Latest Interviews

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.

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.

The Future of NFTs

Chris Dixon, Dan Boneh, Ariana

Chris Dixon and Dan Bonet discuss how NFTs fundamentally shift web architecture by enabling true digital ownership and allowing creators to bypass centralized intermediaries through programmable royalty structures. The conversation details how technical advancements like the ERC-721 standard facilitate financial innovation through DeFi composability, enabling assets to be tokenized, collateralized, and traded across interoperable ecosystems. Furthermore, the speakers address long-term security protocols and storage solutions necessary to preserve these digital assets indefinitely while noting the current adoption barriers faced by regulated institutional collectors.

Is Myanmar a failed state?

Following a February 1st military coup that has resulted in over 780 deaths and 3,800 arrests, the junta has detained de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi on multiple charges while facing a nascent civil war as the Bamar majority joins ethnic militias in armed resistance. Although international sanctions and diplomatic pressure from the West have targeted senior generals, robust intervention remains blocked by veto power wielded by China and Russia, who prioritize regional infrastructure and strategic arms sales. Consequently, Myanmar risks becoming a failed state plagued by collapsing health systems, uncontrolled drug production, and cross-border refugee flows, while the military inherits a devastated economy despite its current control.

From Growth to Value: Where We Are in the Equity Markets

Lou Miller, Liz

Led by market strategist Liz, the discussion outlines an ongoing economic rotation from high-multiple growth stocks to value sectors as vaccine rollouts and reopening drives higher interest rates and commodity prices. The analysis highlights that the market is only halfway through this transition, with significant opportunities remaining in energy, materials, and industrials as U.S. GDP peaks and European or emerging market trades remain in early stages. While retail investor behavior and potential inflation risks pose short-term volatility, the narrative expects sustained performance in "growth at a reasonable price" stocks driven by the anticipated U.S. infrastructure plan and global economic recovery over the next six months.

Lessons Learned from COVID-19: Are There Silver Linings for Biomedical Innovation?

Esther Krofah, Francis Collins, Richard Moscicki, Ellen Sigal, Janet Woodcock

Hosted by Faster Cures, a webinar convened NIH officials and industry leaders to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic's acceleration of biomedical innovation, highlighting achievements such as the ACTIV partnership's master protocols and the RADx initiative's diagnostic scaling. The discussion detailed how the crisis forced a shift toward competitive collaboration, decentralized trials, and the successful achievement of diverse vaccine trial enrollment, while simultaneously exposing critical infrastructure gaps in clinical trial execution and real-world data integration. Panelists concluded with a consensus that emergency-driven reforms must be institutionalized through permanent policy changes and public-private partnerships to sustain preparedness for future health threats.

Walking the Talk: Investing in the Future of Black Banks, Entrepreneurship, and Opportunity

Eugene Cornelius, Jr, Henry Childs II, Emanuel Friedman, Tracy Gray, Joseph Haskins, Jr., Aron Betru

This panel examines the systemic barriers preventing Black entrepreneurs from accessing capital and reveals that closing the racial wealth gap could unlock $1.6 trillion in US economic potential. Experts advocate for a strategic shift from traditional inclusion to innovation by leveraging $9 billion in government-funded preferred stock to mobilize $90 billion in community lending and aggregating pension capital for diverse asset managers. The discussion concludes with a call to build a self-sustaining minority economy driven by global export opportunities, artificial intelligence, and direct financing models rather than reliance on historically exclusionary systems.

The Next Decade: How to Manage Disruption

Scarlet Fu, Beth Ferreira, Gregg Lemkau, Brian Sheth, Chris Stadler

Leading investment experts discuss how the pandemic has accelerated the commoditization of technology and triggered a 28-year high rate of operational disruption, forcing a permanent shift toward hybrid work models and virtual deal-making. The panel highlights unprecedented capital deployment creating a valuation barbell that distorts traditional buying opportunities, while specific sectors like biotech, digital health, and software modernization drive innovation amidst concerns over social cohesion and inequality. Future market dynamics are expected to evolve into a hybrid public exit strategy combining IPOs, SPACs, and direct listings, with management resiliency and ESG integration serving as the primary metrics for long-term investment viability.

From Social Pariah to Social Fabric: What Is the Future of Digital Media?

Willow Bay, Hani Farid, Tristan Harris, Karen Kornbluth, Niloufar Razihau

Leading experts and policymakers convened to analyze how social media business models monetize engagement and polarization, creating systemic risks that current voluntary safety measures fail to address. The panel proposed urgent regulatory reforms including independent algorithmic audits, "board of the people" structures, and temporary election "circuit breakers" to mitigate disinformation and protect democratic processes. By treating the attention economy like the financial sector requiring oversight, the discussion concluded that proactive legal frameworks and a cultural shift toward digital literacy are essential to prevent societal collapse.

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.

Leading Companies Through the New Digital Reality

Caroline Fairchild, Kevin Jones, Asha Keddy, Jason Maynard, Andrew Paradise

Tech leaders from Oracle, Intel, Rackspace Technology, and Skills convened to detail how pandemic lockdowns catalyzed a permanent shift toward remote-first strategies, multi-cloud infrastructure, and zero-trust security models. Despite economic volatility, these organizations achieved significant milestones including Rackspace's public listing, Skills' 35% growth, and Intel's infrastructure modernization while implementing innovative wellness programs and virtual hiring practices to maintain culture and diversity. Looking forward, executives predict a distributed computing future powered by 5G and AI that will further decentralize office operations and expand global talent acquisition.

Part 1: A Conversation with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy

Phil Murphy, Edward Greissing, Lynn Goldman, Judith Monroe, David Rhew, Alyssa Rieder

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy detailed the state's data-driven pandemic response, highlighting the establishment of a massive PPE stockpile, the training of surge healthcare workers, and the creation of a $100 million relief fund for small businesses. Alongside First Lady Tammy Murphy, the administration launched the "Nurture NJ" initiative to address systemic disparities in Black maternal infant mortality while advocating for a strengthened national public health infrastructure and increased federal investment in the CDC and NIH. The broader panel emphasized that future preparedness requires modernizing data infrastructure, closing the digital divide, and implementing a holistic strategy that integrates health equity into all policy decisions to prevent a return to pre-pandemic inequities.

Are You Willing to Give Up Your Privilege?

Richard Ditizio, Sarah Kate Ellis, Daniel Markovits, Darren Walker, Felicia Wong

A panel of economists, philanthropists, and advocates argues that systemic inequality stems from unaddressed privilege and a rigged meritocracy, highlighting vast wealth gaps and institutional subsidies that favor elite sectors over public institutions. Speakers propose structural interventions including treating broadband as a public utility, mandating diverse corporate governance, and reforming tax exemptions to redistribute resources toward marginalized communities. The group concludes that overcoming this modern caste system requires maintaining political discomfort to forge coalitions capable of unlocking trillions in economic potential while dismantling the barriers that entrench hierarchy.

Bridge and Blend: The Role of DFIs in Scaling Sustainable Financing

Alison Harwood, Amit Bouri, Joan Larrea, Nancy Lee, Monish Mahurkar

With the annual financing gap for Sustainable Development Goals in emerging markets estimated at $2.5 trillion, development finance institutions face critical challenges in mobilizing the necessary private capital due to institutional constraints and a historical overconcentration in middle-income regions. To address this disparity, organizations like the International Finance Corporation are shifting strategies by targeting low-income countries with specialized "stretch funds" that absorb early-stage risks and harmonizing global impact metrics to streamline complex deals. Experts emphasize that achieving the 2030 deadlines requires immediate structural reform to transform concessional finance into scalable market infrastructure rather than relying solely on bespoke transactions.

Beyond Financials: The Importance of ESG

Billy Nauman, Daniel Barclay, Pierre Breber, Lori Heinel, Lydie Hudson

Executives from Chevron, BMO Capital Markets, State Street, and Credit Suisse convened at the Milken Institute Global Conference to advocate for an "and" world where financial returns and ESG standards are mutually required. Participants argued that divestment is less effective than strategic engagement and incentive-based financing, with leaders like Pierre Breber defending high-return fossil fuel operations and Laurie Heinel emphasizing the materiality of ESG risks to long-term shareholder value. The panel concluded that despite global regulatory fragmentation and rating inconsistencies, the convergence of values and value is inevitable, positioning sustainable performance as a primary driver of capital allocation and cost of capital in a post-pandemic economy.