Brown School conference to focus on ‘12 Grand Challenges’ for America | The Source | Washington University in St. Louis
National experts, advocates and leading academics will gather at Washington University in St. Louis Wednesday-Friday, Sept. 14-16, as part of a policy conference designed to hammer out constructive solutions to pressing social issues facing the country and the next administration.
The conference, “Social Innovation for America’s Renewal,” will tackle issues facing the presidential and other campaigns this fall.
The gathering will focus on evidence-based policy ideas for 12 Grand Challenges — from mass incarceration to economic inequality to family violence — identified by the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare.
Together, these challenges represent a bold and strategic agenda for social change. They focus on improving individual and family well-being, strengthening the social fabric, and helping to create a more just society.
The conference, organized by the Brown School’s Center for Social Development, will be held in the Clark-Fox Forum in Hillman Hall. Speakers include:
- Jared Bernstein, former economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and senior fellow the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities;
- Mark H. Greenberg, acting assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s Administration for Children and Families; and
- Angelo McClain, CEO of the National Association of Social Workers.
About Grand Challenges
The Grand Challenges for Social Work is a groundbreaking initiative to champion social progress powered by science. Led by the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, it’s a call to action for all of us to work together to tackle our nation’s toughest social problems.
The initiative actively engages leaders from a wide range of disciplines and sectors, including technology, medicine, government, and business to achieve its ultimate goals of promoting individual and family well-being, a stronger social fabric, and a just society.