PUBLIC POLICY:  The Legislature and the City: Needs, Wants, and Hopes
9:30 – 10:30
Presidents’ Hall 

Speaker: Gene Ranieri, Chief Legislative Lobbyist for the City of Minneapolis, 2015 State Legislative Session
Ranieri will discuss problems the city of Minneapolis faces that need Legislative permission and/or support. He will show how he is framing these requests so that they appeal to suburban as well as city legislators. We will gain insight into the behind-the-scenes work of a lobbyist and an introduction to the stakes that Minneapolis has in Legislative action or inaction.

 EDUCATION:  The Power of Partnership and Innovation in Work Force Development
10:45 – 11:45
Presidents’ Hall

Speaker: Jane Samargia, Executive Director of HIRED, HIRED.org
President Obama visited HIRED in June and got a first- hand look at one of their successful programs for young parents. With workforce development programs in three metropolitan counties, HIRED assists more than 10,000 at-risk youth, school dropouts, homeless teens, single parents, immigrants, dislocated workers, ex-offenders, and others lacking adequate education, training, and work experience. HIRED provides the preparation and skills necessary to build a better life through employment. Samargia is a leader in the use of technology to drive a culture of analysis that increases both efficiency and effectiveness in program performance. She has advised local and state committees on workforce development issues, including the Minnesota FastTRAC initiative to help low-income workers advance in the workplace.

 ANNOUNCEMENTS
11:45 – 12:00

LUNCHEON
12:00 – 1:15

FRONTIERS IN SCIENCE:  The Zooniverse: How Crowdsourcing Science is Solving Big Data Problems in Research

1:15 – 2:15
Presidents’ Hall

Speaker: Dr. Lucy Fortson, Associate Head and Associate Professor of Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota zooniverse.org
You can contribute to science. Modern researchers have a new problem: how to find patterns in complex data from space probes, satellites, and other sources. This job is not well done by computers but performed very well by the human brain. Fortson will explain the Zooniverse, an online project enabling people to help solve many problems such as finding differences between types of galaxies, counting craters on the moon, and hunting for planets outside our solar system. These citizen scientists have made discoveries that have contributed to the scientific body of knowledge.