Lender Center New York Event Gathers Wealth Gap Experts
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Nearly 30 Syracuse University faculty and postdoctoral researchers and nationally known thought leaders who study the wealth gap in America explored the issue at a recent event in New York City hosted by the Lender Center for Social Justice.
The two-day event was the latest in a series of talks, symposia and convenings on the topic organized by the Lender Center over the past three years. The initiative is supported by a $2.7 million grant from MetLife Foundation.
The gathering involved the sharing of resources and building the knowledge base about the root causes of the wealth gap, as well as innovative ideas for addressing the problem, says Kendall Phillips, Lender Center director and professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
“In New York, we centered on the need to think about the issue from multiple perspectives and look at systems that provide access to all kinds of resources—corporate systems, information and culture systems, those that provide access to health and wellness and those that offer economic mobility opportunities,” he says. Lender Center Wealth Gap Thought Leader Advisory Group members who participated included:
Marcelle Haddix, Lender Center co-founder and dean of the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education
Pablo Mitnik, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan’s Center for Inequality Dynamics
dt ogilvie, former dean at the Rochester Institute of Technology
Gregory Price, JP Morgan Chase professor of minority and emerging business at the University of New Orleans
Blane Ruschak, president of The PhD project
Thomas M. Shapiro, Pokross Professor of Law and Social Policy and director of the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University
This photo gallery presents a recap of the event and those who participated.
Kendall Phillips, Lender Center director, was among presenters at the New York City conversation and research presentation. It was the latest in a series of community-based convenings on the topic of the wealth gap in America. Other events have been held in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Syracuse and Washington, D.C. Seyeon Lee, center front, former Lender Center Faculty Fellow and associate professor and associate dean for strategic initiatives and research in the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA), speaks about how applying a design perspective to buildings and community spaces can impact social equity and access for individuals. Whitman faculty members Willie Reddic, front left, and Susan Albring presented their research perspectives at the public roundtable, “Mapping Communities of Opportunities.” Others taking part in the panel were, seated from left, Kira Reed, Seyeon Lee, Brice Nordquist, Rochelle Royster and Kendall Phillips. Lynn Brann (left), chair of the nutrition and food studies and exercise science program and Rachel Razza, (right), associate dean of human dynamics, join Marcelle Haddix, Lender Center for Social Justice co-founder. Pablo Mitnik, left, assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan’s Center for Inequality Dynamics, chaired the panel on “Corporate Systems.” He speaks with Gary Girzadas, center, Syracuse University executive director of foundation relations, and MetLife Foundation Director Charlie Pettigrew. LaVerne Gray, left, assistant professor in the School of Information Studies, talks with Gregory Price, right, JP Morgan Chase professor of minority and emerging business at the University of New Orleans, and a Lender Center advisor. They are joined by Abigail Tick ’22, one of the Lender Center’s first student fellows. She is now a grant writer for the Open Space Institute in Brooklyn. Lender Center research team member Arielle Newman (left), assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the Whitman School, joins postdoctoral research fellows Mauricio Mercados and J Coley (center) and Blane Ruschak (right). Jonnell Robinson (left), associate professor of geography and the environment in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and one of the first Lender Center Faculty Fellows, with Erasmo Giamboda, professor of finance in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, and Karac Aral, associate professor of supply chain management in the Whitman School. Faculty in attendance included (from left) Corri Zoli, Lender Center Faculty Research Fellow; Susan Albring (Whitman School); Seyeon Lee (VPA); Rochelle Royster (VPA); Kira Reed (Whitman School); Brice Nordquist (College of Arts and Sciences); Willie Reddic (Whitman School); Kendall Phillips, Lender Center director.
