The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

According to the Eight Point Plan for Housing Justice in Cuyahoga County, those with criminal records are ten times more likely to experience homelessness, and those who are homeless are more likely to be arrested--beginning a vicious cycle for those with a record. These individuals face collateral sanctions (both state laws and administrative rules) that can limit a person\'s ability to find employment, housing, and more. In fact, the same Eight Point Plan cited that 78% of affordable rentals in the County had long-term bans on those convicted of even minor offenses. With housing prices escalating, more than 20,000 people exiting incarceration in Cuyahoga County every year do not have access to a basic need that is vital for successful reintegration.\r\n\r\nYusuf Dahl has been on both sides of the struggle to strengthen America's most vulnerable neighborhoods. As a teenager, he operated a network of drug houses before being sentenced to prison for 10 1/2 years. After his imprisonment, during the depths of the financial crisis, he became an unlikely real estate investor and affordable housing advocate. From a single two-family house in one of Milwaukee's poorest zip codes, Yusuf built a portfolio of over two hundred residential and commercial units and founded an award-winning property management company.\r\n\r\nYusuf is a former president of Wisconsin's largest apartment owners trade association and is leading the national effort to repeal the Thurmond Amendment - legislation that imposes a lifetime denial of fair housing protections to persons with a drug distribution conviction. He holds an MPA from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as we hear from Yusuf Dahl on how to break down barriers and empower those seeking to rebuild their lives.

Jeremy Johnson is President and CEO of Assembly for the Arts, the umbrella organization that advocates for, and unites, Greater Cleveland's complex creative sector. A mix of diverse nonprofits, individual artists, and creative businesses comprise the region's arts and culture industry. In the coming months, the Assembly will endeavor to motivate Cuyahoga County voters to, once again, pass a tobacco levy in support of arts and culture nonprofits.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as Rhonda K. Brown, the City of Cleveland's Senior Strategist for Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy, will lead a discussion with Johnson about the opportunities and challenges for Greater Cleveland's future economic and cultural growth.

On Saturday, April 13th, the Cleveland Foundation's African American Philanthropy Committee's (AAPC) biennial summit will discuss philanthropy and the Black family; as well as how the ability to access resources essential to one's life and well-being means increased economic stability. This access includes employment, income, financial support, financial services - and of course - philanthropy. But what factors are involved in building intergenerational wealth and stability through community partnerships with financial institutions and businesses? And what role does philanthropy play on the path to prosperity?\r\n\r\nAhead of the weekend\'s Summit, join AAPC member Jeff Johnson as he leads a conversation with bank executives and entrepreneurs about striving for economic stability in Black families through banking, credit, and entrepreneurship.

Join the City Club\'s Youth Forum Council for the LAST youth led forum of the 2023-2024 school year. The forum will focus on how violence in our communities can have an impact on our mental health. During the discussion, strategies will be shared on how to process the feelings that arise when violence occurs in our communities.\r\n\r\nIn collaboration with the Cleveland International Film Festival, we will also be screening a short film entitled \"Quiet Minds, Silent Streets\". The film centers around a community that is plagued with gun violence in the Greater Toronto Area, looking for ways to cope after a beloved 17 year old boy is murdered. When they find an unlikely solution proposed in a TEDxTalk on mindfulness and meditation, they decide to bring it to the community in an effort to heal.

Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit, directed by Sam Katz and James McGovern is the story of Detroit's monumental climb out of bankruptcy toward a new era. In this documentary, Detroiters of all backgrounds and viewpoints find common ground in their search for a possible future. The \'grand bargain\' remains to be seen as a model for cities in crisis.\r\n\r\nIn partnership with the Cleveland International Film Festival, the City Club will be joined by Sam Katz, one of the film\'s Co-Directors and Co-Producers to discuss this film.\r\n\r\nWhile serving as chair of the fiscal oversight authority monitoring Philadelphia\'s finances, Sam started to pay attention to the tribulations of Detroit. He thought an important story was unfolding that needed to be documented through film. For six years, Sam and his colleagues worked on that film which while still in production won the 2021 Library of Congress/Ken Burns Prize for Film.\r\n\r\nGradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit will be released on July 18, 2024, the 11th anniversary of Detroit\'s Chapter 9 filing.

On Monday, April 8th, the City of Cleveland will be in the path of totality of a total solar eclipse. With this once-in-a-lifetime celestial event comes an unprecedented opportunity to tap into humankind's curiosity about what lies beyond our Earth's limits. The promise of space exploration and discovering the unknown has inspired youth and grown-ups alike for generations. Now, the upcoming Eclipse is amplifying this curiosity!\r\n\r\nKris Brown is the Deputy Associate Administrator for Strategy and Integration, Office of STEM Engagement at NASA. In her position, she provides strategic direction and executive oversight of NASA's STEM Engagement function and its programmatic portfolio of efforts devoted to creating unique learning opportunities for students, supporting educators, and educational institutions. NASA's STEM engagement investments aim to build a diverse future STEM workforce.\r\n\r\nThroughout the weekend ahead of the Eclipse, the Great Lakes Science Center and NASA will host Total Eclipse Fest--a FREE three-day celebration at the North Coast Harbor. Join us as Great Lakes Science Center's President & CEO Kirsten Ellenbogen sits down in conversation with Kris Brown on how NASA is leveraging this historic moment, and working to inspire the next generation of space explorers!

In the United States, more than 60,000 refugees arrived in 2023, outpacing the prior two years. In January of this year, the greatest number admitted were arriving from nations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and Afghanistan--a reflection of increasing global conflict and war.\r\n\r\nResettlement for newcomers and their families is a daunting task as they start their new lives with limited resources, and away from the lives they once knew. Yet, according to Re:Source Cleveland (formerly known as Refugee Response), resettled refugees are expected to acculturate, acquire English language skills, and become self-sufficient within three months of arriving.\r\n\r\nJust in February, Cuyahoga County opened its new Welcome Center in Cleveland\'s Old Brooklyn neighborhood. A beginning step in their Newcomer Navigator Program. The facility will serve as a multi-service center, providing access to workforce training, educational services, healthcare, legal support, housing, language services, and more. With a goal to become a \"Certified Welcoming\" community, how can Cleveland empower the region's growing newcomer population?\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club as we hear from Re:Source Cleveland, as well as newcomers themselves, on what is needed to support all refugees as they become engaged members of their new communities.

Join The City Club of Cleveland for the 2024 State of the City, presented at Playhouse Square on Thursday, March 28th at noon. Mayor Justin M. Bibb will discuss the foundational work and progress made during his second year in office and look to the year ahead.

Straddling adolescence and adulthood is a uniquely challenging time. Not only do young adults face their own future life choices, but they are confronting the many stressors facing our world and trying to make sense of their place in it. However, our job as parents is far from over. With increasing mental health concerns among youth, rising inflation, and a rapidly changing job sector - the work of parenthood feels very different than it did before.\r\n\r\nLaurence Steinberg is one of the world's leading experts on adolescence. He is the Distinguished University Professor and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Temple University. His latest book You and Your Adult Child: How to Grow Together in Challenging Times dives into how parents can support their grown children as they navigate uncertain waters.\r\n\r\nWhether it\'s post-pandemic mental health issues, climate concerns, global conflicts and wars, attacks on gender identity, racial injustice or simply leaving home to make their way as an adult, Dr. Steinberg brings a lifetime of expertise in adolescence and emerging adulthood.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as Dr. Lisa Damour, author and thought leader in adolescence and child development, leads a conversation with Laurence Steinberg on what it will take to effectively parent, support, and build a more effective bond with their adult child.

The state of Wisconsin has firmly established itself as a battleground state: Four of the six past presidential elections have been decided by fewer than 23,000 votes, and the political stakes have never been higher. Yet, the state\'s politics echo many that we see here in Ohio, right down to a tense dispute over Wisconsin\'s Republican-drawn legislative maps, which were overturned in December.\r\n\r\nIn April 2023, Justice Janet C. Protasiewicz was elected to serve her first term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court after a race that garnered national attention. Her accession was viewed as a liberal shift for the court, the first in 15 years, and as a check on a long-standing conservative grip on the state's government.\r\n\r\nPrior to her election, Justice Protasiewicz spent nearly a decade on the bench as a circuit court judge in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Before her time as a judge, she served more than 25 years as Assistant District Attorney, where she prosecuted serious crimes. Throughout her career, Justice Protasiewicz has been deeply involved in the community and has held many leadership positions.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as we hear from Justice Protasiewicz in conversation with Dean of CSU College of Law Lee Fisher on the latest in Wisconsin, and what Ohio can learn from Wisconsin\'s highest court.