NPM

Free and open to the public.  This lunch lecture features Susan J. Demas, Editor and Publisher of Inside Michigan Politics.

Mariam Noland has been widely recognized as the "hero of the Grand Bargain," the landmark effort to save Detroit from bankruptcy. She was a central figure in organizing a collaborative of foundations to donate $816 million to bail out Detroit's pension system and protect the Detroit Art Institute's art from being sold, and will help oversee the Foundation for Detroit's Future, which was established to oversee Grand Bargain funds, for the next 20 years. Ms. Noland will engage in conversation with Megan Tompkins-Stange, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, about her experience as a foundation professional, her views about the role of philanthropy in providing for public needs, and how community foundations act as agents of social change. 

Michael Pagano, Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will discuss comparative research aimed to help better inform city leaders, public policy makers, and government officials in making fiscal policy decisions. 

Dr. Shelley Metzenbaum talks about the excitement of working in government and how one person can make a difference using the tools of outcomes-focused goals and measurement to illuminate, motivate, and communicate.

Free and Open to the Public. Presenting: Mark Funkhouser, Director, Governing Institute, Former Mayor of Kansas City, MO Abstract "The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities." - Abraham Lincoln Government exists to produce positive outcomes in the community and those outcomes are "co-produced" by government and citizens working together.  Every citizen has p

Free and open to the public. Join the conversation: #fordschoolspellings Lecture by the Honorable Margaret Spellings, Former U.S. Secretary of Education (2005-2009) Abstract: The seminal education law known as No Child Left Behind put critical pressure on our schools to dramatically improve education in America. Through accountability, testing, and consequences for failure, a more targeted focus on our neediest students has translated into measurable success for them.

Richard Buery is President/CEO of The Children's Aid Society. Founded in 1853, CAS serves 80,000 children at 45 locations in New York City and Westchester, and its Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program and National Center for Community Schools serve thousands more nationally. Mr.

Abstract Over the past two decades, many urban school districts have restructured large, traditional high schools into smaller learning communities. The idea behind this movement is that small schools provide a more personalized learning environment that allows teachers to more effectively address the multi-faceted needs of disadvantaged students. Despite mixed evidence on the efficacy of such reforms in practice, Detroit and other high-poverty districts have pressed forward with the creation of smaller high schools.