Name: re:public 2018
Start: 2018-11-11T08:00
Location: Riviera Palm Springs

Overview

Each year, the Center for Digital Government convenes a hand-selected group of visionaries, thought-leaders and doers of deeds. This is an opportunity for attendees to discuss the great opportunities available in this digital age, discard old mindsets and learn new ways to confront and overcome challenges. It is time for re:public 2018.

re:public brings together some of today’s finest leaders in public service around the great lessons of history and the great ideas of today – all with a view to creating a future worthy of our heritage and next generation. The group of leaders who attend this invitation-only event reflects a belief that the answer is in the room if the right people are in it.

re:public is the Center’s flagship leadership retreat. It is a nonpartisan event with the aim of kindling the best of public stewardship. Don’t miss it!

“And now for something completely different . . .”

Attendees of a certain age may remember the Monty Python movie of the same name almost a half century ago. The catchphrase, “And now for something completely different . . .” actually originated earnestly enough as a transition between otherwise jarring scenes.

Amid today’s steady stream of jarring scenes, we intend “something completely different” as aspirational – bringing listening, understanding and compromise to our civic life, renewing the ties that bind us together, pursuing synergies between public service and entrepreneurship and bringing equity and inclusion to imagining a preferred future for our communities and country.

Welcome to re:public 2018 – a time and place for people who choose to lead.

A message from our Keynote Speaker

Speakers

Julia Burrows

Director, Governing Institute

Julia Burrows is the director of the Governing Institute, where she manages the Institute’s research and advisory operations. Prior to joining Governing, she was vice president for corporate relations and advancement for Enable Energy, a renewable energy advancement company that invents new renewable energy technology, manages commercial solar projects and advises clients on sustainability. Julia was responsible for the sustainability consulting practice, the corporate presence in the media and connecting the company to the community.
Julia previously served as the president and executive director of Greenwise Joint Venture, a high-impact regional nonprofit organization focused on transforming the Sacramento area into the greenest region in the country and a hub for clean technology. In this role, she also served as senior advisor to Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson for sustainability, climate and resiliency initiatives.

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Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Promise

Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins is an American social justice advocate and businesswoman. Prior to co-founding Promise with Diana Frappier, Phaedra ran revenue and operations at Honor. Before Honor, Phaedra worked with the musician Prince and led the effort to secure ownership of his masters. She is a labor and community organizer by trade who is committed to making measurable change.
Phaedra was the executive officer of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, an organized labor federation representing more than 100 unions and more than 110,000 members in California's Santa Clara and San Benito counties. She was also executive director of Working Partnerships USA, a coalition of community groups and labor and faith organizations working to address economic disparities in California's Silicon Valley, and served as the CEO of the anti-poverty organization Green For All.

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Alan Greenblatt

Staff Writer, Governing

Alan Greenblatt has been covering politics and government for more than two decades. He is a staff writer for Governing, where he covers many aspects of state and local government, including elections, redistricting, education policy and legislative behavior. He is also a coauthor of Governing States and Localities, a textbook on state and local government that has been adopted in more than 300 colleges and universities and is now in its sixth edition.
Alan is a former reporter with NPR, where he contributed coverage on elections, international news and a broad range of feature topics. He has also been a reporter for Congressional Quarterly, where he won a National Press Club award for political journalism. A native of San Francisco, Alan was educated at San Francisco State and the University of Virginia. He lives with his family in St. Louis, MO.

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Edward G. Lengel

Author, Historian, Storyteller

Edward G. Lengel received his B.A. in History from George Mason University in 1991. In 1998, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, where he directed the Washington Papers Project for many years. He served as chief historian of the White House Historical Association from 2016 to 2018. Edward has written several books on George Washington and World War I, and his next book, titled Never in Finer Company: The Men of the Great War’s Lost Battalion, will be published in September 2018. Edward leads history and battlefield tours throughout Europe and the United States. He writes regularly for Military History Quarterly, American History and other periodicals, and has made television and radio appearances on The History Channel, Fox News, SiriusXM and National Public Radio. He also appears on the World War I Centennial Commission’s weekly podcast.

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Roy Spence

Co-Founder and Chairman, GSD&M / Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The Purpose Institute

It was 1971, and four University of Texas soon-to-be graduates decided to start an advertising agency in Austin, TX – then a funky little college town known primarily for hippies, Texas Longhorns and Willie Nelson. Roy and his partners built GSD&M from scratch into a marketing, advertising and idea machine. Roy’s passion is entrepreneurship, which he refers to as “the miracle of America.” He deeply believes that when America is at her best, it does not matter what your last name or zip code is. If you can dream it, you can build it.
Roy is also co-founder and CEO of The Purpose Institute, also in Austin. The Purpose Institute is singularly focused on discovering the higher calling purpose and core values that define and shape an organization’s culture and the core purpose that captures the difference an organization makes in the world. Its purpose is to help organizations and leaders discover and fulfill their purpose. In 2018, Roy founded The Promiseland Project. Its goal is to inspire and engage the American people to help move America from the dark winter of political and cultural division into a bright new dawn of a culture of US. As in USA.

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Agenda

Sunday, November 11
9:00 am Pacific	Golf Tee times begin at 9 a.m. Additional details.
6:30 pm Pacific	Welcome Reception: Rat Pack Party The Riviera Palm Springs is an iconic alluring oasis. It embodies a unique historic footprint of old Hollywood’s elite, such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, with a cool retro vibe and mid-century flair. Step into the past with us and experience the fun of the Rat Pack. Dress up as your favorite Rat Pack-er, Rat Pack friend or as you were during the height of the Rat Pack years – 1959 to 1969!

Monday, November 12
8:00 am Pacific	Registration / Breakfast
9:00 am Pacific	Welcome / Participant Introductions
9:30 am Pacific	Purpose Over Politics: Renewing the American Promise What does it mean to live the American dream in the closing years of the second decade of the 21st century? Finding common ground for the common good still animates communities – and those dedicated to rediscovering it. Our opening speaker believes, despite deep divisions in our culture, we are still all in this together. Through a recently launched The Promiseland Project, he hopes to “help move America from the dark winter of political and cultural division into a bright new dawn.” It includes an eyes wide open view of confronting hard issues; doing right by vets, students and underserved communities; and realizing the promise of small business and small towns in the life of the country. Conversationalist: Cathilea Robinett, President, e.Republic Roy Spence, Co-Founder and Chairman, GSD&M / Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The Purpose Institute
10:45 am Pacific	Break
11:15 am Pacific	All About America’s Story: Unfreezing History’s Human Core Every country and every person has a (hi)story. The confluence of America’s history and those of its institutions and people – famous or not – can help us understand our times, and connect us to the men and women who came before us in a meaningful way. At issue is empathy – something a wooden view of history often denies to the people who made history, including, notably, president George Washington. Our midday speaker seeks to redress this historical wrong based on his detailed historic research and extensive travel. He offers a fresh view of the first president as the First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His – and the Nation’s – Prosperity. Conversationalist: Dennis McKenna, Chief Executive Officer, e.Republic Edward G. Lengel, Author, Historian, Storyteller
12:30 pm Pacific	Lunch
1:45 pm Pacific	The Next Chapter: Making Sense of the 2018 Elections If politics is the art of getting things done, then what is likely to get done – and by whom – in light of the November 6th vote? The anticipation and expectations for the election were high, with predictions of marked change in the complexion of legislative chambers and electoral maps all over the county. In the hyperbole of campaigning, every election is characterized as the most important in our lifetime. This one may just have lived up to the billing. This session brings together the detailed original reporting and analysis of Governing’s politics writer with an insider’s view of an advocate for women in government. Conversationalist: Cathilea Robinett, President, e.Republic Julia Burrows, Director, Governing Institute Alan Greenblatt, Staff Writer, Governing
3:00 pm Pacific	Break
3:30 pm Pacific	Afternoon Fun
6:00 pm Pacific	Reception and Dinner

Tuesday, November 13
8:00 am Pacific	Breakfast
9:00 am Pacific	Keeping America’s Promise . . . to People We’ve Locked Away Imagine a future where the prison pipeline is diverted or shut off altogether. In what may be the most ambitious govtech company in the country, informed more by social justice than venture capital, Promise’s mandate is to helping people get out and stay out of jail. Working with government agencies, families and community groups, it exists to help people navigate the criminal justice system and reduce recidivism. Technology helps. So does human-centered design and evidence-based decision-making around economic and educational disparities. But the heart of the matter is finding just and equitable alternatives to incarceration by addressing economic disparities. And, as a final example of “something completely different,” this speaker has also worked with the musician Prince and led the effort to secure ownership of his masters. Conversationalist: Julia Burrows, Director, Governing Institute Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Promise
10:30 am Pacific	Closing Remarks
11:00 am Pacific	re:public 2018 Officially Adjourned The Digital States Performance Institute / Digital Communities lunch meeting begins following adjournment. Conference times, agenda and speakers are subject to change.