Latest Interviews
Showing 226–240 of 742 transcripts.
Clear all filters- Milken Institute26 min
Inclusive Capitalism Fireside Chats: A Conversation With John Rogers and Blair Smith
Jared Rogers, chairman of Ariel Investments and a descendant of Tulsa's historic Black business legacy, addresses the two-decade collapse of Chicago's Black corporate sector by leveraging his thirty-year tenure on major corporate boards to enforce accountability and diversity. To reverse this erasure, he spearheads strategic initiatives like Project Black, a private equity fund for scalable Black enterprises, alongside educational programs in the stock market and university endowments designed to cultivate the next generation of financial leaders. These efforts, supported by a sustained post-2020 shift in institutional commitment, aim to reconstruct the high-value economic ecosystem that once defined the city's Black business community.
- Milken Institute1h 48m
Silver Linings Playbook: New Momentum for Outcomes-Driven Government
Matt Horton, Ben McAdams, Jennifer Park, Nancy Augustine, William Glasgall, Michael Grossman, Michael Hammett, Grace Simrall, Ryan Smith, Jen Tolentino
The National Academy of Public Administration launched its Center for Intergovernmental Partnerships in September 2024 to address systemic fragmentation across federal, state, and local agencies amid an $800 billion annual transfer landscape facing a potential fiscal cliff. This initiative spearheads three strategic projects targeting pandemic compliance, workforce shortages, and "No Wrong Door" service models while promoting outcomes-based financing and data-driven municipal innovations like Louisville's broadband expansion and Durham's driver's license reform. Panelists emphasize normalizing innovation failure to replicate these successful solutions and leveraging American Rescue Plan funds to build long-term evidence capacity rather than relying on temporary revenue replacement.
- Milken Institute1h 6m
Creating Community Wealth and New Revenue: Public Assets Workshop
Matt Horton, Ben McAdams, Dina Blaes, Jason Foster, Shayne Kavanagh, Joe Minicozzi, Dan Tangherlini, Natalie Cohen
The Milken Institute Center for Regional Economics convened a public finance forum where panelists including former Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and Urban Planner Joe Minicozzi argued for "Urban Wealth Funds" to transform underutilized public assets into revenue generators that reduce reliance on regressive tax bases. While the session highlighted a Salt Lake County study revealing $12 billion in potential transit-corridor value, speakers like Dina Blaze and Dan Tangerlini emphasized that equitable implementation requires overcoming political barriers and establishing community equity endowments to prevent resident displacement. Experts concluded that local governments must adopt proactive asset valuation and flexible governance structures to legally function as corporate-like entities that capture public wealth for direct community reinvestment.
- Milken Institute1h 9m
Deep Dive: Deployment of High Demand Community Infrastructure Projects
Dan Carol, Bryan Borlik, Rachel Halfaker, Donnel Baird, Rob Day, Bill Lee, Patrick Meyers, Michelle Moore, Matt Petersen, David Guilford, Adam Fried, Robbie Jones
The Economic Development Administration awarded a grant to the Milken Institute and RCAP to launch a pre-development training accelerator designed to equip rural and underserved communities with the technical capacity to make infrastructure projects shovel-ready. A diverse panel of experts including representatives from the Trust for Public Lands, Groundswell, and Spring Lane Capital highlighted the critical need for zero-percent match requirements, community-paid participation stipends, and granular data targeting to overcome traditional grant-writing barriers. These initiatives aim to transform one-time federal funding into sustainable local wealth by pairing financial capital with technical assistance to scale projects ranging from broadband and green infrastructure to urban decarbonization.
- Milken Institute30 min
Building Community Wealth: How Can We Meet the Moment
Margot Brandenburg, Natalie Foster, Shawn Wooden
Ford Foundation host Margo Brandenburg facilitated a dialogue with Natalie Foster and Connecticut Treasurer Sean Wooden on utilizing community wealth strategies to address the widening racial and economic divide. Foster highlighted the Child Tax Credit's success in reducing child poverty while Wooden detailed Connecticut's pioneering Baby Bonds program as a model for closing the generational wealth gap through state-level innovation. The conversation further examined how public sector expansions of guaranteed income, social bonds, and anti-monopoly policies are reshaping labor markets and providing essential financial buffers during economic volatility.
- Milken Institute30 min
Managing Through Change: Mayors Weigh In
Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, Michael Hancock, Quinton Lucas
Accelerator for America President Mary Ellen Reeder-Wohl facilitated a public finance forum with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock and Kansas City Mayor Quentin Lucas to discuss leveraging federal funds for systemic urban transformation. The mayors detailed strategies for redesigning major infrastructure corridors, such as Denver's Colfax Avenue and Kansas City's I-70, to prioritize equitable housing, transit, and business opportunities while preventing community displacement. By framing local projects as regional assets, both leaders emphasized a shared commitment to moving beyond reactive budget maintenance toward proactive solutions for inequality and economic resilience.
- Milken Institute36 min
Equity and ESG for Munis: Risks, Disclosure, and Adoption
Caitlin MacLean, Olivia Albrecht, Lourdes Germán, Gary Hall, Mark Kim, Zoila Jennings
The municipal ESG bond market currently lacks a consistent pricing premium despite $43 billion in outstanding labels, driven by challenges in quantifying social metrics and a reliance on self-verification by 61% of issuers. To address these data gaps and standardization issues, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is launching the Emma Labs analytics platform while seeking enhanced disclosures, and a new $4 million consortium is developing unified racial equity frameworks for municipal financing. Consequently, market participants are being urged to align with international standards and demand greater transparency from asset managers to harmonize taxonomies and improve access for smaller communities.
- Milken Institute20 min
A Conversation With Kathy Hochul, Governor of New York
Kathy Hochul, Michael Piwowar, Richard Ravitch
Governor Hochul is fortifying New York State's fiscal reserves against potential crises while rejecting tax hikes to stem the out-migration of high-net-worth individuals. Simultaneously, she is collaborating with New York City Mayor Adams on subway safety initiatives and advancing the delayed congestion pricing plan to secure MTA funding. Her administration also prioritized keeping schools open during the Omicron surge through widespread testing and is incentivizing the construction of 100,000 affordable housing units to address long-term economic stability.
- Milken Institute15 min
Climate Resilient Infrastructure: A Conversation with Senator Ed Markey
Senator Markey frames the current legislative landscape as a historic opportunity to advance the Civilian Climate Corps, a proposed 300,000-person workforce initiative designed to build resilient infrastructure while providing living wages and training for underserved communities. To catalyze these efforts, he advocates for the LIFT Act and a National Climate Bank to fund pre-development projects and leverage private investment, specifically targeting environmental justice regions to achieve a 50% reduction in economy-wide emissions by 2030. Simultaneously, the Senator is maneuvering to secure the final climate provisions within the Build Back Better bill by prioritizing their passage before the State of the Union address, despite facing procedural hurdles and a lack of bipartisan consensus.
- Milken Institute26 min
Fintech in Focus: Michael Greenwald on the Digital Asset Space
Michael Greenwald, Kate Goldman
China is intensifying its crackdown on cryptocurrency transactions to consolidate state control and challenge the US dollar's global dominance, a move that pressures the Federal Reserve to accelerate digital dollar innovation despite internal divisions on the timeline. Analysts warn that without a coordinated "Digital Asset Bretton Woods" framework involving G7 allies and a proactive national security strategy, the US risks falling behind in the emerging geopolitical contest between authoritarian and non-authoritarian digital finance systems. Experts argue that achieving bipartisan legislative clarity and establishing a "Digital Asset Bill of Rights" will be essential to create a robust regulatory environment where centralized and decentralized payment rails can coexist.
- Milken Institute1h 31m
Small Business Community: What Happened to Mom and Pop?
Nigel Duara, Lenore Estrada, Isabella Casillas Guzman, Eugene Cornelius, Jr., Carolina Martinez, Mark J. Robertson, Sr., David Lesher
Co-hosted by CalMatters and the Milken Institute, this strategic discussion examined the critical recovery challenges facing California's four million small businesses with special attention to the stark disparities affecting communities of color and women-owned enterprises. Featuring newly appointed SBA Director Isabella Casillas Guzman, the event analyzed how the agency's portfolio expansion to over $1 trillion was initially skewed by banking biases, prompting a pivot toward a "Five C's" framework that prioritizes coaching, diverse capital, and community navigation to address exclusion. Looking forward, the SBA is repositioning to connect small businesses with the $500 billion federal infrastructure marketplace while implementing a $100 million Community Navigator pilot to streamline access for underserved entrepreneurs.
- Milken Institute1h 30m
California: The Post-COVID Future of Work
Jackie Botts, Sarah Bohn, Rob Lapsley, David Lesher, Matt Horton, Aleida Ramirez, Lorena Gonzalez
Co-hosted by CalMatters and the Milken Institute's California Center, this panel examined how California's post-pandemic economic recovery is exacerbating racial and income inequalities despite a $75.7 billion budget surplus. Moderator Jackie Botts facilitated discussions among policymakers like Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, who advocated for treating child care as public infrastructure, reforming the EDD to prevent fraud, and prioritizing trade apprenticeships over traditional college degrees. The event concluded with a consensus on structural reforms for 2030, including unionized service-sector wages, expanded safety nets, and legislative changes to support remote work and essential workers who cannot telecommute.
- Milken Institute1h 2m
The Future of Everything: How Technology is Changing the World
Staci Warden, Michael Milken, Rajeev Misra, Drhuv Saxena, Yakir Gola
Hosted by Stacey Worden, this session features Milken Institute Chairman Mike Milken alongside SoftBank CEO Rajiv Misra and CEOs Drew Saxena and Yakir Gola to analyze how the pandemic accelerated global technological transformation in supply chains, healthcare, and finance. The discussion details significant operational shifts, such as ShipBob's infrastructure for small e-commerce businesses and GoPuff's micro-fulfillment network, while highlighting how reduced costs of capital and AI integration are lowering barriers for new market entrants. Panelists conclude that digital adoption and remote work trends are permanent, creating enduring value in life sciences and human capital despite emerging supply chain congestion.
- Milken Institute32 min
A Conversation with US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar
Health Secretary Alex Azar and federal officials address the current U.S. pandemic surge, which shows a 14% weekly case increase driven by indoor gatherings and mitigation fatigue, while firmly rejecting national mandates in favor of public education and declining to pursue a herd immunity strategy. Clinical and operational updates highlight a mortality rate drop for adults to below 10% due to improved therapeutics and a phased vaccine rollout targeting vulnerable populations by December under Operation Warp Speed, with regulatory approval authority reserved for independent FDA scientists. Despite clinical trial pauses for some candidates to ensure safety, the administration confirms adequate state funding, broad jurisdictional planning, and commercial-scale manufacturing commitments from major pharmaceutical firms to support the upcoming distribution schedule.
- Milken Institute1h 0m
Finance as a Force for Good
Ben White, Kate Barton, Mark Machin, Jeffrey M. Solomon, Andrew Weinberg
Panelists discuss a widening divergence between ebullient financial markets and weak economic fundamentals, driven by $27 trillion in global fiscal stimulus that is largely diverting into asset reflation rather than immediate consumption. The discussion highlights how regulatory shifts toward revenue generation and carbon pricing, alongside the rise of family offices integrating sustainability values, aim to redirect capital toward real economy growth and climate innovation. Experts emphasize that future stability requires pivoting from financial engineering to investing in people and middle-market firms while consolidating fragmented ESG reporting to ensure long-term value creation.