Take the Biden Challenge

Joe Biden issued a challenge back in October 2017, when he spoke at the NASPAA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.:

“We need to change the culture today, not tomorrow,” Biden said. “The middle class is at risk…. Revitalizing the middle class is the challenge: otherwise the social order will not hold.” Biden issued a clear challenge to public policy practitioners, educators, and students for the coming year asking, “What policy solutions do you propose to ensure America a growing and thriving middle class, that they continue to be relevant?”

In addition to being the 47th Vice President of the United States (and a top fave of pundits for president in 2020), Biden is the founding chair of the Biden Institute at the School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA) at the University of Delaware — and that’s where the Biden Challenge Conference and Idea Exchange will be held, on Sept. 28.

Biden is scheduled to attend the full-day conference, and will give the opening remarks.

Other items on the agenda include luncheon speaker Heather Boushey of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and three plenary discussions:

• I: Budget Priorities, moderated by Dan Smith
• II: Workforce Dynamics, moderated by Maria P. Aristigueta
• III: The Role of Innovation, moderated by Stefanie Feldman

Registration is $50, including breakfast and lunch.