No Tears
Friday, March 1 at Noon (Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site)
*In partnership with Oxford American
A panel discussion presented in collaboration with the National Park Service and Clinton School of Public Service will be held at Central High School National Historic Site. Featuring Rufus Reid and Bobby LaVell, the panel will be moderated by composer Chris Parker. The goal is to facilitate discussion on the ongoing work of social equity in the United States from the perspectives of people living in different communities and what role music and the arts play in affecting change in our society today.
Additional partners on the project include University of Central Arkansas College of Fine Arts & Communication, Central High National Historic Site, Kay Kelley Arnold, Mid-America Arts Alliance, National Endowment for the Arts, Arkansas Arts Council, and Mosaic Templars Cultural Center.
This project is generously funded by the Stella Boyle Smith Trust, Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts and the state arts agencies of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.
Making of an Entrepreneur
Monday, March 4 at Noon (Sturgis Hall)
*In partnership with The Venture Center
From a pool of applicants from 32 countries, six continents and 24 states, eight entrepreneurs were chosen to participate in an accelerator program in Little Rock.
In this panel, you will hear the candid stories of five entrepreneurs and their journey towards pivoting, taking risks, and challenging the status quo to make a meaningful impact in the world. Join us as we hear inspiring stories from the entrepreneurs participating in the ICBA ThinkTech Accelerator program at the Venture Center.
Mayor Frank Scott, Jr.
Wednesday, March 6 at 6 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
In January, Frank Scott, Jr. was sworn in as the City of Little Rock’s first elected African-American mayor after running on a campaign that promised unity and change.
Previously, Scott was an executive with First Security Bank and spent five years in leadership in the Office of Governor Mike Beebe, first serving as deputy policy director and later as director of intergovernmental affairs. Prior to his work on state issues, Frank was a distribution operations manager for Target’s Central Arkansas distribution center.
Scott served as a state highway commissioner and on the board of directors for both the Little Rock Port Authority and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Arkansas. Scott has focused his professional career on giving back to the community, city, and state that has invested so much in him.
Jarrett Walker – “Freedom in the City: Planning Public Transit for A City Rich in Opportunity”
Monday, March 11 at 5:30 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
*In partnership with Rock Region Metro
Public transit is a powerful tool for addressing a huge range of urban problems, including traffic congestion and economic development as well as climate change. But while many people support transit in the abstract, it’s often hard to channel that support into good transit investments. Part of the problem is that transit debates attract many kinds of experts, who often talk past each other. Ordinary people listen to a little of this and decide that transit is impossible to figure out.
Jarrett Walker believes that transit can be simple, if we focus first on the underlying geometry that all transit technologies share. In Human Transit, Walker supplies the basic tools, the critical questions, and the means to make smarter decisions about designing and implementing transit services.
“Human Transit” explains the fundamental geometry of transit that shapes successful systems; the process for fitting technology to a particular community; and the local choices that lead to transit-friendly development. Whether you are in the field or simply a concerned citizen, here is an accessible guide to achieving successful public transit that will enrich any community.
Theresa Chahine – Social Entrepreneurship in Public Health
Tuesday, March 12 at 6 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
Social entrepreneurship is one of many pathways to sustainable social change. In this talk, Dr. Chahine shares her experience building a social enterprise ecosystem in her home country of Lebanon, and building a social entrepreneurship curriculum at her alma mater, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her central thesis is that if we are to reach our public health goals, we need to strengthen our entrepreneurial mindsets and skill sets as public health practitioners. Today, Dr. Chahine is the Sheila and Ron ’92 BA Marcelo Lecturer in Social Entrepreneurship at Yale, where she holds a joint appointment at the School of Management and the School of Public Health.
She started her career at the Ministry of Social Affairs in Lebanon working on reproductive health with the UNFPA, and went on to develop interactive web-based tools for community-based risk assessment with the U.S.EPA. Most recently, she helped launch Alfanar Lebanon, a venture philanthropy organization providing support to grassroots organizations serving marginalized populations in the Arab countries. Dr. Chahine is the author of “Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship,” a 12-step framework to building impactful ventures within new and existing organizations.
Remembering Betty Ford
Wednesday, March 13 at 6 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
*In partnership with Clinton Foundation
*Book signing to follow
In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Clinton Foundation and University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will host Remembering Betty Ford, a conversation about the woman who made a positive and lasting impact on our country. The conversation will include Susan Ford Bales, daughter of President Gerald Ford and First Lady Betty Ford, and Lisa McCubbin, author of Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer, an intimate and insightful biography of Betty Ford, the groundbreaking, candid, and resilient First Lady and wife of President Gerald Ford. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa McCubbin – with foreword by Susan Ford Bales – the book tells the inspiring story of an ordinary Midwestern girl thrust onto the world stage and into the White House under extraordinary circumstances.
Setting a precedent as First Lady, Betty Ford refused to be silenced by her critics as she publicly championed equal rights for women, and spoke out about issues that had previously been taboo—breast cancer, depression, abortion, and sexuality. Privately, there were signs something was wrong. After a painful intervention by her family, she admitted to an addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. Her courageous decision to speak out publicly sparked a national dialogue, and in 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center, which revolutionized treatment for alcoholism and inspired the modern concept of recovery.
Abolish Private Prisons
Monday, March 25 at Noon (Sturgis Hall)
John Dacey, founder and Executive Director of the Arizona nonprofit Abolish
Private Prisons, recently left a full-time law practice at the prestigious Phoenix firm of Gammage & Burnham to focus his full effort on criminal justice reform work.
He will be joined by UA Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law Professor Andre Cummings, who is president of the board of directors of Abolish Private Prisons, which challenges the constitutionality of private prisons in federal court.
Rockefeller & Pryor: The New Generation
Friday, March 29 at 6 p.m. (Sturgis Hall)
A conversation with Will Rockefeller and Adams Pryor moderated by Clinton School Dean Skip Rutherford. Will Rockefeller works for Winrock Group Inc. in Little Rock and served on the staff of United States Senator John Boozman from 2011-2016. He earned his B.A. in History from Rhodes College and an MBA from the University of Arkansas. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Real Estate Development from Georgetown University. He is the son of the late Arkansas Lt. Gov Win Rockefeller and the grandson of the late Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller.
Adams Pryor graduated from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville and is currently a third-year law student at UAF. Following his law school graduation, he hopes to work for an international development NGO. He is the son of Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor and the grandson of Arkansas Governor and Senator David Pryor.
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