Please join the Center for American Progress, Generation Progress, young LGBTQI elected officials, and a cross-movement panel of advocates, policy experts, and researchers to discuss why Gen Z LGBTQI individuals are experiencing such significant disparities and what policymakers can do to address this crisis.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Noon to 1:15 pm E.T.

Introductory remarks:
Sharita Gruberg, Vice President of the LGBTQ and Communications Project, Center for American Progress

Keynote remarks:
State Rep. Ryan M. Fecteau (D-ME), Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives

Panelists:
Jordan Budd, Executive Director, COLAGE
Olivia Julianna, Advocate and Digital Content Creator, Gen Z for Change
Lindsay Mahowald, Research Assistant with the LGBTQ Research and Communications Project, Center for American Progress
Preston Mitchum, Director of Advocacy and Government Affairs, The Trevor Project

Moderator:
Edwith Theogene, Director of Advocacy, Generation Progress

Closing remarks:
Matthew Taylor, Member-at-Large, Sunnyside Unified Governing Board in Arizona

The post EVENT: Making Progress for LGBTQI+ Gen Z appeared first on Generation Progress.

The rally kicked off with remarks from leaders from The Live Movement, the NAACP, 1000 Women Strong, the Student Debt Crisis Center, and more on what it will take to end the student debt crisis for good. 

The virtual event closed out Generation Progress"s debt-free college for all week of action, which included constituent meetings with U.S. Senate offices, phonebanking, and a storyteller workshop. Participants called for debt-free college solutions, funding for students at HBCUs and MSIs, doubling the maximum Pell grant, and executive action on student debt cancellation.

Note: This event was previously planned as an outdoor rally and march, but was moved online as a result of inclement weather.

 

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Want to learn more about the effort to cancel student debt and make college free? Check out our action toolkit and fact sheet.

The post EVENT: Debt-Free College for All Virtual Rally appeared first on Generation Progress.

Tuition Assistance Programs (TAP) are vital to creating equitable spaces in higher education, yet these programs still aren"t accessible to incarcerated students. During the "tough on crime" era, lawmakers banned incarcerated students from accessing need-based assistance programs like Pell nationwide and TAP in New York. But a movement in New York is working to reverse that legislation for incarcerated New Yorkers.

Equitable access to higher education is critical for justice-involved students in and out of corrections facilities. By 2027, 70% of all jobs will require post-secondary education beyond high school; this coupled with disproportionately high unemployment rates, means formerly incarcerated people re-enter society with a number of barriers to success. Incarcerated women are particularly at risk since they are the fastest-growing segment of the incarceration population, and are often offered even fewer opportunities for higher education behind bars. 

On October 26, 2021, Generation Progress Director of Advocacy Edwith Theogene spoke on the "TAP Restoration Is Women’s Equity" panel hosted by College and Community Fellowship about why TAP restoration is a women"s issue, and how denying access to incarcerated students deepens the divide between men and women.

Panel:

• Serena Martin-Liguori, Executive Director, New Hour for Women and Children-Long Island
• Anisah Sabur, #HALTsolitary Campaign
• Nicole D. Porter, Senior Director of Advocacy, The Sentencing Project
• Edwith Theogene, Director of Advocacy, Generation Progress

The post EVENT: TAP Restoration Is Women’s Equity Panel appeared first on Generation Progress.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which has been riddled with issues since inception, is getting a makeover, according to the Department of Education. The program, which was created 14 years ago, was supposed to alleviate the burden of student debt for dedicated public service workers. The idea was simple: work in public service for ten years, while making student loan payments, and have your remaining student debt canceled. Unfortunately, too few borrowers received forgiveness, and too many do not receive credit for the years of payments they made due to complicated eligibility rules, servicing errors, or other technicalities. Newly announced changes to the program are predicted to provide relief and assistance to hundreds of thousands of borrowers.

Generation Progress is excited to have a Department of Education that is working to help borrowers, provide relief, and fix broken programs. Regulatory and administrative changes like this are a huge step in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go until we stop the student debt crisis. We still need President Biden to implement broad-based student debt cancellation for all borrowers. Until then, we"ll keep fighting for cancellation through executive action AND debt-free college legislation passed by Congress. 

On October 14, 2021, Generation Progress Executive Director Brent J. Cohen participated in the Student Debt Crisis Center"s Public Service Loan Forgiveness Town Hall to discuss updates to the program and answer borrowers" questions.

Still have questions about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program? Check out these resources from the Student Borrower Protection Center and answers to these frequently asked questions by the Department of Education.

Note: With all the news around PSLF and debt cancellation advocacy, there has been an uptick in student loan scams. Don’t give callers personal information and pay attention to whether you’re on a “dot gov” site or not. Protect yourself from scams with this information from the CFPB.

The post EVENT: Public Service Loan Forgiveness Updates Town Hall appeared first on Generation Progress.

Congress can help us get there by passing critical bills like the Freedom to Vote Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would protect voters from discrimination and voter suppression. By having a democracy that works and has all of our voices represented, we can begin to see real progress on the issues that matter most to us.

On October 15, 2021, Generation Progress and our friends hosted a virtual event where we discussed the ways that bold investments in climate, democracy reform, and voting rights are all deeply connected, and how we can all take action. Watch the recording:

Use the buttons below to join the movement.

The post EVENT: How Fixing Our Broken Democracy Could Get Us Action on Climate Change appeared first on Generation Progress.

The For the People Act (S.1) would stop this by creating national standards to protect our freedom to vote, ensure fair representation for all, and ending the dark influence of corporate money in politics that inhibits our progress on so many fronts. We need to make sure public officials work in the interest of the public.

Before Congress left for August Recess, state legislators joined Generation Progress and young activists for a virtual event that called on the U.S. Senate to pass the For The People Act.

Use the buttons below to join the movement.

The post EVENT: Recess Can Wait–Our Democracy Can't: Millennials & Gen Z appeared first on Generation Progress.

We"re out here delivering almost 13,000 of your stories to the Department of Education as part of the #CancelStudentDebt Voices project! It"s time for Pres. Biden to cancel student debt and Congress to pass #FreeCollege.

Thanks to Sen. Schumer, Sen. Warren, and Alyssa Milano for leading the livestream!

And thank YOU for sharing your #CancelStudentDebt and #FreeCollege stories with us. You all made this moment possible!

It’s not too late to share your student debt story with us.

See the stories project and more here.

The post EVENT: #CancelStudentDebt Voices With Special Guests Senator Chuck Schumer and Alyssa Milano appeared first on Generation Progress.

With the backdrop of racial justice uprisings, a pandemic, and an economic crisis, this year"s election was one of the most consequential in United States history.

Despite, or perhaps even because of, these challenges, initial data suggest that young people overcame voter suppression-oriented disinformation and turned out to vote at or near record numbers in the 2020 election. Not only that, but Millennials and Generation Z appear to have played a significant role in determining election outcomes. Preliminary data from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University estimate that 52 to 55 percent of youth voted in 2020. Young voters" impact–especially youth of color"s overwhelming support for progressive platforms–was decisive in key races across the country.

Please join Generation Progress at the Center for American Progress for a timely and critical discussion about what motivated youth voter turnout and how vital young people are to campaigning and the future of progressive policies in the United States. It is time that young voters are seen as the crucial constituency that they are and retire once and for all the worn-out narrative that young people are too disengaged to vote.

Introductory Remarks:
Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D-WI)

Panelists:
Malik Hubbard, Senior Advisor, NextGen America
Abby Kiesa, Deputy Director, Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)
Preston Mitchum, Policy Director, URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity
Jennifer Nwachukwu, Counsel, Voting Rights Project and James Byrd Jr. Center to Stop Hate, Lawyers" Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law

Moderator:
Brent J. Cohen, Executive Director, Generation Progress

Closing Remarks:
Amanda Brown Lierman, Managing Director of Politics and Organizing, Supermajority

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The post EVENT: The 2020 Youth Vote: What the Shifting Makeup of the Country Means for Future Elections appeared first on Generation Progress.

Read the full report this event is based on, Young People Are the Pathway to Victory in 2020.

With all eyes on the 2020 election, every candidate and campaign wants to know the secret to a victory in November. The answer may be earning the votes of Millennials and Generation Z. These powerhouse generations will make up more than one-third of potential voters in this election, but a history of campaigns devaluing or overlooking these voters means much of that power remains untapped.

Please join Generation Progress for a discussion on the potential for young people to decide the 2020 election and our advice for campaigns, candidates, and political organizations on what they can do from now until the election to better reach, persuade, and turn out this large and increasingly diverse section of the electorate.

Introductory remarks:
Winnie Stachelberg, Executive Vice President, External Affairs, Center for American Progress

Featured panelists:
Dawn Boudwin, Deputy Executive Director of Network Strategy, Alliance for Youth Action
Nicole Hensel, Executive Director, New Era Colorado
Rainesford Stauffer, Freelance Writer and Reporter

Moderator:
Brent J. Cohen, Executive Director, Generation Progress

The post EVENT: Young Voters Could Decide the 2020 Election appeared first on Generation Progress.