The livestream below will begin at the time of the event.

President Biden took office with an ambitious, far-reaching agenda to bring the pandemic under control and “Build Back Better.” One year into his presidency, how has the Biden-Harris administration made good on that promise—and what work remains?

On Wednesday, March 2, from 12:30 to 1:30 PM ET, just hours after President Biden delivers his first official State of the Union, join The Century Foundation (TCF) for a discussion on the progress made over the past year and the road ahead in 2022. TCF experts with decades of political and policy experience in health care, education, the economy, and international affairs will react to President Biden’s address, put into context how the administration’s policy priorities would make a difference in the lives of families, and share their thinking on how to advance a progressive agenda in advance of the midterm elections. 

Moderator: 

  • Mark Zuckerman, TCF president; former deputy director for President Obama’s Domestic Policy Council in the White House

Panelists:

  • Thanassis Cambanis, TCF senior fellow and director of Century International
  • Steven Greenhouse, TCF senior fellow (economics); former New York Times reporter for over thirty years  
  • Julie Kashen, TCF director of women’s economic justice and senior fellow; former policy advisor to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
  • Andrew Stettner, TCF senior fellow
  • Dr. Jamila Taylor, TCF director of health care reform and senior fellow; former director of women’s health and rights at the Center for American Progress
  • Emma Vadehra, TCF senior fellow (education) and Next100 executive director; former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education during the Obama administration
  • Danny Weiss, TCF director of government affairs and senior fellow; former chief of staff to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi

Speaker Bios

Mark Zuckerman is president of The Century Foundation. He served in the Obama White House as the deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, leading teams on key initiatives, including reducing student debt, increasing accountability at for-profit educational institutions, reducing workplace discrimination, increasing wages for home health care workers, and expanding access to job training. Prior to that, as staff director of the House Education and Labor Committee, he helped win passage of landmark legislation such as the Affordable Care Act; the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act; the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act; and the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Thanassis Cambanis is an author, journalist, and director of Century International. His work focuses on U.S. foreign policy, Arab politics, and social movements in the Middle East. He is the author of numerous books including Once Upon A Revolution: An Egyptian Story (Simon and Schuster: 2015). He is currently working on a book about the impact of the 2003 Iraq invasion on the international system. He regularly contributes to Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, World Policy Review, and other publications. He is an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. 

Steven Greenhouse is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where he writes about wages and working conditions, labor organizing, and other workplace issues. Before coming to The Century Foundation, he was a reporter for the New York Times for thirty-one years, spending his last nineteen years there as its labor and workplace reporter, before retiring from the paper in December 2014. He is the author of Beaten Down, Worked Up: The Past, Present, and Future of American Labor, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2019.

Julie Kashen is a senior fellow and director for women’s economic justice at The Century Foundation, with expertise in work and family, caregiving, economic mobility, and labor. Kashen has more than two decades of experience forwarding these issues in federal and state government and through the nonprofit sector, including helping to draft three major pieces of national legislation. As a labor policy advisor to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), she helped draft and build momentum for the first paid sick days bill in Congress, the Healthy Families Act.

Andrew Stettner is a senior fellow at The Century Foundation. His career as a non-profit leader spans twenty years of experience modernizing workforce protections and social insurance programs at every level, including community organizing, research, policy, and program development. He has published dozens of policy reports and been frequently cited in media outlets across the country. He is a graduate of Columbia University, where he earned a BA in Psychology, and also holds an MPP from Georgetown University.

Dr. Jamila Taylor is director of health care reform and senior fellow at The Century Foundation, where she leads TCF’s work to build on the Affordable Care Act and develop the next generation of health reform to achieve high-quality, affordable, and universal coverage in America. A renowned health policy expert, Taylor also works on issues related to reproductive rights and justice, focusing on the structural barriers to access to health care, racial and gender disparities in health outcomes, and the intersections between health care and economic justice. Before TCF, Taylor served as senior fellow and director of Women’s Health and Rights at the Center for American Progress (CAP), where she led CAP’s efforts to advance policies that ensure that women have an equal opportunity to live healthy and economically secure lives.

Emma Vadehra is a senior fellow at TCF and the executive director of Next100, a pop-up think tank for the next generation of policy leaders, powered by The Century Foundation. She has spent her career focused on building a fairer, more equitable education system, and has a passion for developing and supporting diverse teams in pursuit of progressive policy change. Most recently, Emma served as chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Education during the Obama administration, serving under both Secretary John B. King Jr. and Secretary Arne Duncan. As chief of staff, she worked closely with the White House and across the department to develop, execute, and oversee the administration’s pre-K-through-college education agenda. She also managed the department’s policy, budget, legislative affairs, and P–12 education offices, and oversaw hiring, development, and retention of a diverse, high-performing political appointee team.

Daniel (Danny) Weiss is a senior fellow and director of the government affairs program at The Century Foundation focused on improving public understanding of the U.S. Congress and advancing public policy in the areas of education, health care, and the economy. Danny has nearly three decades of service on Capitol Hill at the most senior staff levels and has played a senior role at a children’s and media national non-profit. He most recently served as chief of staff to House Speaker and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi. He previously served as chief of staff, senior committee advisor, and communications director, for Congressman George Miller, a member of the House Democratic leadership and former chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, the House Natural Resources Committee, and the Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. He was involved in some of Congress’ most significant recent legislative accomplishments and battles, including the Affordable Care Act, the increase in the minimum wage, and western water reform.