Brooks in The New York Times describes the decline of idealism and unity in America. Published September 30, 2016.
• A Referendum on America’s Identity – This article by Ronald Brownstein in The Atlantic explores findings from a new poll that shows widespread concern about many of the key long-term demographic and economic trends reshaping the country. Published July 13, 2016.
• It Can Be Smart to Dumb Things Down – This article by Doug Hattaway and Jenn Henrichsen in the Stanford Social Innovation Review explores how keeping your message simple helps mobilize people in support of your goals. This article serves as an introduction to the methodology used for the American Aspirations research. Published May 17, 2013.