*Please Note: The livestream will begin on this page at the time of the event. If you would like to watch directly on YouTube, visit this page.

Are you eager to drive policy change, but don’t know how to get started? Applications to join the third Next100 cohort, which will run from January 2024 until December 2025, are now open. Join us for a one-hour information session to learn more about Next100 and about what it’s like to be a policy entrepreneur.

This session will focus on the policy entrepreneur experience (e.g, what people learned and accomplished, what it’s like to work at Next100). There will also be an opportunity for you to ask questions about the program and the application process. 

Live CART and ASL interpretation will be provided.

Featuring:

  • Stefan Lallinger, executive director, Next100
  • Francisco Miguel Araiza, deputy executive director, Next100
  • Alejandra Vázquez Baur, policy entrepreneur, Next100
  • Chantal Hinds, policy entrepreneur, Next100
  • Lindsey Cazessus, policy entrepreneur, Next100

Presented by Next100 and The Century Foundation.

Can’t make it? No problem! Show your support for Next100 by signing up for our newsletter, following us on Twitter, or making a tax-deductible donation.

Speaker Bios

Stefan Lallinger is the executive director of Next100, a think tank that is redefining how policy development is done by putting those closest to and most impacted by policy in the driver’s seat of change. As a senior fellow at The Century Foundation and director of TCF’s Bridges Collaborative, he recruited more than fifty school districts and housing organizations that collectively serve more than 3 million students and families to join the inaugural Bridges cohort of leaders combating segregation in schools and neighborhoods. As a senior fellow, he has written on issues of racial and socioeconomic integration, equity, school governance, and district–charter relations. Dr. Lallinger also teaches courses on policy and desegregation at American University.

Dr. Lallinger previously worked as a special assistant to Chancellor Richard Carranza in the New York City Department of Education working on agency policy and strategy. He earned his doctorate from Harvard University, where he studied integration and school district leadership. Prior to graduate school, Dr. Lallinger led Langston Hughes Academy, a Pre-K through eighth grade open-enrollment school in the Recovery School District in post-Katrina New Orleans, where he served as principal, assistant principal and teacher for nine years. 

Francisco Miguel Araiza is the deputy executive director of Next100, a think tank for a new generation of policy leaders. He has spent his career leveraging research and data to advocate for more inclusive, just, and equitable public policies. 

Francisco was most recently the director of research and policy at The Education Trust–New York (Ed Trust–NY), where he led the research and policy team on educational equity issues from early childhood to college completion, while supporting the organization’s internal and external strategic planning. Prior to Ed Trust–NY, he was at the Citizens’ Committee for Children, where he was a data and policy associate and provided research support for the organization’s policy agenda across a range of child well-being issue areas. Francisco’s passion for public policy stems from his first-hand experience of social policy inequities as a low-income and undocumented youth.

Francisco was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, was raised in Southern California, and now proudly calls New York City home. He has a master’s degree in public administration from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. Francisco double-majored in political science and philosophy at the University of California Berkeley.

Alejandra Vázquez Baur is a policy entrepreneur at Next100 and an educational equity and immigration justice advocate. At Next100, Alejandra’s work focuses on expanding systemic academic, social, and emotional supports for K–12 immigrant students—especially newcomers—and multilingual learners. She will also work to elevate immigrant student voice in system-level decision-making, drawing on her teaching experience in Miami–Dade County Public Schools.

After her time in the classroom, Alejandra became an education policy consultant at the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) and a project manager at the Center for Public Research and Leadership (CPRL). While at the NYIC, she partnered with the New York City Department of Education to advocate for improved English Language Learner (ELL) services in remote learning and summer programming, and to expand immigrant family outreach and engagement across the city. At CPRL, Alejandra co-authored a report highlighting systemic academic, social, and emotional supports available for highly mobile military families in schools and produced family and community engagement plans for three school districts in Connecticut for the 2021–22 academic year. Additionally, Alejandra volunteers with ImmSchools, facilitating “Know Your Rights in School” sessions for immigrant students and families in NYC and providing educators and school administrators with information and tools to adequately support undocumented and mixed-status families. Alejandra is a proud product of Mexican immigrants and holds a bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College and a master’s from Columbia University.

Chantal Hinds is a policy entrepreneur at Next100 and an advocate for students involved in the foster system, working to ensure they have the educational support they need to succeed. At Next100, Chantal’s work focuses on improving academic outcomes and narrowing the opportunity gap between students in the foster system and their peers. Chantal works to explore how schools and school districts can be sources of support, encouragement, and care for this unique and vulnerable population, while drawing on her experience as an education attorney working directly with students and families impacted by the foster system.

Chantal previously worked at Advocates for Children of New York as a senior staff attorney and education collaborative coordinator. She coordinated a peer-driven collaborative with twenty-three New York City foster care agencies, ensuring the education staff at those agencies had the information and skills needed to advocate for the educational needs of the students they served. She also provided direct representation to students and families, helping parents assert their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Prior to Advocates for Children, Chantal led a faith-based nonprofit and worked at the Administration for Children’s Services. Chantal graduated from Adelphi University and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She also holds a master’s of biblical and theological studies from Dallas Theological Seminary.

Lindsey Cazessus is a policy entrepreneur at Next100, an advocate for economic justice, and a first-generation college graduate. At Next100, Lindsey’s work focuses on designing compassionate, effective policies to end poverty and is informed by her experience growing up in low-income, rural Alabama. She works to expand and improve safety net benefits like the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and advance policies to support all families, like universal paid leave.

Prior to joining Next100, Lindsey worked as a New York City Urban Fellow with the NYC Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity). At NYC Opportunity, she supported a portfolio of anti-poverty policies and programs, including initiatives to improve access to child care and aid the city’s economic recovery. Before her fellowship, she worked with the Bob Graham Center for Public Service. Lindsey studied economics and political science at the University of Florida and graduated in 2019.