On Wednesday, March 27, NYU Washington DC is hosting an event with Senator Tim Scott in conversation with Theodor Johnson. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina continues to forge a singular path in D.C. as the Senate’s only black Republican serving at a time marked by unprecedented levels of political polarization. Widely lauded for spearheading a cross-party effort to include a provision encouraging private investment in distressed communities into the sweeping 2018 tax overhaul, Scott joins Brennan Center’s Theodore Johnson to discuss his unique views on bipartisanship, racial justice, and advancing economic opportunity for all Americans. The John Brademas Center of New York University is proud to co-host this event with the Brennan Center for Justice.

As a leader on tax reform, education and job training, and innovative ideas to reinvest in our nation’s distressed communities, United States Senator Tim Scott brings a unique perspective to the United States Senate. Growing up mired in poverty in a single parent household, Tim says that he is living his mother’s American Dream, and through his Opportunity Agenda works every single day to ensure every American family has the opportunity to succeed.

Senator Scott has served the great state of South Carolina in the U.S. Senate since 2013, and brings with him a mission to positively affect the lives of a billion people with the message of hope and opportunity. Growing up poor in a single-parent household in North Charleston, South Carolina, Tim watched his single mother work 16-hour days as a nurse’s assistant to keep him and his brother afloat.

As a freshman in high school, Tim nearly failed out, flunking four classes.  However, the next year, he met his mentor named John Moniz who shared life-changing ideas and the basic principles of business with Tim. Through hard work, education, innovation, and with the discipline his mother gave him, he began the process of turning his life around.

The lessons gleaned from his mentor still guide Tim today: you can think your way out of poverty, and financial independence is a stepping-stone for success. Having a job is a good thing, but creating jobs is a great thing. 

An unbridled optimist, Tim believes that despite our current challenges, our nation’s brightest days are ahead of us. During his time in office, he has been a tireless advocate for creating more opportunities for families living paycheck-to-paycheck and helping children who are mired in poverty have access to quality education. He launched his Opportunity Agenda, a legislative package aimed at achieving these goals, as well as the Senate Opportunity Coalition, a group of Senators committed to helping those in need.

Tim also knows that in order for our nation to prosper, we must get our spending and national debt under control. He has sponsored balanced budget amendments throughout his time in Congress, and will continue working to restore fiscal sanity in Washington.

Prior to public service, Tim built a successful small business of his own. He was first elected to Charleston County Council, to the South Carolina State House, and the U.S. House of Representatives. In January 2013, Tim was sworn in as a United States Senator from South Carolina, and was re-elected in January 2017.

Theodore R. Johnson is a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. Prior to joining the Brennan Center, Dr. Johnson was a national fellow at the New America Foundation, where he undertook projects on black voting behavior and the role of national solidarity in addressing racial inequality. Previously, he was a Commander in the United States Navy and, most recently, a research manager at Deloitte.

From 1994-2016 Johnson was a career military officer whose service included humanitarian assistance operations in Southeast Asia, as a military professor at the US Naval War College, and as a cyber operations and intelligence expert. He also acted as senior policy advisor in the Departments of Defense and Energy, and as speechwriter to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In recognition of his leadership in public service, Johnson was selected as a White House Fellow during the Obama administration.

Since 2013, Dr. Johnson’s research and writing has explored the interaction of policy and politics with race and racial disparities. In 2016, his examination of African American voting behavior won the Dean’s Medal for most outstanding doctoral work and serves as the basis for first book project on race and solidarity in the United States.

His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, POLITICO, WIRED, National Review, New Republic, and other national and niche publications. His academic lectures and media engagements include appearances at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, UCLA’s Hammer Museum, University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and TEDx.

Dr. Johnson holds a B.S. in mathematics from Hampton University, an A.L.M. with a concentration in International Relations from Harvard University, and a Doctorate of Law and Policy from Northeastern University.

On Tuesday, March 12, Washington Performing Arts and NYU Washington, DC will convene immigration policy experts and civic leaders to examine contemporary issues in U.S. immigration policy since the 1980s, including a discussion of the role of state and local government in supporting immigrants as federal policies shift over time. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, fiftheenth term as the Congresswoman for the District of Columbia and Chair of the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, will give the opening remarks.

The panel is comprised of Kathryn M. Doan, Esq., Executive Director, CAIR Coalition, David Grosso, Councilmember at-Large, Council of the District of Columbia, Lori Kaplan, Former President & CEO, Latin American Youth Center, Mary Ann Gomez Orta, President & CEO, Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, and Nicholas A. Brown, Director of Special Productions & Initiatives, Washington Performing Arts, who will serve as moderator for the evening.

This conversation is presented in conjunction with the premiere of Washington Performing Arts’ co-commission Dreamers, a new oratorio by composer Jimmy López and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz on March 17, 2019 at Sidney Harman Hall (via simulcast). Dreamers explores contemporary stories of Latinx so-called dreamers who are caught in the middle of the current national immigration policy debate.

For more information, visit DC Dialogues.

On November 29 at NYU Washington, DC, Sidley Austin LLP and NYU School of Law are proud to host the 3rd Annual Sidley Austin Forum. 

The program will examine the results of the 2018 congressional midterms and state and local contests around the country to assess their implications for governance and the political landscape.

On November 13, NYU Washington, DC will host a conversation with author Sayu Bhojwani to discuss her book, People Like Us.

Sayu Bhojwani is the founder and president of New American Leaders, the only national organization focused on preparing immigrant leaders to run for public office. She served as New York City’s first Commissioner of Immigrant Affairs and lives in New York.

People Like Us is an inspiring story of political newcomers (sometimes also newcomers to America) who are knocking down built-in barriers to creating better government. The system is rigged: America’s political leadership remains overwhelmingly white, male, moneyed, and Christian. Even at the local and state levels, elected office is inaccessible to the people it aims to represent. But in People Like Us, political scientist Sayu Bhojwani shares the stories of a diverse and persevering range of local and state politicians from across the country who are challenging the status quo, winning against all odds, and leaving a path for others to follow in their wake.

NYU DC faculty member Victoria Kiechel will serve as interlocutor for the discussion.

Sayu Bhojwani works to ensure that American democracy is more inclusive. As an advocate, speaker and writer, Sayu engages people in public debate and in the democratic process. She has a PhD in Politics and Education from Columbia University, where her research focused on immigrant political participation. Sayu is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University and a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow at the Council of Independent Colleges.

Victoria Kiechel has 20 years of professional experience in architecture, education, and sustainable design. A practicing architect, she works for the Cadmus Group, Inc., an environmental consultancy, and is a faculty member of the Global Environmental Politics Program, the School of International Service, American University (AU), in Washington, DC. In 2010, she was the inaugural recipient of AU’s Most Innovative Green Teacher of the Year award. At Cadmus, Vicky has worked for the US Green Building Council to develop and support the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating Systems; advises the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR commercial and industrial branch; leads consulting and review teams for buildings seeking LEED certification; and manages sustainability initiatives for clients as diverse as the Smithsonian Institution and state and local governments. Her architectural design work focuses on small-to-medium scale residential and institutional projects. For the Washington, DC Capitol Hill School Libraries Project, she designed the library for Maury Elementary School.

In Anaheim, California, a previously undocumented Mexican American challenges the high-powered interests of the Disney Corporation to win a city council seat. In the Midwest, a thirty-something Muslim Somali American unseats a forty-four-year incumbent in the Minnesota house of representatives. 

These are some of the foreign-born, lower-income, and of-color Americans who have successfully taken on leadership roles in elected office despite xenophobia, political gatekeeping, and personal financial concerns. In accessible prose, Bhojwani shines a light on the political, systemic, and cultural roadblocks that prevent government from effectively representing a rapidly changing America, and offers forward-thinking solutions on how to get rid of them.

People Like Us serves as a road map for the burgeoning democracy that has been a long time in the making: inclusive, multiracial, and unstoppable.

On May 10, NYU Washington, DC will host a film screening and dialogue. Join DC Dialogues, the Joyful Heart Foundation, and EMILY’s List for a special screening of the HBO documentary film I AM EVIDENCE. This moving documentary exposes the alarming number of untested rape kits in the United States, bringing much needed attention to the disturbing pattern of how the criminal justice system has historically treated sexual assault survivors.

The film will be followed by a post-screening discussion with local and national experts about the backlog of untested rape kits across the United States.

On April 24, DC Dialogues and the NYU Washington, DC Global Leadership Scholars cohort will welcome U.S. Senator from the state of Virginia, former Vice Presidential candidate, and proud NYU parent, Tim Kaine along with the Governor of the state of Virginia, Ralph Northam. Sen. Kaine and Gov. Northam will meet with students for a dialogue on American politics. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions about their careers as well as current political issues. This DC Dialogues workshop is for students only, and will be facilitated by NYU students.

Tim Kaine has helped people throughout his life as a missionary, civil rights lawyer, teacher and elected official. He is one of 30 people in American history to have served as a Mayor, Governor and United States Senator.

Tim was elected to the Senate in 2012 as a can-do optimist skilled in bringing people together across old lines of party, race or region. In the Senate, he serves on the Armed Services, Budget, Foreign Relations, and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees. He is Ranking Member of the Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee and the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism.

Tim’s Armed Services work focuses on crafting smart defense strategy in a changing world and also enables him to tackle a personal mission – the reduction of unemployment among veterans, especially Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans. His first piece of legislation in the Senate, the Troop Talent Act of 2013, established new standards to help active duty servicemembers attain civilian credentials for military skills to assist their transition into the workforce. In his committee role, Tim has also worked to secure key Virginia priorities in the past three defense bills, including the refueling and overhaul of the Norfolk-based U.S.S. George Washington in the 2015 Authorization and preservation of the U.S. Navy’s 11-aircraft carrier fleet and thousands of jobs across Hampton Roads in the 2016 Authorization.

On Foreign Relations, Tim works to enhance American diplomatic leadership, with a special focus on the Middle East and Latin America. He is a leading voice in efforts to expand the role of Congress on foreign policy and improve the way Congress and the President consult on matters of war, peace, and diplomacy. Tim has introduced bipartisan legislation to revise the War Powers Resolution of 1973 and has pushed Congress to finally vote to authorize the ongoing U.S. military action against ISIL. In addition, Tim coauthored the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, establishing the process for congressional review of the diplomatic effort to block any Iranian nuclear weapons program. He is one of the Senate’s few members fluent in Spanish and serves as honorary chairman of the US-Spain Council.

On the Budget Committee, Tim used his experience making tough budget decisions in local and state office in Virginia to help Congress pass a two-year budget agreement in 2013 to offset the worst impacts of sequestration that had disproportionately impacted the Commonwealth. As a harsh critic of sequestration and an advocate for biennial budgeting, Tim strongly supported the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 for continuing to scale back sequestration cuts and providing for two more years of budgetary certainty.

As a new member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in the 115th Congress, Tim will have the opportunity to focus on two of his longtime passions: health care and education. In this critical time for health care in America, Tim is motivated now more than ever to fight against harmful policy proposals that seek to reverse the progress we’ve made in increasing access to care for millions of Americans. Tim will also use his new role to look for ways to further address the opioid abuse epidemic that affects every corner of the Commonwealth.

Tim is a founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, which focuses on improving access to CTE programs to ensure that students of all ages are prepared with the skills they need for the jobs of the 21st century. Many of his proposals to advance CTE were included in the 2015 re-write of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Tim also supports expanding economic opportunity through infrastructure investment, immigration reform and smart strategies to expand affordable health care access.

In the 114th Congress, Tim introduced many pieces of important legislation for Virginia, including a bill to recognize six Virginia Indian tribes. Inspired by a discussion he had with advocates for sexual assault survivors at the University of Virginia, Tim championed successful legislation to encourage public secondary schools to teach students about how to prevent dating violence and sexual assault. And after numerous discussions with recovering addicts, families, medical professionals, and law enforcement officials about the growing opioid epidemic in Virginia, Tim introduced legislation to increase access to life-saving overdose medication and prevent drug-related deaths.

In the 113th Congress, Tim introduced legislation to preserve the Commonwealth’s historic Civil War battlegrounds, which President Obama signed into law. He also worked to pass bipartisan legislation to expand pediatric cancer research at the National Institutes of Health in honor of Gabriella Miller, a young girl from Leesburg, Virginia who lost her battle with brain cancer in October 2013.

Tim has focused closely on climate change and its effects on Virginia, especially sea level rise and flooding. In 2014, he co-hosted a bipartisan conference that brought together policymakers, experts, and regional stakeholders to discuss strategies to combat the threat that these challenges pose to Hampton Roads.

Tim grew up working in his father’s ironworking shop in Kansas City. He was educated at the University of Missouri and Harvard Law School and started his public service career by taking a year off from Harvard to run a technical school founded by Jesuit missionaries in Honduras. After law school, he practiced law in Richmond for 17 years, specializing in the representation of people who had been denied housing due to their race or disability. He also began teaching part-time at the University of Richmond in 1987.

Tim was first elected to office in 1994, serving as a city councilmember and then Mayor of Richmond. He became Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2002 and was inaugurated as Virginia’s 70th Governor in 2006.

Tim is married to Anne Holton, who served as Virginia Secretary of Education from 2014 until 2016. A former legal aid lawyer and juvenile court judge, Anne previously ran Great Expectations, a program for more than 500 foster children attending Virginia community colleges. Tim and Anne revel in the adventures of their three grown children and live in the same Northside Richmond neighborhood where they moved as newlyweds more than 30 years ago. Tim loves reading, being outdoors, and playing harmonica with bluegrass bands throughout Virginia. 

Before he was inaugurated as the 73rd Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Ralph Northam served as an Army doctor, pediatric neurologist, business owner, state Senator and Lieutenant Governor.

A native of Virginia’s Eastern Shore, Governor Northam was educated at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), where he graduated with distinction.

After graduation, Governor Northam was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. He served eight years of active duty and rose to the rank of major.

He attended Eastern Virginia Medical School and then traveled to San Antonio for a pediatric residency, where he met his wife Pamela, a pediatric occupational therapist at the same hospital. Governor Northam did his residencies at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and served as chief neurological resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital. As an Army doctor, he served in Germany, treating soldiers wounded in Operation Desert Storm.