Progressive Public Policy Conference

U.S. Congressman Barney Frank

Keynote Speaker

Saturday, November 12th, 2005 - 10:15 am

(Biography taken from Wikipedia – the Free Encyclopedia)

Barney Frank has represented the 4th District of Massachusetts since 1981.  He is the Senior Democrat on the Financial Services Committee and is also a member of the Select Committee on Homeland Security, where he serves on the Subcommittee on Infrastructure and Border Security and the Subcommittee on Intelligence and Counterterrorism.

The Congressman graduated Harvard College in 1962. In 1968 he became the Chief Assistant to Mayor Kevin White of Boston, a position he held for three years. He then served for one year as Administrative Assistant to Congressman Michael J. Harrington.

In 1972 Frank was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature, where he served for eight years. During that time, he entered Harvard Law School and graduated in 1977. In 1979 he became a member of the Massachusetts Bar, before being elected to Congress in 1980. While in state and local government, Frank taught part-time at the University of Massachusetts Boston, the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and at Boston University.

He published numerous articles on politics and public affairs, and in 1992 he published Speaking Frankly, an essay on the role the Democratic Party should play in the 1990s.

Frank is a prominent figure in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, and has been outspoken on many human rights issue, as well as on issues of gay and lesbian rights. He has been a strong supporter of Israel.

(www.house.gov/frank)

Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly

Candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, 2006

Saturday, November 12th, 2005 – 11:30

(Biography taken from Wikipedia – the Free Encyclopedia)

Tom Reilly has been Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 1998. He was reelected for a second term in 2002.

Reilly attended Cathedral High School in Springfield, MA. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from International College in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1964.

Reilly spent two years in Washington, D.C. working for the Central Intelligence Agency. He then worked with the Ford Motor Company as a Labor Relations Representative until 1967. Reilly attended Boston College Law School and received his JD in June of 1970.

Reilly then spent two years as a prosecutor in the state Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division., and four years as a Suffolk Country prosecutor. In 1976, Tom Reilly and Wayne Budd formed “Budd and Reilly”, a Boston based law firm. The firm became the largest minority dominated firm in New England.

Reilly left the law firm in 1983 to work in Scott Harshbarger’s administration at the Middlesex District Attorney's office as First Assistant DA. In 1991, Reilly ran and became the DA of Middlesex County. He was reelected for a second term.
Tom and his wife, Ruth, whom he met when both were college students in Western Massachusetts, were married in 1966. They have three daughters, five granddaughters and a grandson.

(www.tomreilly.org)

Former U.S. Attorney General Deval Patrick

Candidate for Governor of Massachusetts, 2006

Saturday, November 12th, 2005 – 12:45

(Biography taken from Wikipedia – the Free Encyclopedia)

Patrick was born on Chicago's South Side in 1956, into an African-American family living on welfare and residing in a one-bedroom apartment. While in middle school, a teacher of his referred him to A Better Chance, a Boston not-for-profit organization that provides urban youth with scholarships to attend private secondary schools. Patrick earned a scholarship to attend Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts.

Patrick graduated from Milton Academy in 1974 and from Harvard College in 1978. He then spent a year working with the United Nations in Africa, and enrolled in a law school there. In 1979, Patrick returned to the United States and enrolled at Harvard Law School. At Harvard, Patrick was elected president of the Legal Aid Bureau, where he first worked defending poor families in Middlesex County. Upon graduation, he did a brief stint as a law clerk, then went to work as an attorney for the NAACP.

While working with the NAACP, Patrick met future President Bill Clinton, then serving as governor of Arkansas. Governor Clinton was being sued over a voting rights case, and the two worked out a settlement. Also while working with the NAACP, Mr. Patrick married Diane Beamus, an attorney specializing in labor and employment law.

In 1986, Patrick went to work as a private attorney for Hill & Barlow, a Boston law firm, becoming a partner in 1990, and continued volunteer work with the NAACP.

In 1994, Clinton was President and appointed Patrick to become Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. At the position, he worked on a range of issues, including the bombing of churches across the southern United States.

In 1997, Patrick returned to Boston to join the firm Day, Berry, & Howard, and settled a case for Texaco, and was appointed as a legal executive for the company.

From 1999 to 2004, Mr. Patrick worked as an executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of the Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta and New York City. He resigned and returned to Massachusetts in 2004.

Deval and Diane Patrick have lived in Milton since 1989. They have two daughters.
(www.devalpatrick.com)

1. The Massachusetts Economy

2pm, Student Union Ballroom

Noah Berger is the Executive Director of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MBPC), the leading Massachusetts fiscal policy research group concentrating on issues that particularly affect low and moderate income people. Prior to joining MBPC, Noah served as Counsel and Policy Director for the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means from 1993-1996. From 1996 to 2002 Berger served as Policy Director for Senate President Tom Birmingham. He holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and a JD from Harvard Law School. (www.massbudget.com)

Ron Patenaude is the President of United Auto Workers Local 2322, and has been a member for eight years, ever since the employees at Sisters of Providence Hospital were unionized.  He has served as the Mass UAW Civil Rights Chair for several years, and since being elected President he has been involved with the Western Massachusetts Jobs with Justice organization, and the Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council.  He is also a member of the Labor Collaborative at Valley Free Radio, in Florence, Mass. where he hosts a Labor show called Bread & Roses on Fridays from 6-7 at 103.3 FM. (ronpatenaude@hotmail.com)

Tim Brennan is Executive Director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, and has studied local growth and development for almost thirty years. Mr. Brennan joined the PVPC in 1973 and since 1980 has served as the agency’s executive director. He currently serves as the chair of the nationwide Institute for the Regional Community and is active in many other organizations, including the National Association of Regional Councils, the Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies, the New England Association of Regional Councils and the Hartford-Springfield Economic Partnership. He is also an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Massachusetts. (http://www.pvpc.org/)

2. The Politics and Policy of Social Issues in MA

2pm, Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center Basement, Room 165-69

State Representative Ellen Story has represented the Third Hampshire District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 1992. She is Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Arts and Cultural Development, and also sits on the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. She has been involved with Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Amherst, the League of Women Voters, and the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators. (Rep.EllenStory@hou.state.ma.us)

Melissa Kogut has been the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, the state affiliate of NARAL Pro-Choice America., for the past nine years. Her organization focuses on congressional races, presidential elections, and statewide trends. She started working at NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts in her 20s, as a volunteer, after which she joined the staff as an organizer in the late ’80s. (http://www.prochoicemass.org/)

Angus McQuilken, is the Political Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and was the chief-of-staff for former-state Sen. Cheryl Jacques (www.pplm.org)

Bill Conley is a lobbyist with the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, the oldest statewide gay political advocacy organization with over 30 years of professional lobbying for the LGBT community. Bill began his gay political activism in the late-1980's, volunteering for the Caucus on the Gay Civil Rights Bill (initially introduced by State Representatives Barney Frank and Elaine Noble) which finally passed in 1989. He has served on the Governor's Commission on Gay & Lesbian Youth since its creation by Governor Weld in 1993. Bill has been the MGLPC Lobbyist for the last 5 years working for the Caucus' lead Lobbyist, Arline Isaacson. (www.mglpc.org)

Frederick Clarkson is a widely published independent journalist, author and lecturer who has written about politics and religion for twenty years. He is the author of Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, Common Courage Press, (1997). He co-authored Challenging the Christian Right: The Activist’s Handbook, (Institute for First Amendment Studies 1992; Ms Foundation edition, 1994) for which he and his co-author were named among the “Media Heroes of 1992” by the Institute for Alternative Journalism. (www.frederickclarkson.com)

3. Protecting the Massachusetts Environment

Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center Basement, Room 174-76

State Representative James B. Eldridge has represented the Thirty-seventh Middlesex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 2003. He sis on the Joint Committee on Community Development and Small Business, the Joint Committee on Election Laws, and the Joint Committee on Public Service. He has been involved with the Acton Conservation Trust, the Assabet River Rail Trail, Inc. League of Women Voters (1996-present), the Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth (MassINC) (1996-present), the Middlesex and Worcester Democratic Coalition (Vice-chair), the Nashua River Watershed Association, No Place for Hate (member), and the Organization for the Assabet River (1996-present).

Clif Read is the Supervisor of Interpretive Services at the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Water Protection. He is an expert in planning policy, and protection of the land, the watershed and the forest surrounding the Quabbin Reservoir, which provides drinking water to 2.5 Million Massachusetts residents.

Tina Clarke is the campaign director of Massachusetts Clean Water Action. She has been an activist for eighteen years. She is formerly the national director of Greenpeace USA’s activist network. She has worked on a wide range of policy issues, including poverty alleviation and the military budget. Her organization works to reduce pollution and to promote healthy and sustainable jobs and communities. (http://www.cleanwateraction.org/ma/)

1. Public Education in the Commonwealth

3:30pm, Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center Basement, Room 174-76

State Senator Stan Rosenberg has represented Western Massachusetts since 1991. In 2003 he was named President Pro Tem of the Massachusetts Senate. Stan also continues to serve on the Legislature's Foster Kid Caucus and maintains a leadership role on legislation affecting education, the environment and health care. (www.stanrosenberg.com)

Nancy deProsse is coordinator of the Amherst Family center and a graduate student at the Center for Public Policy and Administration at UMass Amherst. Previously she was a union organizer - organizing the Grad employees at UMass Amherst, and child care employees statewide.  In her capacity as a union organizer she worked tirelessly to improve the compensation of child care employees both at the bargaining table and in the political area.  She currently is a member of Local 2322 UAW and serves on the statewide advisory committee to the Early Education for All campaign. (ndep@external.umass.edu)

Eric A. Watts has superb knowledge of reference sources devoted to District of Columbia politics and K-12 education. He has been a Special Projects Administrator for the District of Columbia public schools, Policy Coordinator for the D.C. Board of Education, and a Staff Assistant for U.S. Congressman John W. Olver. (e7770@hotmail.com)

2. Healthcare

3:30 – Student Union Ballroom

State Representative John W. Scibak has represented the Second Hampshire District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives since 2003. He sits on the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Joint Committee on Children and Families. He has previously sat on the board of directors of the Mont Marie Health Care Center, Inc. He obtained his B.A., M.A., Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame.

Michael DeChiara is the Executive Director of Community Partners, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Western Massachusetts that addresses health access and community issues. Michael has been with Community Partners since 1997 and has considerable experience in the field of community-based health care access issues. He has over 20 years of experience in the non-profit sector, having worked with national organizations such as Greenpeace to small local organizations in the Boston-area. He holds a dual masters degree in Nonprofit Management and Public Policy from Tufts University. He is also involved in local politics, serving on the Shutesbury School Committee. He hosts the blog, www.wonknot.net focused on framing progressive issues for Massachusetts. (http://www.compartners.org/)

Peggy O’Malley is a registered nurse, a leader of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, and a former chair of MASS-CARE, The Massachusetts Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare. She is a resident of Gloucester, Massachusetts (www.masscare.org)

3. Democratic Reforms and Good Government

3:30pm, Murray D. Lincoln Campus Center Basement, Room 165-69

Cameron Kerry is a lawyer and lifelong political activist. A litigation partner with Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo, he has also been an Adjunct Professor of Telecommunications Law at Suffolk University Law School and practiced law in Washington, D.C. Before starting law practice, he was a law clerk to United States Circuit Judge Elbert Parr Tuttle, who was Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals during the desegregation of southern states. Cam is the brother of Senator John F. Kerry, and was an integral member of the Senator’s inner circle during the 2004 presidential campaign. (www.camkerry.com)

Governor's Councillor Peter Vickery was elected Governor’s Councillor for Massachusetts’ Eight District in 2004. He is an attorney, an election-reform advocate, and a member of the National Writers Union. Peter helped found Fairvote Massachusetts, an organization that promotes electoral reforms such as Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) and Proportional Representation, and wrote the IRV legislation that is pending in the Massachusetts Legislature. (www.votevickery.com)

Leo Maley is the Western Massachusetts Organizer for the Fair Districts for Fair Elections ballot question initiative, sponsored by Common Cause Massachusetts. (www.commoncausema.com)

Massachusetts Politics 101

5:00 – 5:45, Student Union Ballroom

Bill Rosen is a consultant in government relations and politics with Cardinal Strategies.  He formerly worked in government relations and health care policy for UMass Memorial Health Care, Kaiser Permanente and Fallon Community Health Plan.  He also served as legislative staff in the Massachusetts Senate and for Congressman John W. Olver (D-Mass.).  He has worked in numerous federal, state and local political campaigns.  He is an elected four-year member of the Democratic State Committee and the Chair f
the Northampton City Democratic Committee.

Michael Vito got his start as a former newspaper reporter for the Daily Hampshire
Gazette in Northampton, Mass. He was the top aide to former Northampton Mayor Mary L. Ford. He was a senior staffer in the state office of U.S. Senator John F. Kerry, in multiple positions, such as regional and acting state. Mr. Vito helped turn New Hampshire into a Blue State as the Kerry for President Campaign Field Director for Western New Hampshire. He has just started his own government relations firm, Michael Vito & Associates, in September.

John Mattar has been Chair of the Belchertown, Mass. Democratic Committee since 2002. His impressive list of campaign affiliations started with the John Anderson for President Campaign as an Independent in 1976. He is also involved with the Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts as a founding member of local leadership team and statewide committee on framing issues. He got his B.A. in Economics at Trinity College in Hartford, and his doctorate in Education from UMass Amherst.

Michael Forbes Wilcox has been an organizer and an activist since his days as a Boy Scout. Wilcox is currently the Town Moderator in Alford, Massachusetts, as well as the Chair of the Town Democratic Committee there. He also serves on the Field Services Committee of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. Wilcox is also a member of the Statewide Coordinating Committee of the Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts, a member of the Global Economy Task Force of the Progressive Democrats of America, and is the Berkshire Coordinator of the Deval Patrick for Governor campaign. (www.mfw.us)