Clean Energy and the Water Defense Fund

The Common Good was honored to have hosted the Hulk of Clean Energy, Mark Ruffalo, for an open talk on clean energy, fossil fuels, and Mark's organization: the Water Defense Fund.

Mark Ruffalo is an environmental activist and actor known for his portrayal of Bruce Banner/the Hulk in the movie 'The Avengers' and its sequels. Ruffalo is widely known as an environmental activist, particularly focusing his efforts on combating fracking in New York state. Receiving an environmental award at Dickinson College in early 2015. Ruffalo founded the Solutions Project, which pushes for 100 percent renewable energy, and is active with Water Defense, a group dedicated to clean water initiatives.

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Governor Christine Todd Whitman

The Common Good on May hosted a lunch and discussion with Governor Christine Todd Whitman, where she spoke and answered questions about Campaign Finance Reform, Americans Elect, Citizen's United, and a host of other issues confronting Americans today.

Governor Christine Todd Whitman serves as co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council (RLC), which she founded with Senator John Danforth. The RLC’s mission is to support fiscally conservative, socially tolerant candidates and to reclaim the word Republican.  The RLC was created in March of 2007 by joining forces with Governor Whitman’s political action committee, It’s My Party Too. She is the author of a New York Times best seller by the same name, which was published in January of 2005 and released in paperback in March 2006.

Governor Whitman served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from January of 2001 until June of 2003. She was the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, serving as its first woman governor from 1994 until 2001.

As Governor, Christie Whitman earned praise from both Republicans and Democrats for her commitment to preserve a record amount of New Jersey land as permanent green space. She was also recognized by the Natural Resources Defense Council for instituting the most comprehensive beach monitoring system in the nation. As EPA Administrator, she promoted common-sense environmental improvements such as watershed-based water protection policies. 

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World Premiere: #WHILEWEWATCH with SnagFilms

SnagFilms in conjunction with The Common Good presented the Live World Premiere of the Occupy Wall Street documentary #whilewewatch. The film was directed by Kevin Breslin, whose recent documentary “Living for 32” (2010) was short-listed for an Academy Award. #whilewewatch was the vision of Australian Producer Mike Vanderfield and produced by his company, 8docos.The screening was followed by a live Q&A session with director  and “Occupy Wall Street” participants featured in the film.  Q&A questions will be taken from the global web audience during the live streaming.

#whilewewatch is a gripping look at the media revolution that emerged from Zuccotti Park in New York City to the world. It is the story of how many people came together in the sun and rain, day and night, broke and loaded with energy and hope to get their story out to the world. #OWS [Occupy Wall Street] has galvanized the world. #whilewewatch is the real inside story of great people who have no fear. They don't back down from police, big business or city government. When regular media paid no attention to this movement they decided to tell the world their story.

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Dylan Ratigan “Greedy Bastards”

The Common Good held a lunch and discussion with Dylan Ratigan, host of MSNBC The Dylan Ratigan Show, about his new book Greedy Bastards.

In his new book Greedy Bastards, Dylan Ratigan explains how “vampire industries” like oil and coal have forged “an unholy alliance with government based not just on the money that they contribute to political campaigns and spend on lobbying, but on their ability to hypnotize us with false prices.”

Industry gets tax breaks, subsidies, military support in volatile regions, the right to use our air and water like a sewer, and assurance that the government will clean up its environmental messes. Politicians get campaign contributions, a steady flow of dirty energy, and a talking point to brandish about how they kept gas affordable.

But the American public just gets screwed.

We get stuck with a dirty, polluting energy regime; one that enriches a few one percenters while making the public sick and hobbling American innovation. As Ratigan puts it in his book, a handful of greedy bastards are fleecing Americans with a “Very Bad Deal”.

Dylan is partner and co-founder of a Louisiana-based manufacturer that integrates systems to grow food, purify water, produce solar electricity, establish wireless connectivity, create jobs and provide essential community services. This venture was inspired by US combat veterans who described plug and play integration of housing, food, power and water systems as fundamental to global security.

Known by his strong voice for economic justice on Bloomberg and NBC, Dylan now serves as Chief Skeptic at Tastytrade and Advisor to CyndX. He speaks out daily for transparency, integrity, choice and aligned interests as a commentator, film producer, and author of New York Times Best-Seller “Greedy Bastards.”

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Robert Greenwald “Koch Brothers Exposed”

The Common Good hosted a discussion and screening with Robert Greenwald on his documentary titled Koch Brothers Exposed, which takes a closer look at the relationship between politics and money through the story of David and Charles Koch.

Robert Greenwald is a producer, director and political activist. Greenwald is the founder and president of Brave New Films, a new media company that uses moving images to educate, influence, and empower viewers to take action around issues that matter. Under Greenwald’s direction, Brave New Films has produced a series of short political videos, including the Fox Attacks and Real McCain campaigns. One of the more notable Real McCain videos focused on McCain’s Mansions; after Brave New Films produced this video, McCain notoriously said he was not sure how many houses he owned and a media firestorm ensued. In total, Brave New Film’s short videos have been viewed over 56 million times in the past two years, inspired hundreds of thousands of people to take action and forced pressing issues into the mainstream media.

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Gloria Steinem with Special Guest Gayle King

The Common Good was honored to host women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem for  a screening of her new HBO documentary “Gloria: In Her Own Words” and a discussion with Gayle King, co-anchor of CBS This Morning.

Among our group of accomplished women who will co-host for the evening: Dori Berenstein, Candace Bushnell, Catherine Crier, Maria Cuomo Cole, Matilda Cuomo, Patricia Duff, Elizabeth Holtzman, Catherine Keener, Kay Koplovitz, Debra Messing, Michelle Paige Paterson, Sharon Patrick, Deborah Roberts, Charlotte Ronson, Rachel Roy and Debora Spar.

Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, editor, and feminist activist. She travels in this and other countries as an organizer and lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence, non-violent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice. She now lives in New York City, and is currently at work on Road to the Heart: America As if Everyone Mattered, a book about her more than thirty years on the road as a feminist organizer.

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Congressman Jerry Nadler: What Every Voter Should Know

The Common Good hosted a lunch discussion with Congressman Jerry Nadler about voter suppression and how money in politics may effect upcoming elections.

“Jerry Nadler not only represents New York well, but he has represented the United States very well.”

— Former President Bill Clinton

Congressman Jerrold “Jerry” Nadler represents the Eighth Congressional District of New York, which includes much of the West Side of Manhattan, the Financial District and a number of diverse neighborhoods in southwestern Brooklyn.  He began his political career in 1976 in the New York State Assembly, where he served for 16 years.  In 1992, following the death of Congressman Ted Weiss, Nadler was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in a special election and has served in Congress ever since.  He was re-elected to his tenth full term in 2010, receiving over 75 percent of the vote.

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Meet & Greet: Governor Howard Dean

We invited sponsors and their guests for an opportunity to meet Governor Howard Dean for lunch about “Issues and Trends influencing US Governance and Politics in the New Year.” Dean’s frank and experienced voice will provide candor and insight about the year ahead in politics.

Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S. Presidential campaign was unsuccessful, Dean is regarded as a pioneer in raising the profile of Internet-based fundraising and grassroots organizing.

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Tea Party Congressman Joe Walsh

Congressman Joe Walsh joined us for an afternoon discussion on the upcoming election. Joe has run spirited campaigns for elected office twice, first as a Republican candidate for the United States Congress in 1996 and then as a Republican candidate for the Illinois State House in 1998 so he speaks about his own experiences and predictions for the 2012 elections.

Joe Walsh has dedicated his professional life to service and advocacy. He has advocated on behalf of a wide range of public policy issues and causes, most notably advancing market-based solutions to education reform and urban poverty.

Joe began his career with Jobs For Youth, working in inner-city Chicago teaching high school dropouts basic academic and job skills; he worked on state and local public policy issues with the Heartland Institute, a free market think tank; he ran the Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund, a Chicago-based privately funded school voucher program which gives high school scholarships to low-income Chicago eighth graders; he helped launch the Legislative Education Action Drive and Americans for Limited Government, national organizations working to get fiscally conservative state legislators elected in targeted states and advance the causes of limited government; he raised funds for and helped advance the cause of school choice for two of the nation’s leading school choice organizations, the American Education Reform Council and the Milton & Rose Friedman Foundation; and he continues to build support for an international charity which uses education and micro-enterprise to deliver Nicaraguan children from poverty, the Fabretto Children’s Foundation.

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Author Jill Iscol on her book “Hearts on Fire”

The Common Good hosted Jill Iscol for a Lunch Discussion about her new book Hearts on Fire, in which she features a series of “visionaries” who are changing our world for the better. Ms. Iscol shared her views about how these active leaders and citizens will eventually transform the world into one united behind a shared humanity.

Educator and activist, Jill Iscol, Ed.D, is President of the IF Hummingbird Foundation, a family foundation established in 1989 to support domestic and international efforts to strengthen democracy and reduce the social, economic, and educational inequalities that threaten it. For the past two decades Jill has developed an expertise in identifying visionary leaders and programs at early stages of their development. She fosters their advancement by providing seed capital and guidance enabling them to become stable, sustainable and successful organizations, impacting lives around the globe. In the past these organizations have included Prep for Prep, Stand for Children, Facing History and Ourselves and Vital Voices Global Partnership. They currently include Acumen Fund, where she serves as a Founding Advisory Board Member, City Year New York of which she was a Founding Co-Chair, and the Iscol Family Program for Leadership Development at Cornell University.

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Orthodox Culture Constraints Faced by Women in Israel with Dr. Rachel Adato

The Common Good hosted a panel with the esteemed Dr. Rachel Adato to discuss Israel and the challenges women there face from the conservative patriarchal Orthodox Jewish society.

There is a complex relationship between religion and state, and the contradictory impacts of the integration of the ultra-Orthodox into mainstream society. A consequence of that integration is the ultra-Orthodox making demands anchored in their traditions into mainstream society, such as keeping distance from women. It is very hard for Jewish women in Israel to promote change on issues that directly affect them because the traditional groups they’re a part of often suppress progressive movements to try and maintain their identity and internal cohesion. Moreover, in such societies, women’s issues often come low down on the list of priorities.

The obstacles women face range from personal to socio-political: unhealthy lifestyles, obedience to patriarchal norms, rapid lifestyle transitions, the political situation, poverty and lower socioeconomic status, and limited access to specific health care services. These multi-layered obstacles operate synergistically to limit women's access to social support and health care systems, intensify feelings of powerlessness, and further promote unhealthy behaviors. Most health maintenance strategies being discussed are personal and conservative, and considerate of traditional cultural norms. Another challenge is childcare. Israel has a very high percentage of working women, especially in the Jewish sector, and a significantly higher birth rate than Europe. The trouble is that now, the economy is based on the assumption that both parents work, but policy on childcare has not been reconfigured accordingly.

As an Israeli gynecologist, lawyer, and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Kadima, Dr. Adato has seen and felt these challenges first hand. She provided valuable insight based on her life experiences to illuminate this complicated and under discussed topic and promote further conversation about how to keep moving forward.

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Ambassador Riyad Mansour with Dr. Alon Ben Meir

We were pleased to invite sponsors and their guests for a lunch discussion with Ambassador Riyad Mansour about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how he believes a compromise will be reached.

While Mideast peace talks stagnate, new developments continue to unfold. Earlier this fall, Palestinian leaders asked the United Nations to allow Palestine to be recognized as a state – a move that caused concern and debate from Jerusalem to Washington, DC. The Common Good was very honored to host Ambassador Riyad Mansour, who has served as Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations since 2005. Mansour has devoted his career to finding a solution to the ongoing Israeli- Palestinian crisis and seeking recognition of the state of Palestine. At our Luncheon Briefing, NYU Professor Dr. Alon Ben-Meir will moderate the discussion as Mansour shares his views on the conflict.

Ambassador Riyad Mansour has served as permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations since 2005. From 1977 to 1983, he joined the Permanent Mission of the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen to the United Nations in New York as research advisor. From 1983 to 1988, he served as deputy permanent observer to the Permanent Observer Mission of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to the United Nations. Ambassador Mansour has taught at the University of Central Florida in Orlando and the University of Akron in Ohio. He has published several studies and articles, most notably about the Palestinian community in the United States. He has lectured at many American universities and has participated in numerous international conferences, symposia, seminars, and panel debates as a representative of Palestine. Ambassador Mansour obtained his M.S. in education counseling from Youngstown State University in 1973. He received his Ph.D. in counseling from the University of Akron in 1977.

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Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski on “Strategic Vision” and reasserting America’s Strength

The Common Good was honored to host Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor under President Carter, for a special lunch discussion. Dr. Brzezinski introduced his new book “Strategic Vision,” which highlights the need for our country to reassert its position of strength. She discussed today’s changing distribution of global power and how it will affect the future of the United States.

We were thrilled to announce that Mika Brzezinski, MSNBC Co-Anchor of Morning Joe, will be introducing her distinguished father at our lunch discussion.

Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981.

Brzezinski is currently Robert E. Osgood Professor of American Foreign Policy at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a member of various boards and councils. He appears frequently as an expert on the PBS program The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, ABC News’ This Week with Christiane Amanpour, and on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, where his daughter, Mika Brzezinski, is co-anchor.

In recent years, he has been a supporter of the Prague Process.

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Author William Shawcross: “JUSTICE AND THE ENEMY”

British author-journalist William Shaw­cross, scribe of many best-selling books and no stranger to controversy, will dis­cuss his new book just as it is pub­lished in the US. “Jus­tice and the Enemy: From the Nurem­berg Tri­als to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed”which looks at the ongo­ing polit­i­cal and legal argu­ment about whether and how to try Khalid Sheik Mohammed and his co-conspirators for their role in the 9⁄11 attack.

William Shaw­cross is a dis­tin­guished jour­nal­ist, broad­caster and com­men­ta­tor who has cov­ered inter­na­tional con­flicts and con­flict res­o­lu­tion and has reported for the “Sun­day Times,” “Time Mag­a­zine,” “Newsweek,” and “Rolling Stone” mag­a­zine, among many other pub­li­ca­tions. He is the best­selling author of many books includ­ing biogra­phies of Rupert Mur­doch, the Shah of Iran and the offi­cial biog­ra­phy of the Queen Mother. In 2003, he was named “New Statesman’s” Man of the Year. He is a chair­man of Arti­cle 19, a Lon­don based char­ity and pres­sure group which defends the rights of free expres­sion enshrined in Arti­cle 19 of the Dec­la­ra­tion of Human Rights; a board mem­ber of the Inter­na­tional Cri­sis Group; and was a mem­ber of the High Com­mis­sioner for Refugees’ Infor­mal Advi­sory Group from 1995 – 2000.

“Shaw­cross stands as the fore­most jour­nal­ist of his gen­er­a­tion.”

— Irish Times

“…Shaw­cross holds a mir­ror up to our­selves as we respond inef­fec­tively to the world’s hor­rors.”

— Glasgow Herald

“It is an intel­lec­tual plea­sure to read William Shaw­cross… clear-sighted, objec­tive and ratio­nal [and] a relief from the usual fare of fan­ta­sis­ing served up by our stand­ing army of the self-righteous”

— Sunday Independent

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