PROGRAM

Join Basil Smikle Jr. in conversation with Marc Morial, President and CEO of National Urban League, for a discussion of the challenges civic leaders and academics face in building political and social movements around the most pressing policy problems of today.

Speakers:

Marc H. Morial is the President and CEO of the National Urban League. His energetic and skilled leadership has expanded the League’s work around an empowerment agenda, redefining civil rights in the 21st century with a renewed emphasis on closing the economic gaps between white, black, rich, and poor Americans. As Mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002, Morial led his city’s renaissance and left office with a 70% approval rating. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Economics and African American Studies and holds a law degree from Georgetown University. Morial is the author of The Gumbo Coalition, a collection of lessons on the power of unity in our Democracy and a leadership framework for America’s changemakers. These lessons were recently adapted into a documentary of the same name by HBO, in which Morial also stars.

Basil A. Smikle Jr., is a Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Public Policy Program at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College. Previously, he was appointed by former Governor David Paterson to serve as the Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Party during the 2016 presidential cycle where he was the “second highest ranking Democrat” in the State. He holds a PhD in Politics and Education and an MPA from Columbia University and received a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. He is a frequent on-screen public affairs commentator for CNN and MSNBC.