8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
(Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.)

Twentieth Century Club
4201 Bigelow Blvd., Oakland

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Keynote: Dr. Chris Benner

Associate Professor of Community and Regional Development and Chair of the Community Development Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis

With reaction from: Dr. Larry Davis

Dean, School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh

Fee:
$10 Sustainable Pittsburgh Members

$15 Non-members

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Deploying talents of all residents and unleashing the benefits and innovation that come from diversity in the workforce are essential for a region and businesses that strive to secure a competitive edge. Our region, with its stagnant population growth, can ill-afford to leave behind anyone not working to his or her potential.

This 5th Annual Summit builds on the momentum from last year’s discussion from which a leadership group came together to identify actions to address our region’s equitable development. Rising to the fore is the regional economic benefit derived from enabling all African-Americans and others of color to participate fully in the workforce and to live to their productive potential. As southwestern Pennsylvania comes together and more than ever acknowledges that prosperity is directly linked to ensuring all residents are contributing through good jobs and opportunity, it is apparent that ongoing disparities in employment in communities of color are incongruous.

During the Summit, Dr. Chris Benner will present a draft of a landmark framing paper, co-authored with PolicyLink, specific to southwestern PA, that substantiates this reality and economic imperative. This work will illustrate the bottom-line business benefit and productive role a fully employed diverse population stands to play in the economy. It will serve to catalyze much more than a lip service response concerning a targeted employment agenda.

Summit participants will have the opportunity to help shape the paper and to advance partnerships and practical steps the region will take to remove barriers and to seize on inclusion in employment as a vital part of our region’s economic development strategy and success among business and industry.

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Dr. Chris Benner
Dr. Benner is an Associate Professor of Community and Regional Development, and Chair of the Community Development Graduate Group at the University of California, Davis. He is also a research associate at the Keystone Research Center (Harrisburg), the Industrial, Organisational and Labour Studies Program at University of Kwa-Zulu-Natal (South Africa) and the Sociology of Work Program at University of Witwatersrand (South Africa). Professor Benner’s forthcoming book (March 2009), co-authored with Manuel Pastor and Martha Matsuoka, is This Could Be The Start of Something Big: Social Movements for Regional Equity and the Future of Metropolitan America, which examines new movements around community development, policy initiatives, and social movement organizing at a regional scale, and their potential for promoting greater economic opportunity for disadvantaged residents in metropolitan areas. He is also author of Work in the New Economy (2002) and co-author of Staircases or Treadmills: Labor Market Intermediaries and Economic Opportunity in a Changing Economy (2007).

Benner’s research focuses on the relationships between technological change, regional development, and the structure of economic opportunity, focusing on regional labor markets and the transformation of work and employment patterns. His applied policy work focuses on workforce development policy, the structure, dynamics and evaluation of workforce intermediaries, and strategies for promoting regional equity.

Dr. Larry Davis
Dr. Larry E. Davis is Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh , where he is the Donald M. Henderson Professor and Director of the Center on Race and Social Problems. Dr. Davis came to the University of Pittsburgh in the fall of 2001. He had been a faculty member at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis , Missouri since 1977, where he was a Professor of Social Work and Psychology and the holder of the E. Desmond Lee Chair in Ethnic and Racial Diversity.

Dr. Davis received his PhD from the University of Michigan ’s dual-degree program in social work and psychology in 1977. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Michigan State University and a Master's in social work and a Master's in psychology from the University of Michigan . His professional interests include interracial group dynamics, the impact of race, gender, and class on interpersonal interactions, African American family formation, and youth.

He has received research funding from sources such as the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Health, and National Institute of Mental Health.

Dr. Davis is the recipient of the Chancellor's 2007 Affirmative Action Award.

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Presented by:
African American Chamber of Commerce
Allegheny Conference on Community Development
Allegheny County Department of Human Services
David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, University of Pittsburgh, Katz/CBA School of Business
Center on Race and Social Problems, University of Pittsburgh
Coro Center for Civic Leadership
Falk Foundation
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs: Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership
Graduate School of Public and International Affairs: Public and Urban Affairs Program and Innovation Clinic
Heritage Health Foundation, Inc.
Local Government Academy
Mon Valley Initiative
POISE Foundation

Remaking Cities Institute
Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Sustainable Community Development Network
The Black Political Empowerment Project and Coalition Against Violence
Three Rivers Workforce Investment Board
Urban League of Pittsburgh, Inc.
Welcome Center for Immigrants & Internationals
Western Pennsylvania Diversity Initiative
Women and Girls Foundation

Sponsored by:
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
Richard King Mellon Foundation

The Summit is climate neutral having offset the greenhouse gases associated with holding the event. To learn more visit: www.nativeenergy.com/sp

The Twentieth Century Club is fully accessible and can be reached by the following bus lines: 54C, 71A, 77A & C, 81B

Parking is available beneath Soldiers & Sailors Memorial.

For more information contact Sustainable Pittsburgh at 412-258-6642 or info@sustainablepittsburgh.org.

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