Keynote Speakers
We're pleased to offer an exciting lineup of speakers and presenters for the 2008 Grassroots & Groundwork conference.
May 28, 2008
Donna M. Beegle
Shifting Paradigms for Lasting Change
As the daughter of migrant farmers, Donna Beegle was immersed in poverty for most of her life. Finally, at age 25, as a high school dropout and single mother with no job skills, she bravely took the first step toward breaking her cycle of generational poverty. Over the next 10 years, she tackled seemingly endless obstacles and earned numerous degrees, culminating with a doctorate in educational leadership from Portland State University.
Dr. Beegle is now president of Communication Across Barriers, a consulting
firm devoted to improving communication and relationships across race,
class, gender and generational barriers. She is also founder and CEO of
PovertyBridge, a nonprofit dedicated to changing lives for people in poverty.
She is a national public speaker, discussion leader, trainer and author.
Her resource book, “See Poverty, Be the Difference,” gives
professionals concrete tools and ideas for creating programs and systems
that are responsive to the needs of people living in poverty. Her story
and work have been featured in newspapers and on television, including
a PBS documentary, “Invisible Nation,” set to air in fall
2008
Chip Heath
Made to Stick
Chip Heath is a professor of organizational behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He is well known for his “How to Make Ideas Stick” course and book that explain why certain ideas survive and prosper – stick – in the social marketplace of ideas without marketing dollars, PR assistance or the attention of leaders.
Heath and his brother have taught and consulted on the topic of "making ideas stick" with audiences from Nissan, Chronicle Books, Ideo and West Point, among others. Heath’s research, which helps companies design more effective messages, has appeared in numerous professional journals and popular magazines. He also has appeared on NPR and National Geographic specials. Prior to joining Stanford, Professor Heath taught at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He received his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M University and his doctorate in psychology from Stanford.
May 29, 2008
PANELISTS
Kerri Miller
Kerri Miller is our panel moderator. She has been an award-winning radio and TV news reporter since 1981. In 2004, she began hosting Minnesota Public Radio’s “Midmorning,” and Talking Volumes, the joint book club of MPR, the Star Tribune and the Loft Literary Center. Miller previously worked for KARE-11 News and KSTP-TV in Minneapolis. She wrote “Dead Air,” a political thriller, and currently is working on a mystery novel.
Gregory Gray
Gregory Gray is executive director of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty by 2020, ensuring that commission members have the information they need to understand poverty in Minnesota and ultimately, the methods to alleviate that poverty. Previously, he was involved with the Minnesota House of Representatives for more than six years. He has an impressive record of educational attainment, business contributions and community and political activism.
Mark Greenberg
At the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan progressive policy research and educational institute in Washington, D.C., Mark Greenberg directs the Poverty and Prosperity Program. He previously was the executive director of the task force on poverty, which released “From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half” in April 2007. Greenberg is a senior fellow at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), and is participating in the development of the Georgetown Center on Poverty, Inequality and Public Policy. Greenberg also has worked at Jacksonville Area Legal Aid in Florida and the Western Center on Law and Poverty in Los Angeles, Calif.
Candy Hill
As senior vice president of social policy and government affairs, Candy
Hill is the chief spokesperson on all of Catholic Charities USA’s
advocacy efforts. She also serves as a spokesperson on the Campaign to
Reduce Poverty in America, which was launched by Catholic Charities USA
in 2007 to address the growing disparity in America between those with
the most and those with the least. Hill previously worked for more than
30 years in social and human services for Catholic Charities of Monroe
County, the Archdiocese of Detroit and the state of Michigan.
May 30, 2008
Thomas Vilsack
Thomas Vilsack is Of Counsel in the Dorsey Trial group. His practice focuses
on strategic counseling and advising clients in the fields of energy conservation,
renewable energy and agribusiness development. Vilsack served as the governor
of Iowa from 1998 to 2006, where he focused on improving education, particularly
in early childhood, expanding health care to the uninsured, making the state
a national leader in renewable energy and creating a nationally recognized
efficient and accountable state government. Vilsack ran as a candidate for
the U.S. Presidency until announcing his withdrawal from the race in February
2007. In addition to his distinguished public service career, including
service as an Iowa state senator and mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Vilsack
is a highly regarded litigator. He has more than 25 years of trial experience
handling complex litigation and class actions with statewide and national
implications.
