Policy Works (Reimagining the Economy Project, Harvard Kennedy School, Reimagining the Economy)

We kick off Season 1 of Policy Works with a conversation with a veteran in the field of regional economic development.  Birgit Klohs has been a economic development agent for over 45 years. For nearly 30 of them, she was President and CEO of The Right Place, a regional development organisation in Greater Grand Rapids, West Michigan. Centrally located between Chicago and Detroit, Grand Rapids is Michigan’s second-largest city and a hub for research, innovation and a thriving regional economy.

In this wide ranging and detailed conversation, we speak to Birgit on what it takes to create a regional economic hub, including:

- the origins and evolution of The Right Place

- the Grand Rapids Medical Mile, which has become a hub for medical education, medical devices and other health services

- the goals and challenges facing an economic development agency

- how she thinks about eliminating systemic inequities in her role as an economic development agent

- the connection between workforce development and economic development, and more

Learn more about the Reimagining the Economy project: http://reimagining-the-economy.hks.harvard.edu

We kick off 2023 with Lisa Nandy, a member of UK's Labour Party and Member of Parliament for Wigan since 2010. She serves as the Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities & Local Government. In the past, she has also served as Shadow Foreign Secretary, Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, and Shadow Minister for Education.

In this episode, Lisa talks to us about:

- the UK’s productivity challenges and its 'leveling up' agenda

- the politics of economic reforms, and why progressives globally are unable to understand the level of economic discontentment

- how she looks back at the economic legacies of Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown

- the "everyday economy" that is the backbone of our modern economy

- regional inequalities and regionalism in the UK

- how to to devolve power and build state capacity

Lisa has a new book out titled "All In: How We Build a Country that Works", where she unpacks the range of socioeconomic challenges that the UK faces, including the winners and losers from globalization, regional inequalities, and underinvestment, and outlines a vision for inclusive development. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/all-in-how-we-build-a-country-that-works-lisa-nandy?variant=40704030408738.

Learn more about the Reimagining the Economy project: http://reimagining-the-economy.hks.harvard.edu

Rodrick Miller is a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, where he engages with a range of initiatives, including Reimagining the Economy. He is also the President & CEO of Ascendant Global Consulting. Miller has spent the last 20 years leading a range of economic development agencies across the US, including Invest Puerto Rico, the Detroit Economic Growth Organization, the New Orleans Business Alliance and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

https://www.iedconline.org/index.php?src=directory&view=staff&submenu=events&srctype=detail&back=staff&refno=1551

In this fascinating and wide ranging discussion, Rod shares his experience leading regions like Puerto Rico, Detroit and New Orleans through and after periods of economic shock. We also dive into several other topics:

- the economic development landscape across the country

- political pressures on economic development

- local experimentation, coordination challenges and institutional arrangements

Learn more about the Reimagining the Economy project: http://reimagining-the-economy.hks.harvard.edu

In this episode, we discuss the transition to clean energy with guest Danny Kennedy. Danny is the CEO of New Energy Nexus, a global platform organization for funds and incubators with chapters around the world. Danny has spent 25 years playing different roles to facilitate the transition to clean energy. He also co-hosts, with Cate Blanchett, "Climate of Change", an Audible original podcast.  

In this episode, we talk about:

• how activism and innovation enable each other to facilitate change,
• the challenges faced by clean energy entrepreneurs,
• the importance of taking a localized ecosystem approach,
• workforce development considerations for the clean energy economy, and
• how we can ensure that local & indigenous communities participate more fully in the new energy economy, with the example of the Navajo Nation

Links:

- Climate of Change with Cate Blanchett and Danny Kennedy: https://www.audible.com/pd/Climate-of-Change-with-Cate-Blanchett-and-Danny-Kennedy-Podcast/B09WF8DHQR

- The importance of focusing on jobs and fairness in clean energy transition, https://www.iea.org/commentaries/the-importance-of-focusing-on-jobs-and-fairness-in-clean-energy-transitions

- Building Lithium Valley: Opportunities and Challenges Ahead for Developing California’s Battery Manufacturing Ecosystem, New Energy Nexus, https://www.newenergynexus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/New-Energy-Nexus_Building-Lithium-Valley.pdf

- Danny Kennedy, How the Navajo got their day in the sun, https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-navajo-got-their-day-sun

Learn more about the Reimagining the Economy project: http://reimagining-the-economy.hks.harvard.edu

Matt Hurlbutt is President and CEO of Greater Rochester Area (GRE). The GRE is an economic development organization that helps attract new capital investments, create regional wealth, and new jobs throughout the Greater Rochester, NY region. In this episode, we talk about:

- the role economic development agents play in helping a region grow

- what it takes to attract and retain businesses in a region

- institutional partnerships with other partners and agencies, like workforce development

Learn more about the Reimagining the Economy project: http://reimagining-the-economy.hks.harvard.edu

Piero Ghezzi has worn many hats. An economist and an entrepreneur, he has also served as the Minister of Production of Peru, where he designed and implemented a novel methodology - Mesas Ejecutivas - to implement productive development policies through public-private collaboration. 

Ghezzi tells us about the thinking behind this methodology, the process of implementing it, and how it helped address a range of public-public coordination failures and built trust between the government and the private sector. 

We also talk about the risk of elite capture and the need to build state capacity across all levels of governance. 

And, of course, we discuss all of this in the context of Peru’s economic development challenges, including regional imbalances and informality. 

Learn more about the Reimagining the Economy project: http://reimagining-the-economy.hks.harvard.edu

On this episode, we talk to two trailblazers from GroundBreak Coalition (GBC), a group of over 40 corporate, civic and philanthropy leaders who are trying to make a case that within our resources, a racially equitable and climate-ready future is possible. GBC is building a platform to mobilize and aggregate capital, and provide pathways for corporations, financial institutions, government, philanthropy, and even individuals to equitably and efficiently invest in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. What's interesting about this coalition is not just what they're trying to do, but also how they're doing it.

Tonya Allen is President of the McKnight Foundation, and the Founder and orchestrator of GBC. Alex West Steinman is CEO and Co-founder of The Coven, a network of radical spaces for changemakers to connect, learn, and grow. She is a member of GBC's working group on BIPOC entrepreneurship. 

GBC deploys its capital in four areas: BIPOC homeownership; stable & affordable rental housing; community-led commercial development; and BIPOC entrepreneurship. Their goals are ambitious and wide ranging to launch 11,000 BIPOC owned businesses,, enabling 45,000 new BIPOC homeowners and so on. While they're starting out in Minnesota, they hope to inspire action across the country.

 In this two part conversation, Tanya and Alex talk about:

- the formation of the GroundBreak Coalition, and what it takes to bring together this vast network of stakeholders

- GBC's vision for creating racial and economic justice, and what it means to create wealth for BIPOC communities

- the role of philanthropy and other forms of blended finance capital in driving systemic change

- how the goals of the Coalition have evolved over the past year

Learn more about the Reimagining the Economy project: http://reimagining-the-economy.hks.harvard.edu

The GroundBreak Coalition

McKnight Foundation

The Coven

On this episode, we talk with Rachel Lipson about the community college system in the US. Rachel was until recently co-founder and director of the Harvard Project on Workforce, an interdisciplinary, collaborative project across the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Rachel and Robert Schwartz, Professor Emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, are editors of an upcoming volume titled "America’s Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity".

On this episode we talk with Rachel about the potential of community colleges in powering the economy, including:

- how they fit into their local economic development ecosystems

- how some community colleges around the country have innovated

- the institutional constrains that prevent them from being as powerful as they can be.

Schwartz and Lipson’s book published by the Harvard University Press will be available later this Spring. See episode notes for more details (including pre-ordering links and individual case studies) and other references from the episode!   

Learn more about the Reimagining the Economy project: http://reimagining-the-economy.hks.harvard.edu

America’s Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity

The Project on the Workforce at Harvard

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

NOVA (North Virginia Community College)

Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

Project Quest

Year Up

Lorain County Community College

Per Scholas

Redesigning America’s Community Colleges: A Clearer Path to Student Success; Thomas R. Bailey, Shanna Smith Jaggars, Davis Jenkins