The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

From social media advocacy to boots-on-the-ground campaign work, today's youth are more than just future voters-they're shaping the present and future of American democracy. With a record-high 53% of voters under 30 expected to turn out in the 2024 election, Millennials and Gen Z are not only making their voices heard at the ballot box but also influencing the policy platforms of political candidates.\r\n\r\nIn the City Club\'s Youth Forum Council first student-led forum of the 2024-2025 school year, panelists explore the growing influence of young people in politics and the importance of becoming informed, active participants in our democracy. This forum is designed to equip youth with the tools and knowledge to find reliable information on local and national issues, critically analyze it, and take meaningful action-whether through advocacy, community organizing, or direct participation in campaigns.

In July 2024, Cindy Hohl was inaugurated as the next President of the American Library Association (ALA). As a member of the Santee Sioux Nation in Nebraska, she is the second Native American woman to serve as ALA President. During her term, she plans to focus on four main pillars of librarianship: intellectual freedom, literacy, learning, and leadership. "There has never been a better time to serve our communities within the roles of librarianship and we stand united in our mission to ensure equal access to information for all," said Hohl.\r\n\r\nHohl also plans to lead the creation of an informational toolkit to address Missing, Murdered, Indigenous Women and People in the United States when communities need information to conduct searches for their missing loved ones, or to share information outside of the community.\r\n\r\nIn partnership with Cleveland Public Library, and in honor of Indigenous Peoples\' Day, the City Club\'s Cynthia Connolly will sit down with Cindy Hohl to discuss the crucial role of libraries in fostering a sense of civic responsibility through diverse representation and community engagement.

FutureLAND is an annual multi-day conference celebrating the diversity in tech, arts, and culture in Northeast Ohio. The City Club is proud to partner with FutureLAND again this year for a special LIVE broadcast from the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square!\r\n\r\nThis year, we will hear from Everette Taylor, CEO of Kickstarter, the world's premier\r\ncrowdfunding platform for creative projects. Under Everette's leadership, Kickstarter was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Companies for trailblazing the future of work and for the company's global impact in the creator economy.\r\n\r\nPrior to joining Kickstarter, Everette most recently served as the CMO of Artsy, the largest online marketplace for buying and selling fine art. During his time at Artsy he was recognized by Forbes as one of the World\'s Most Influential CMOs due to the business seeing all-time record revenue growth and brand awareness.\r\n\r\nAs an entrepreneur, Everette founded or co-founded several multi-million-dollar companies before the age of 30 (PopSocial, GrowthHackers, MilliSense) and sold his first company (EZ Events) at the age of 19.

Stories have the power to transform cultures, organizations, and even entire nations. Ever since the advent of language, stories have inspired both emerging and established leaders--connecting us all to our humanity. Today, our world is facing increasing political polarization and an overreliance on digital technology. Add the arrival of artificial intelligence, many have questioned the future of the humanities and its role in shaping our communities and civic realm.\r\n\r\nThe Mandel Foundation endowed the Honors College at Cleveland State in 2014, with an emphasis on the humanities and a mission to develop future leaders "with the value, ability, and passion to change the world.\" As we mark its 10th Anniversary, join the City Club as we hear from leaders that represent three humanities sectors--film, theater, and literature--on how their work harnesses the power of stories to transform the world.

Kate Anderson Foley is a transformational leader with significant experience leading public school districts and states toward equitable and integrated services for all learners. Her work is grounded in social justice and breaking down the barriers for children who have historically been marginalized. Her latest book Radically Excellent School Improvement: Keeping the Students at the Center of it All, presents a model for ambitious improvement and tireless focus that ensures every student grows, thrives, and achieves to their fullest potential.\r\n\r\nKate is the founder and CEO of The Education Policy & Practice Group and teaches a graduate-level Special Education Law course to aspiring principals and superintendents through the lens of equity and the higher standard.

Every year, roughly a thousand young people in the foster-care system in Ohio "age out" and are thrust into a reality where they are more likely to face homelessness, unemployment, and food scarcity. Child welfare agencies are working to fill the gaps, but opportunities remain.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club as we hear from local leadership on how we can all strategically partner with agencies and institutions to improve outcomes for youth and families.

According to a recent report by Harvard University, the first two decades of the 21st century were laser focused on \"increasing voter turnout among the \'low propensity\' voters in their communities, especially people of color and young people.\" These were groups largely "invisible" to the mainstream election industry. So, at the time, grassroots organizations welcomed the approach. But was it the right move? Today, Ohio is experiencing a higher level of disengagement and cynicism than in comparable states. Add to this, Ohio\'s notoriety as a \"swing state\" has lost steam--and national Get Out The Vote (GOTV) efforts have set their eyes on neighboring states like Wisconsin and Michigan. What can be done to repair the trust and relationship-building at the foundation of community organizing? And how can we better enfranchise those in our own communities? Join the City Club as Signal Cleveland\'s Frank Lewis takes on the \"forgotten voter\" and Ohio\'s GOTV efforts.

The City Club presents the annual State of the Schools address featuring CEO Dr. Warren G. Morgan, where he will speak about his priorities and progress after his first year leading the schools.\r\n\r\nDr. Morgan became CEO of Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Ohio's third-largest school district, in July 2023. As CEO, he is responsible for implementing the strategic vision for the district, which serves more than 36,000 students. He also oversees more than 6,500 employees and collaborates with educators, students and families, and the community to create a school district that provides high-quality, equitable education to all students.

The most enduring feature of U.S. history is the presence of Native Americans, yet most histories focus on Europeans and their descendants. A 2018 study by Reclaiming Native Truth found that nearly half of Americans believed what they were taught in schools about Native Americans was inaccurate; and 72 percent thought it was necessary to make significant changes to curriculum on Native American history.\r\n\r\nNow, this long practice of ignoring Indigenous history is changing. Awarded the 2023 National Book Award in Nonfiction, Blackhawk\'s The Rediscovery of America expertly interweaves five centuries of Native and non-Native histories, and is part of the next generation of scholarship that we have all been waiting for.\r\n\r\nBlackhawk is an enrolled member of the Te-Moak tribe of the Western Shoshone and the Howard R. Lamar Professor of History and American Studies at Yale University. Prior to this, he spent 10 years at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. A graduate of McGill University, he holds graduate degrees in History from UCLA and the University of Washington and is the author of Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West (Harvard, 2006).

As we head into the November election, tax policy is undoubtedly a top issue for many voters. K-12 schools, higher education, local governments, libraries, and more all rely on taxation to raise adequate revenue to provide public services. Tax policy has also been used as a tool to attract jobs, spur economic growth, and promote entrepreneurship. But what are we actually seeing in Ohio and across the nation?\r\n\r\nIn 2017, the Trump Administration signed into law what many cite as the biggest tax overhaul since the Tax Reform Act of 1986. And just this year, Republican lawmakers introduced legislation in Ohio that would eliminate Ohio\'s income tax and repeal the Commercial Activities Tax by 2030. While such legislation is unlikely to pass in Ohio, it opens up the debate for what constitutes effective and equitable taxation.