Former Texas State Senator Wendy Davis delivers the closing keynote address of the 2015 ACS Student Convention.
2015 Student Convention - Organizing & Messaging Panel
This panel explored progressive issue campaigns - how to pick them, run them, and frame winning arguments - and how they are utilized for current issues like immigration, racial equality and a living wage.
Featuring:
Kirk Adams - International Executive Vice President, SEIU
Nick Rathod - Executive Director, SiX
Lucy Stein - Advocacy Director, Progress Texas
Karla Vargas - Director of Employment & Legal Services, Workers Defense Project
Eric Marshall (moderator) - Executive Director, Funders' Committee for Civic Participation
2015 Student Convention - Progressive Family Values
This discussion explored the intersection of the 21st century workplace and progressive family values - how workers are affected by issues of reproductive justice, family medical leave, equal pay, fair living wage, LGBT discrimination and immigration.
Featuring:
Ann Beeson - Executive Director, Center for Public Policy Priorities
Rebecca Robertson - Legal and Policy Director, ACLU of Texas
Celina Moreno - Legislative Staff Attorney, MALDEF
Rick Levy - General Counsel, Texas AFL-CIO
Heather Busby - Executive Director, NARAL Pro-Choice TX
2015 Student Convention - Debo Adegbile Keynote Address
Debo Adegbile, partner at WilmerHale and ACS National Board of Directors member, addresses the 2015 Naitonal Convention in Austin, Texas.
Cecile Richards Opening Keynote - 2015 ACS Student Convention
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, provides the opening keynote address to the 2015 Student Convention in Austin, Texas.
Democracy and Our State Courts: Fighting Back After Citizens United
State courts touch nearly every American’s life, from rulings on marriage equality to voting laws to the environment to death penalty cases. We depend on state courts to be fair and impartial. But five years after Citizens United — the Supreme Court decision that opened the floodgates to special interest spending, even in judicial elections — special interest groups are spending more and more each year to influence our courts.
On Tuesday, January 13, ACS along with the Brennan Center for Justice and Justice at Stake brought together advocates and experts for a thoughtful discussion about why courts matter and about why it’s more important than ever that we fight to keep courts fair and impartial.
Featuring:
- Alicia Bannon, Counsel, Fair Courts Project at the Brennan Center for Justice
- Bert Brandenburg, Executive Director, Justice at Stake
- Courtney Hight, Director, Democracy Program, Sierra Club
- Kristine Kippins, Federal Policy Counsel, Center for Reproductive Rights
- Greg Moore, Senior Strategist, Democracy Initiative & Executive Director, NAACP National Voter Fund
- Jo-Ann Wallace, President, National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA)
Moderated by:
- Caroline Fredrickson, President, American Constitution Society