Power Station

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#43 Quyen Dinh, Southeast Asia Resource Center Dec 27, 2018

Show notes

Quyen Dinh, Executive Director of Southeast Asia Resource Center (SEARAC), is deeply connected to the Vietnamese, Laotian and Cambodian communities she serves. As the daughter of Vietnamese refugees she knows first hand the challenges faced by new immigrants with limited resources. SEARAC, a national civil rights organization, is energized by a network of 40 community-based nonprofits that advocate for pro-immigrant policies at the state and federal levels. SEARAC trains young people to share their stories and policy recommendations to their elected representatives. Quyen explains the looming threat of the Trump administration's Public Charge proposal, which would penalize immigrants who access programs that aid families in need. She updates us on the latest round of deportations that are returning Vietnamese and Cambodian people to home countries that some have only fragile connections to. Quyen's trajectory in America fuels her belief in, and support for, others following her path.

#42 Robert Friedman Dec 17, 2018

Show notes

Bob Friedman has been at the forefront of building wealth in low-income communities for decades. He founded Corporation for Enterprise Development in 1979, (recently renamed Prosperity Now) to develop, test and implement the strategies needed to move low-income people into the economic mainstream. These now fully vetted strategies are the foundation for Prosperity Now's public policy proposals at the local, state and federal levels. Bob joins Power Station to discuss his new book, A Few Thousand Dollars, which provides a template for building wealth and creating a more equitable America. Bob's hopefulness is unfaltering. He agrees with Sen. Cory Booker, who wrote the book's afterword, that we know how to address the challenge. The question is whether we have the will.

#41 Josh Hoyt, National Partnership for New Americans Dec 10, 2018

Show notes

Josh Hoyt explains that the way you make democracy work is by organizing the people who are left out. This is the proposition that guides his leadership of the National Partnership for New Americans, a multi-ethnic and multi-racial organization comprised of the nation's largest immigrant-serving coalitions, 37 nonprofits in 31 states. These organizations serve both traditional hubs of immigration, such as California and New York, and emerging communities in Minnesota, Alabama, Idaho and Nebraska. Those they serve, Latinos, Asians, and Africans, have been marginalized by a lack of public resources, corrosive rhetoric and the politics of fear. Their collective voices are heard at the National Immigrant Integration Conference (NIIC). A hallmark of the event is the New American Dreams Platform, whose plank includes Full Citizenship For All and America As A Refuge. As Josh says, an organizer listens and brings people together.

#40 Tanya Fiddler, Native CDFI Network Dec 03, 2018

Show notes

Tanya Fiddler (Cheyenne River Sioux), Executive Director of the Native CDFI Network, is a self-proclaimed wayuiyeska, a Lakota word for translator. In her interactions with policy makers, funders and fellow nonprofit leaders, she translates the experience of Native Americans to those of us who do not fully know it. She \explains that, according to Native spirituality and culture, the concept of asset building is based in the idea that, Everything is for us, but we don't have to own it." The Network's 74 member organizations are certified and emerging CDFIs (Community Development Financial Institutions), Native-run nonprofits that invest in their community's economic future by making home ownership and small business development possible. And financial education is becoming enshrined in early childhood education. Tanya talks about navigating multiple layers of government - tribal, state and federal - to make the needs and capacities of over 500 federally recognized tribes understood. And she relates the ongoing challenge of inclusion at nonprofit tables as well.

#39 Diane Standaert, Center for Responsible Lending Nov 26, 2018

Show notes

How do you create a more just financial marketplace? We explore this question with Diane Standaert, Executive Vice President, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), a nonprofit dedicated to economic justice and the elimination of predatory lending. As Diane explains, the problem is rooted in racially exclusionary and discriminatory policy making, exacerbated by the 2008 mortgage crisis. Payday lenders prosper by pulling poor people in need of small dollar loans into a debt trap. CRL conducts empirical research to demonstrate the scope of the problem to state and national policymakers. It partners with local nonprofits, the faith community and veteran's groups to advocate for solutions, from ballot initiatives to state-based legislation. And it advocates on a national level for the embattled Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a champion of consumer rights. Check out the vital work led by CRL and Self-Help, it's influential and innovative lending partner.

#38 Ed Lazere, DC Fiscal Policy Institute Nov 19, 2018

Show notes

If you want to know DC as more than the nation's capitol, listen to this conversation with Ed Lazere. As executive director of the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, he has mastered the formula for influencing the City's legislative and budget making process. He and his team of nine use research and data analysis to shape an advocacy agenda around the issues that are most crucial to low-income DC residents: affordable housing, quality schools, economic development, jobs, training and health care. On this episode, Ed breaks down Initiative 77, a DC ballot measure about tipped wage earners that took an unexpected turn. DCFPI is a force to be reckoned with and we are fortunate to have Ed's insights here.

#37 John Holdsclaw, National Cooperative Bank Nov 12, 2018

Show notes

John Holdsclaw, Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs, National Cooperative Bank, refers to himself as an "accidental banker." In this episode, we discuss his evolution from community development practitioner to public policy advocate to a champion for the financing of affordable housing and worker-owned cooperatives. At Capitol Impact Partners, John became a trusted voice on Capitol Hill, known for his support for Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), which provide capital grants and equity investments in affordable housing and small businesses. At NCB, John is an unstoppable force for investments in high-quality nonprofit CDFIs. John explains how CDFIs fill in where traditional financial services are lacking and our nation's racial wealth gap seems intractable. John talks about what's next in the community development field and how, as his father counseled him, to always be prepared with "facts and stats."

#36 Kathy Tran, Delegate, 42nd District, Commonwealth of Virginia Nov 05, 2018

Show notes

Kathy Tran is a change maker and an advocate for all people seeking to fully live the American Dream. Her own journey started as a 2 year old with her family's exodus from Vietnam to America in search of opportunity and freedom. Kathy witnessed her parents perseverance after settling here and making the sacrifices needed to sustain their family. She was inspired to carry on their legacy through her service at the US Department of Labor, where she focused on education and skill building for immigrants and refugees and on veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce. At the National Immigration Forum, Kathy launched a workforce development program to address the needs of low and high skilled refugees. The 2016 election prompted Kathy to rethink her path and to find a new way to uplift communities. She ran for the Virginia House of Delegates and won, the first Vietnamese American to serve in this important body. We talk about advocacy campaigns and how to be hopeful in challenging times.

#35 Ashley Allison, The Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights Oct 29, 2018

Show notes

Ashley Allison, Executive Vice President of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, talks to Power Station about the All Voting is Local Campaign, which is building support for, and tackling systemic barriers to voting in Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Arizona. This campaign operates as a collaborative with national partners including the ACLU, the American Constitution Society, and local nonprofit partners. Their collective advocacy, litigation, organizing and where possible, partnership with supervisors of elections, has increased the numbers of poll workers and bilingual translators, improved accessibility to voting sites in communities of color and by disabled people. As Ashley explains, this campaign is one of many embraced by The Leadership Conference, a voice for over 200 powerhouse coalition members, including labor unions, civil rights and LGBTQ organizations. She shares her own journey in social change advocacy, informed by her childhood in Youngstown, Ohio, her experiences as a young teacher in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and as a lawyer, serving in the Obama Administration's Office of Public Engagement. Ashley is strategic, passionate and inspiring.

#34 John Yang, Asian Americans Advancing Justice Oct 22, 2018

Show notes

John Yang brings layers of life experience to his leadership of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. His family moved to the US from China when he was a child and coped with losing their documentation, temporarily, after overstaying a work visa. After becoming a lawyer, he litigated for a DC based law firm and was legal director for a fortune 500 company in Shanghai, China. And he served in the Obama Administration as Senior Advisor on Asian issues to US Department of Commerce Secretary Pritzker. As President and Executive Director of AAJC, the largest Asian American policy organization in Washington DC, John leads a team of 20 staff members in advocating for the civil rights of a diverse, and growing constituency. AAJC's work is informed by community partners, locally based nonprofits in 32 states that provide day-to-day services to Asian American. AAJC is now a powerhouse advocate on the most pressing issues of the day: Census 2020, affirmative action, immigration and civic engagement in the policymaking process. AAJC embraces data, debunks stereotypes and collaborates with nonprofit partners to make change possible.

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