ALC 2012: My Favorite Session

Like more than 1200 of my colleagues, I had the good fortune to attend last week’s 2012 Assets Learning Conference (ALC). My immediate colleagues here at the Asset Building Program were there as well, and between us, we managed to cover just a fraction of the panels, sessions and other offerings pulled together by our good friends at CFED. Given that so much was going on, and that it was impossible for anyone (or any group of small enough to fit into a minivan) to cover everything, we thought that sharing some of our highlights from the conference would be a good idea. So what was my favorite session?

Cory Booker’s keynote address was one of the most remarkable moments across the three ALCs that I’ve been privileged to attend. The mayor of Newark, Mr. Booker shared a bit of the story of his life, and shared some highlights of the financial empowerment work that he’s led during his time as mayor. This included Save USA, the Newark version of the innovative, tax time savings match pioneered in New York City. In fact, many of the ideas the mayor shared began in other places and came to Newark. As Mayor Booker himself put it, “Good leaders borrow ideas, great leaders steal them.” A great line, and with truth in it, but no one who was there came away thinking about the details of tax time savings policy, or how a good idea gets transmitted from one city to the next.

What was most remarkable about Mayor Booker’s remarks was the story he told. In his way, Mayor Booker told the story of America and of progress in America, casting Americans who stood up for greater inclusion as “freedom fighters.” He told a story that featured “freedom fighters” at the birth of the Republic, “freedom fighters” winning the Civil War and the freedom of enslaved Americans, “freedom fighters” winning universal suffrage and “freedom fighters” standing up to Jim Crow. In a passionate and personal speech, Mayor Booker told the story of the great American Dream, where each successive generation did a little better than the one before, not because they were successful individually, in business or academia, but because as a nation we have taken painful, powerful steps toward realizing the dream of the Founding Fathers. Then to top it off, and to prove that the man knows his audience, he said that the next stage of that fight was ensuring financial inclusion and universal opportunity, and that the hundreds gathered for the ALC were “freedom fighters” engaged in the next struggle to ensure the success of the American Dream. It was a stirring and emotional testament, delivered by a speaker who clearly felt real passion for the work he was doing and for the possibilities offered by this nation and her people.

So that was my highlight of the ALC, it’s probably not a fair question to ask, but what was yours? Hit us up on Twitter (keep that #ALC2012 going) to share your story.