Agenda

According to recent polling, only 36 percent of Americans believe that the American Dream—the idea that if you work hard, you will get ahead—still holds true. That is down from nearly 50 percent in 2016 and 53 percent in 2012. Against this backdrop, the American Enterprise Institute launched a new initiative seeking to reset the national conversation about the promise of the American Dream. In this session, Executive Director of Craft Philanthropy Jane Brady Knight will moderate a conversation with AEI President Robert Doar and Kentucky philanthropist Joseph Craft III about what makes them hopeful for America, despite its remarkable challenges, and how to ensure the American Dream is achievable for all Kentuckians.

• Joseph Craft III, Chairman, Alliance Resource Partners L.P.
• Robert Doar, President, American Enterprise Institute
• Jane Brady Knight, Executive Director, Craft Philanthropy (moderator)

In this session, President and CEO of the Kentucky Chamber, Ashli Watts, will lead a wide-ranging discussion with Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers and Kentucky Senate Democratic Floor Leader Gerald Neal about the unique challenges and opportunities facing the Commonwealth today, and how to create a stronger, more prosperous Kentucky.

• Gerald Neal, Democratic Floor Leader, Kentucky Senate
• Robert Stivers, President, Kentucky Senate
• Ashli Watts, President and CEO, Kentucky Chamber (moderator)

It has been 60 years since President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a “War on Poverty” from a front porch in Martin County, Kentucky. Since then, economic growth, together with a strong safety net, has reduced poverty in America by more than 90 percent. But even as incomes have risen, children who grow up at the bottom of the economic ladder are no less likely than they were in the past to remain at the bottom as adults. Simultaneously, social poverty has dramatically worsened. Social capital—the strength of our relationships and broader associational life—has deteriorated over the past 50 years. How can we build a 21st-century opportunity agenda that reduces entrenched poverty, increases upward mobility, and rebuilds social capital in our struggling communities?

• Kevin Corinth, Deputy Director, Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility, American Enterprise Institute
• Leslie Ford, Adjunct Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (moderator)
• Scott Winship, Director, Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility, American Enterprise Institute

Our labyrinth of safety-net and workforce programs are riddled with incentives that create barriers to work, marriage, community attachment, and self-sufficient lives. They allow people to survive but make it difficult to thrive. This session will examine rising systemic barriers within these systems and solutions to remove them.

• Clarence Carter, Commissioner, Tennessee Department of Human Services
• Leslie Ford, Adjunct Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (moderator)
• David Meade, Speaker Pro Tempore, Kentucky General Assembly

Every child in Kentucky deserves to know that a path to a successful life exists, and they have the power to follow it. But many never set foot on that path because they are trapped in cycles of learned helplessness rather than inspired to pursue their own possibilities. In this session, AEI Senior Fellow Ian Rowe will offer a blueprint for building an aspirational spirit among Kentucky’s children to help them build lives unrestrained by their present realities.

• Ian Rowe, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

This session will highlight evidence-based efforts in Kentucky to break down complex barriers holding people back from leading healthy, prosperous lives. It will feature distinguished practitioners working to empower struggling Kentuckians to transform themselves and the communities they live in. In addition to discussing successful interventions, this session will explore the underlying social and economic conditions that promote thriving families and communities, and how to create broad cultural change around these issues.

• Amy Luttrell, President & CEO, Goodwill Industries of Kentucky
• Jay Miller, Dean and Dorothy A. Miller Research Professor in Social Work Education, UK College of Social Work
• Tim Robinson, Founder & CEO, Addiction Recovery Care
• Ian Rowe, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (moderator)

Kentucky has experienced an impressive economic rebound since the start of the pandemic, but significant workforce challenges remain. According to recent data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are only 74 workers available for every 100 open jobs in Kentucky, and the state unemployment rate sits at 4%, slightly higher than the national average. This worker shortage is especially visible in eastern Kentucky, where labor force participation is nearly ten percentage points below that of the rest of the state. What actions are Kentucky businesses and educational institutions taking to address enduring worker shortages, especially in the state’s most vulnerable communities?

• Brent Orrell, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute (moderator)
• John Pallasch, Founder and CEO, One Workforce Solutions
• Ryan Quarles, President, Kentucky Community and Technical College System
• Aaron Thompson, President, Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education

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• Elyse Newbert, Director, Coalitions, American Enterprise Institute