drum major institute: 2006 annual report
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8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/drum-major-institute-2006-annual-report 1/18
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/drum-major-institute-2006-annual-report 2/18
110 East 59th Street, 28th Floor
New York, New York 10022drummajorinstitute.orgDesign: Randi Hazan
Photography: Laurent Alfieri, Pa
DMI
releases
“Fighting for NewYork’s Middle Class:
The American Dream
in the Empire State”
scorecard of NYS
legislators,
March
Promote
“Principles for
Immigration Po
to Strengthen a
Expand Americ
Middle Class”
Funded byDemocracy
Alliance
DMI
Marketplace
of Ideas in
2006
RepodisseminYoung E
Officials Neprogram o
People
DMIhosts blogger
roundtable with Markosof DailyKos.com at
Annual Benefit
DMI appearson radio from Salt Lake
City, Utah to Finger Lakesregion, New York, talkingabout shared economicinterest in progressive
immigrationpolicy
DMI releases
“Congress at the
Midterm: Their Middle
Class Record,” our
third annualscorecard,
June
Double
staff and
operating
budgetDMI is
New YorkCity’s premieregathering placefor progressives
leaders
DMIhosts “Cities?
What Cities?” withMayor Bryon Brown
of Buffalo,March
DMI Releases“DMI on the 2006
State of the Union”—rapid-response
analysis of the impactof the President’s
proposalson the middle class,
January
Welcome newboard members –
Randi Weingarten ofhe United Federation
of Teachers andMorris Pearl
DMIhosts “Campaign
‘06: The Year of theHostile Takeover?”with David Sirota,
May
Funded byOpen Society
Institute
DMI honorsWynton Marsalis,Anna Burger, andMarkos Moulitsasat Annual Benefit,
June
DMI’sExecutive Director
has bi-monthlycolumn in theNew York Daily
News
Scott Shields,MyDD.com: “To me, this
is brilliant. What better wayto get relevant informationto people looking up theirstate representatives than
a Google AdWordscampaign?”
“An outrageouslycogent, easy-to-read,
trenchant piece of analysis.Wow. And the google pop-upgrade is a brilliant stroke.Who ARE you guys?” PeterSiderski, elected official,
Westchester County,New York.
“State
politics clickswith ‘Googling’”in Albany Times
Union
PioneerGoogle Ad word
campaignin March
Makinprescripdrugs maffordaDecem
Holdingcorporations
accountable forsubsidies,September
Makingbig corporations
pay their fair share ofhealth care costs,
May
Christine Quinn,Speaker of New York
City Council,on panel
Expandingaccess to universalpre-kindergarten,
October
Middle-classsqueeze part of
winning Democraticmessage in midterm
elections
DMI in Reuters: “Democrats Won,but Did the Middle
Class?”
Majorunions distribute
scorecards to theirpolitical directors
nationally
CongressionalScorecard Google
Ads viewed 24
million times
LaunchGoogle Adword
campaign advertising
grade of each memberof Congress
Allincumbents
who fail in midtermelections with one
exception received Fon DMI scorecard
“It’s timefor Voters to be
Frank with Don” inThe Alaska Report on
Rep. Don Young,who got F on
scorecard
Senator John Kerryhighlights
A grade in press
release
“I took theadvice of Susan Brennan
of Sayre and looked up the votingrecord of my U.S. House representative,
John R. Kuhl. Not surprisingly, regarding thesame seven bills used to rate performancerelating to the middle class vs. the rich,
he, too, voted against all seven bills andalso was rated "F" (0 percent) by the Drum
Major Institute.” Kurt Bishoff, Letterto the editor, New Jersey
Star Gazette
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/drum-major-institute-2006-annual-report 3/18IMPACT 200
On PBS,Air America,New York Times ,TomPaine.com totalk about 10thanniversary ofwelfare reform
DMI Fellows
program in seco
full year, inserti
voices of grassro
activists into th
public policy
conversation
“To this day,the best set of
rinciples I’ve read foraling with immigratione Drum Major Institute’sddle class framework,”ra Klein, The American
Prospect
Writeopen letter to
Lou Dobbs aboutinadequateimmigration
analysis
DMI inDaily News, NPR’s
On the Media on Lou Dobbs
Funded byHorace Hagedorn
Foundation to applyshared economic
interest framework toLong Island
DMIImmigration
Op-Eds in Chicago Sun Times , New York
Newsday ,TomPaine.com
DMI
partnering withNebraska Appleseed touse DMI immigration
framework in redstate America
DMIappears on CNN’s
Lou Dobbs Tonight
Thousandsof visitors
daily
Launch Senior
Fellowship in Civil
Justice, protecting
Americans’ accessto the courts
Marketplaceon live archive
includes podcasts,video downloadsand transcipts
DMI presentsat Personal
Democracy Forumon Google Ad Word
campaign
The Nation reads Mark
Winston Griffith’s poston food injustice and
asks for article forprint edition
LaunchNetroots Advisory
Council (NAC) with15 blogger/online
strategists inOctober
DMIblogread by
thousandsdaily
DMIfellows blog
daily
Engage NAC inconversation about
immigrationreform so they can
blog about theissue
Traffic to
DMI’s websites
triples from
2005-2006
Planningfunded
by Open Society
Institute
Partnersinclude Young
People For, CampusProgress, Roosevelt
Institution
Progressive Majorityhead Gloria Totten:
“Progressives at all levelsof government require staff members
that are superbly trained, articulate andready to fight for good progressive policy.
By introducing college students to thepolicy arena and giving them the skillsthey need to be effective advocates, the
Drum Major Institute will ensure thatthe next generation of progressive
leadership is waiting in
the wings.”
Maureen Lpresents at co
with John Edas keyno
Maureen Laneruns Welfare Rights
Initiative organizing womeimpacted by welfare policat Hunter College. She wa
in first graduating
class of WRI
Our FellowAndrew Friedman
on Univision Radio asElection Day monitoron efforts to restrict
immigrantvoting
Adrianne Shropwrites “ValuCity Workers
AM New YoAugust
Markworks on deed theftlegislation through
his job at NeighborhoodEconomic Development
Advocacy Project
Deed theftlegislationpasses NewYork Statelegislature
MarkWinston Griffith
writes about deedtheft legislation on
DMIBlog
Daily News sees Zeke Edwards’
blog on quality of lifecrime arrests andasks Zeke to writeOp-Ed on the topic
00,000ds betweenarch andOctober
ManhattanBorough President
Scott Stringer says “[Becauseof DMI’s Google AdWordscampaign,] any legislator
who got a D or an F on middleclass issues is going to [be]
freak[ing] out.”
DMI FellowAdrianne Shropshire,
Director of JobsWith Justice,on the panel
Prescriptionug affordabilityp issue for newgressional House
leadership
Class ActionFairness Act analyzed
in Congress at the Midterm: Their Middle
Class Record
LaunchTortDeform.com:the Civil JusticeDefense Blog,
September
AmericanEnterprise
Institute andManhattan Institute
battling it out onTortDeform.com
Cyrus Duggeron Air America
talking about justicefor sick GroundZero workers
Fundedby Open SocietyInstitute to work
with local groups onincorporatingimmigration
advocacy in theirgrassroots
work
DMI launches
DMI Scholars to
train next generat
of public policy
staffers advanci
a progressive
agenda
RecruitCyrus Dugger,
NYU Law graduate,to serve as first
Fellow
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/drum-major-institute-2006-annual-report 4/18
DMI ResearchCreating well-researched,well-messaged tools to advanc
a progressive agenda.
“I have great admiration for the Institute and am a frequent visitor to your siteeven as the materials you send find an important place on my shelves.”
— BILL MOYERS
“The DMI study, released at the end of last year,
appears to be making inroads with immigrantand labor groups and may fundamentally changethe way many advocates see the issue.”
“What politician doesn’t love the midclass? Many more than you’d think,according to the Drum Major InstitutPublic Policy, a progressive think ta
co -sp o n so r ed b y:
BLACKPLANET.COM
CAMPAIGN FOR AMERICA’S FUTURE
DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
THE FOUNDATION FOR ETHNIC UNDERSTANDING
MOVING IDEAS NETWORK
PR OGR ESSIVEMAJOR ITY
2003YEAR IN REVIEW
DRUMMAJOR INSTITUTE
FOR PUBLIC
POLICY
Acritical conversationaboutthe implications
of the profound demographic transformationnowunderwayinourc ity
JohnLogan
MumfordCenterforComparativeUrbanandRegionalResearch
JohnMollenkopf
CenterforUrbanResearchofCityUniversity’sGraduateCenter
&People Poliicsin America’sBig Ciies
featuring Maryland State Senator
GLORIA GARY LAWLAHOn her pioneering work to hold corporations accountable
for their fair share of employee health costs.
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
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“If it isn’t read, it wasn’t written.” That’s DMI’s approach to
research. We don’t issue reports to see our name in print. We
view our research as a tool, and measure our success based on
how these tools are used to advance a progressive agenda.
Over the years, DMI has released over 15 reports, developing a
reputation for sharp analysis of the impact of public policy on
the current and aspiring middle class. We present progressive
solutions formulated to resonate with the vast majority of
Americans trying to achieve the American Dream. We were
pleased to see that the middle-class squeeze was a dominant theme
in the midterm elections, and even more pleased that our reportswere referenced throughout the year by press and policymakers.
On the night of, we released DMI on the 2006 State of the
Union, the only instantaneous analysis of President Bush’s State
of the Union Address. We provided analysis and statistics to
illustrate t he inadequacy of his proposals—like Health Savings
Accounts, an ambiguously defined American Competitiveness
Initiative, and the capping of medical malpractice awards–in
addressing the t rue struggles of America’s curren t and aspiring
middle class. We disseminated our instant analysis to thousands
before the sun came up, and provided commentary on radio
shows throughout the country the following day.
Before the issue catapulted to the forefront of the national
conversation, we brought our unique lens t o the immigration
debate. Principles for an Immigration Policy to Strengthen
and Expand the A merican Middle Class is the first report to
connect immigration to the larger conversation about America’s
squeezed middle class and those striving to attain their place in
it. We make the case, systematically, that progressive immigration
reform is in th e interest of hardworking Americans if it does two
things: 1) bolsters—not undermines—the critical contribution
that immigrants make to our economy as workers, entrepreneurs,
taxpayers and consumers; and 2) strengthen the r ights of
immigrants in the workplace in order to avoid a “race to the
bottom” that harms American workers. The status quo doesn’t
cut it, but neither do misguided proposals that create a permanent
class of exploited workers or drive thousands into the shadows
to compete in the underground economy.
The paper, released in December of 2005 and updated throughout
2006 as new legislation was introduced, has been used widely.
We’ve been asked to present our framework across the country,
from WT BQ in Orange County, New York t o CNN ’s Lou Dobbs
Tonight , from the Bangor Daily News to the A merican Prospect ,
from the National Immigration Forum to New York’s City Hall.
Not to mention candidates for office who have looked to our
analysis to develop their immigration platforms. T he Open Society
Institute and the Horace Hagedorn Foundation have since funded
us to further translate our framework into tools that can be used
by grassroots organizers nationally and on Long Island, the perfect
stage on which to examine the shared economic interest in
immigration reform.
DMI’s third-annual congressional scorecard, Congress at the
Midterm: Their 2005 Middle-Class Record, was our most
heavily-used to date. We took a close look at t he decisions made
by Congress, from creat ing new obstacles for families overcome
with debt trying to declare bankruptcy to a disastrous budget that
aimed to pay for t ax cuts benefiting the rich with dramatic cuts
to student loans and health programs for the poor. In vote after
vote, Congress disdained the concerns of working Americans
and opted instead to favor the already wealthy and powerful: a
surefire recipe for a shrinking middle class. A vast majority of
senators and representatives earned a grade of C or less.
Guided by our motto, DMI’s scorecard went beyond evaluating
legislators on a single issue, and instead allowed people to hold
their representatives accountable for their overall commitment to
the issues that matter most to working Americans. Congress at
the Midterm influenced
numerous campaigns and was
referenced widely in
publications ranging from the National Journal to the
A ppleton-Post Crescent (the
hometown paper of Appleton
Wisconsin) and in hundreds of blog posts. We launched an
unprecedented Google AdWord campaign so that any person with in
the United States who searched for a member of Congress on
Google would be instant ly informed of the grade that specific
elected official received on DMI’s scorecard. Our ads were viewed
24 million times, and many clicked through to our scorecard’s
easily accessible website.
Applying our successful approach to New York State, DMI released
Fighting for New York’s Middle Class: 2001 -2005 NY State
Legislative Scorecard in March as a tool to evaluate New York’sSenate and Assembly. While by no means naïve about Albany’s
severely dysfunctional legislative process, we believe that a thorough
examination of how their representatives voted on the issues most
important to them will help to remind New Yorkers why it matters
that we have an effective legislative process in the first place.
DMI’s research resonates beyond the policy-making community
into the heart of Amer ica and their kitchen-table concerns.
DMI Ad from Google Adwords campaign
On Congress at the Midterm...
“I've used the scorecard in at least 30 or 40 posts sincDMI started publishing it and I have explained it in depto Steny Hoyer, the Majority Leader, to countless membeof Congress and to various progressive challengers”—Howie Klein, Down With Tyranny.com
On Principles for an Immigration Policy...
“To this day, the best set of principles I’ve read fordealing with immigration is the Drum Major Institute’smiddle class framework, and I encourage [Paul]Krugman, and anyone interested in this debate, to give
them a read…the Drum Major Institute has done it!”—Ezra Klein, Writing Fellow, The American Prospect
On Fighting for New York’s Middle Class…
“An outrageously cogent, easy-to-read, trenchant pieceof analysis. Wow. And the google pop-up grade is abrilliant stroke. Who ARE you guys? This wasoutrageous... I have bookmarked you and am forwardinlinks to my large group of democratic friends. Knock msocks off.” —Peter Siderski, elected official, Westchester
County, New York
Praise for DMI’s research:
“When policy makers and experts acknowledge that education is an important step in
young people’s ability to achieve their own financial security, they’re right. Denyingthis same access to poor adults, who are primarily single mothers, does nothing to endpoverty and makes for cruel and counterproductive public policy.” —Maureen Lane
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
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Marketplace of IdeasWelcome to the
In the Marketplace
of Ideas, we don’t just talk aboutproblems, we highlightthe policymakerswho successfullytackle them.
IDEAS WE BROUGHT TO MARKET:
Making Prescription Drugs
More Affordable
Making Pre-School Education Universal
Increasing Accountability forEconomic Development Subsidies
Strengthening the Labor Movement
Holding Corporations Accountablefor Their Fair Share of EmployeeHealth Costs
Leveraging Government to ProtectPeople from Corporate Malfeasance
Tackling Environmental InjusticeThrough Legislation
Reducing Recidivism ThroughRestorative Justice
Making Health Care Universal
Lowering the Cost of InsuranceThrough Increased Regulation
Confronting the Need for MassivSchool Construction
“Andrea Batista Schlesinger, executive director of the liberal Drum
Major Institute for Public Policy in New York, said the Democraticvictory proved to both parties that acknowledging Americans arestruggling economically is not a losing strategy.”
“More importantly, what the
entirely different kind of toradministrative mechanisms tquickly without having to fa
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
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“The Drum Major Institute’s recent forum on increasing accountability anddeveloping better uses for economic development subsides with Minnesota StateSenator John Hottinger was both informative and enlightening. I found it so usefulto hear about the ideas of both colleagues in government and well-informedadvocates about effective legislation in other states, particularly Minnesota’sprogressive and far reaching bill.”
— NEW YORK STATE SENATOR LIZ KRUEGER
We are building the premier archive that demonstrates the
power of governmen t to play a positive role in people’s lives.
Today’s policymakers and influencers can tu rn to the
Marketplace archive for real ideas, not just rhetor ic.
In th e Marketplace, we choose not to daydream or complain. We
choose to give the microphone.
In the Marketplace, we don’t just talk about how great it would be
if children had universal access to pre-school. We give a
microphone to the policymaker who made it happen.
In the Marketplace, we don’t lament th e fact that the criminal
justice system is a revolving door, with far too many cycling in
and out of prison. We give the microphone to the Sheriff who
created a model of restorative justice that r educes the recidivism
of violent offenders by up to 80 percent.
In t he Marketplace, we don’t complain about t he skyrocketing
cost of prescription drugs, one of the biggest burdens on a
middle class already pushed to t he brin k by health care costs.
We give the microphone to the legislator who actually reduced
the pr ices of pharmaceuticals.
Over the last th ree years, the Marketplace has given th e
microphone to progressive policymakers addressing our nation’s
most critical challenges, from holding corporations accountable
for the public subsidies they receive to environmental in justice
to out-of-control insurance costs. We look forward to expanding
the series to provide more ideas to address the most pressing
problems we face.
In the Marketplace, you’ll find yourself in good company. Taking
advantage of our home in New York City, we engage New York’s
incredible progressive leadership in each of our discussions. New
York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn , Representative Jerry
Nadler, The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel, State Senator
Eric Schneiderman, and Reverend James Forbes all know that in
the Marketplace they will find the ideas about how to make fair
and effective public policy.
In th e Marketplace, community organizers and business leaders
connect, govern ment staffers find new ideas to bring to their
bosses, and bloggers find themselves seated next to aspiring
elected officials.
Our events are professionally recorded for television broadcastand viewin g on our Web Site. You can watch our conversat ions
on YouTube. You can download them to your Ipod. You can
read the transcripts, which we send t o thousands of policy
makers and influencers around the country.
The Marketplace is available to anyone at anytime and
embodies DMI’s mission of generating the ideas that fuel the
progressive movement.
victims’ experience demonstrates is that an
cessary. What we actually need are new legal andimately injured Americans to receive compensationedural hurdles and burdens of proof.”—Cyrus Dugger
“One of the things I really like about Drum
Major is that it doesn’t really have as muchof a political agenda as it does an agenda tocome up with ideas that work.” —Melvyn Weiss
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
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Next generationUsing the Internet to engage people ina conversation about the public policythat impacts their lives.
“Clearly, the power of the netroots changed electoral politics in 2006. Puttingthe power of the press in activists’ hands made candidates sit up and takenotice. Now, it’s time to use that power to help change policy for the good ofour society—and DMI is perfectly positioned to do just that.”
— TOM WATSON, DMI BOARD MEMBER AND CHAIR,NETROOTS ADVISORY COUNCIL
“City government cannot meet its obligation to keep New
Yorkers safe and provide effective services withoutbreaking down language barriers by providing translationand interpretation services.” —Andrew Friedman
“The offshoring of jobs has already wrea
an appalling toll on the job prospects awages of working New Yorkers.”—Amy T
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
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The Internet changed politics in 2006, but DMI is using it
to change public policy.
We are committed to taking advantage of the power of the
Netroots, the collection of bloggers and online strategists who
are shifting the political paradigm into the 21st century. In 2006,
we accomplished a think tank first with t he launch of our
Netroots Advisory Council. We are taking lessons from them
about how to u se internet technology to best present our
research, and they are getting the kind of web-friendly,
substantive analyses from us that will enable them to tackle
legislation as well as they do legislators.
We are u sing the Internet t o find innovative ways to disseminate
our research. This year we launched a Google ad campaign to
correspond with the publication of our N ew York and
Congressional middle-class scorecards. We didn’t ask people to
find their w ay to us—we brought our work to them. So when
people searched for information about their members of
Congress, they found a DMI ad in the Sponsored Links section
with the grade of that member on our scorecard. People Googled
their representatives over 24 million times between June and
Election Day, and each time, they learned something meaningful
that t ranscended political propaganda. And we know that we
reached millions—literally—that we otherwise could not have.
Those who clicked through the DMI ad found a custom Web siteto lead them through the records of their legislators, complete
with voting records and analysis of the bills we graded them on.
The blogosphere responded with over 100 posts referencing our
scorecard, engaging thousands more in the conversation.
Our presence on the Internet is strong and growing. Unlike
most quick-hit political blogs, the DMIBlog is written by people
at the forefront of efforts to create fairer and more effective
public policy. We invite people and organizations whose work
should have a larger platform to guest blog for us, like Amber
Sparks of Grocery Workers Un ited, Heather Boushey of the
Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and Omar Freilla of the
Green Worker Cooperatives. Several thousand visitors come to
the DMIBlog everyday to read thoughtful posts on topics from
court victories for day laborers to a reflection on how ur ban
development projects and the dialogue about them is impacted
by race and class.
This year we launched TortDeform.com: The Civil Justice
Defense Blog, to provide a much needed counterweight to the
tort “reform” movement. TortD eform.com has attr acted a
community of people and organizations involved in this struggle,
from Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen to the Center for Justice and
Democracy to Jordan Fogal, a woman living in Texas who lost
her h ome because her access to the courts has been whittled
away by tort “reform.” From daily analysis of the battles to
defend regular Americans’ access to the courts, to online battles
between progressives and t he Amer ican Enterpr ise Institute,
TortDeform.com is a leading venue for discussion on one of themost important issues before us.
On w w w.drummajorinstitute.org, you can access all of our
research with ease, as well as watch, read, or download our
Marketp lace of Ideas events to your iPod. We’ve been asked to
share our developing expertise in this area nationally, at
conferences including Personal Democracy Forum, DL21c, and
Yearly Kos.
We don’t see the web as a place to h ost a sta le Website and pdf’s
of our reports, but as the ideal platform on wh ich to shape the
public conversation and influence the direction of public policy.
So we try to create tools that are rigorous while also hard-hitting
and web-friendly so they can become viral on the In ternet and
take on a life of their own, engaging regular people and Internet
activists along the way.
Think tanks should not be insular organizations handing public
policy down, but instead should capitalize on the power of
people to weigh in on the policy that is supposed to serve them.
DMI believes that you change the conversation by changing whoparticipates in it—and the democratizing power of the web offers
an amazing forum for making the conversation about shaping
policy more inclusive, broad-based, and energized.
Think tan ks—boring? How 2005.
www.drummajorinstitute.org
www.dmiblog.com
“To this day, the best set of principles I’ve read for dealing with
immigration is the Drum Major Institute’s middle class framework,and I encourage [Paul] Krugman, and anyone interested in thisdebate, to give them a read.”
Gathering of the Blogger Host Committee at the 2006Annual Benefit honoring Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos.com.
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
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DMI FellowsChanging policy by inserting crediblevoices, not professional pundits,into the public conversation.
“At our daily opinion journal, we turn to DMI Fellowsfrequently to get behind dry headlines and bring life andurgency to social policy issues. DMI Fellows have writtenfor TomPaine.com on immigration, the middle-classsqueeze, the civil legal system. DMI Fellows bring aunique perspective informed by both practice and policyon issues facing many Americans.”
—ALEXANDRA H. WALKERSENIOR EDITOR, TOMPAINE.COM
“Study after study shows that education is crucial for attaining economic security. Eighty-eight percent of women
receiving welfare who graduate from college move permanently out of poverty. Yet these regulations curtail educationalopportunities for many receiving welfare by piling on make-work demands without letting states count the longhours spent studying and going to school toward the work required to receive benefits.”—Maureen Lane
8/6/2019 Drum Major Institute: 2006 Annual Report
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“Why is it that 2/3 of the time that Ifind out something new and insanethat society should know about, it’scoming from someone at DMI?”
—MATT SINGERCOMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, PROGRESSIVE STATES
EDITOR OF “LEFT IN THE WEST” BLOG
The DMI Fellows program inserts the voices of extraordinarycommunity-based advocates into the debate about the public
policy that governs our lives. In doing so, we bring something
too often missing from a conversation dominated by Ivory Tower
“experts” and professional pundits: credibility.
DMI’s Fellows are real people with real on-the-ground
experiences. They know what policy looks like when it succeeds,
and when it fails. Working with DMI’s communications and
research teams, the DMI Fellows take their perspectives to Op-
Ed pages, radio and airwaves, and, of course, the blogosphere.
They offer a perspective that someone who simply researches the
issue cannot. For example, 2006 is the ten-year ann iversary of
President Bill Clinton ’s histor ic “welfare reform.” Fellow
Maureen Lane has a unique analysis of the failures of welfarereform as a former recipient of public assistance and cur rent Co-
Director of the Welfare Rights Initiative at Hunter College,
which supports welfare recipients as they work toward a college
degree. Her thoughts were featured in The New York Times, on
TomPaine.com, on Air America, in a PBS special hosted by Amy
Goodman, an d at an Iowa College of Law’s conference on
welfare reform at wh ich John Edwards was the keynote speaker.
Their fellowship is often a complement to their day-time
organizing. In 2006, Fellow Mark Winston Griffith, who started
a community-based credit union in the Bedford-Stuyvesant
neighborhood of Brooklyn in the 1990’s and who now serves as
Co-Director of the Neighborhood Economic Development
Advocacy Project, advocated for deed theft legislation to fight
predatory mortgages through his fellowship. His writing
complemented h is successful legislative efforts at NEDAP. Mark
was also asked by The Nation to report on the lack of access to
affordable healthy food in lower-income communities and has
published staunch indictments of financial injustice in the credit
card industr y.
Our Fellows are out there on issues driven by their daily
experiences. Zeke Edwards, former defense attorney for the
Bronx Defenders, argued that upstate voting districts, which
only exist because they count disenfranchised prisoners from
downstate among their population, drain the urban communities
that these prisoners come from of funding and political clout.
Andrew Freidman, co-director of Make the Road by Walking, a
non-profit that organizes commun ity members in Brooklyn and
Queens, wrote widely on the need for translation services for
people still in the process of learning English. Adrianne
Shropshire, head of New York Jobs with Justice, wrote on the
importance of valuing New York City’s workforce.
The DMI Fellows program will grow in 2007 with a fresh crop of
leaders from the frontlines. We are proud of this program, a
prime illustration of our commitment to challenging the way
think tan ks do business.
The work of DMI Fellows:
On Arrest to Arraignment:
As a public defender in the Bronx, I encounter people
during every arraignment shift who have been in jail for
over 24 hours, sometimes for over two days. While
arrestees wait to see a judge, they miss work or school,
fail to appear for job interviews, face childcare dilemmas,
and are often without vital medication. Even if the case is
resolved at arraignments (with a sentence of a fine, for
example), the actual punishment—losing a day’s pay, or
even employment—is far more severe. —Ezekiel Edwards
On Wage Abuses:
In late June, the community organization Make the Road by
Walking joined with a number of churches to launch a boycott
of a supermarket that fails to pay many of their workers any
base pay. Workers are usually afraid to stand up for themselves
because they don’t want to lose their jobs, and too few of
them are organized into labor unions that can give them
institutional power in the workplace. —Andrew Friedman
On Racial Prejudice in Financial Services:
As I was standing before a group of 200 homeowners
and homebuyers talking about the perils of predatory
lending, people were nodding their heads in recognition
and affirmation as I explained the aggressive, abusive and
often illegal tactics of high-cost lenders and scammers.
They may not have heard the terms “predatory lending”
or “high cost lending” before, but they sure knew what it
looked like. Most of the people in the room were people
of color. What made this workshop more significant is
that most were solidly middle class. There is indeed a
color line in America and nowhere is it more obvious than
in the area of financial services. —Mark Winston Griffith
On Access to Education as a Route out of Poverty:
The students I work with at Welfare Rights Initiative know
that hidden in the shadows of welfare to work programs
is the fact that women with children, who are able to find
some kind of job and move from welfare, still are not able
to lift themselves out of poverty, not by a long shot...
An important step toward bridging the gap is access to
education: Research shows that 88% of women who
attain a bachelor’s degree move to jobs with a living
wage and permanently out of poverty. —Maureen Lane
On the Transit Strike:
While viewed with suspicion by every broadcast and print
media outlet in New York City, Roger Toussaint’s framing
of his unions’ strike as a modern day civil rights action
was and is completely accurate. It was civil disobedience
of the highest order. It raised the question of how much
we do or do not value the work of the working class and
the degree to which many New Yorker’s have accepted
the notion that we are undeserving, have no right to
demand better, and should quietly accept less. It was
about more than a contract. —Adrianne Shropshire
uess the moral of the story is that my mother had to die
order for me to escape credit card default and possiblencial ruin. For too many American families, not even thisgain with the devil is available.”—Mark Winston Griffith
“Is Brooklyn’s congressional delegation a friend of
the middle class? For the most part, yes, accordingto a 2005 ‘scorecard’ recently released by theDrum Major Institute for Public Policy.”
DMI Fellow Adrianne Shropshire with New York AssemblymanRichard Brodsky on Marketplace of Ideas panel, September 200
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and an Arthur Garfield Hays Roger Baldwin Civil Rights and
Human Rights Fellow, was our first Civil Justice Fellow andembodies our vision for the program.
When Cyrus and DMI looked closely at the issue of tort “reform”
and access to the courts, we realized that within popular media
there were a lot of conservative voices framing the debate and
advocating proposals without a progressive response. We
launched TortDeform.Com: The Civil Justice Defense Blog to
confront and tran scend the arguments put forth by the tort
‘reform’ movement and to influence the public discussion.
With guest contributors including Ralph Nader, the Center for
Justice and Democracy, and victims of tort “reforms” themselves
TortDeform.com has become a focal point of the conversation
about the future an d importance of our civil justice system. As
Ian Welsh, managing editor of The Agonist.com, put it:
“Until TortDeform.com it was very difficult to find anyone
making the simple
argument that justice
means nothin g if
citizens can’t use the
courts to get redress for
wrongs done to
them….TortDeform
supplies the ammunition
—the facts and the legal
knowledge for anyone
who n eeds to respond to the r ight’s attempt to make the court
system a place where businesses sue each other and which
ordinary people are excluded from.”
A society in which people do not have access to the courts to
seek a remedy for their injuries cannot be a functioning
democracy. The Drum Major Institute will be hard at work
taking on the r ight in their pur suit of an agenda driven by
corporate America, and not the real needs of Americans.
This year we commemorated the fifth anniversary of the 9/11
attacks. Headquartered in N ew York City, DMI was particularly
alarmed by the plight of th e sick Ground Zero rescue and
cleanup workers wh o have been given the legal run around in
their pu rsuit of justice.
From initially denying a link between Groun d Zero and workers’
illnesses, to fighting workers’ compensation claims, to claiming the
city was immune from all Ground Zero lawsuits, New York Cityofficials and businesses have essentially made it as hard as possible
for those exposed at Ground Zero to get back on their feet.
While the case of 9/11 is a singular event in our nation’s history,
the treatment of the Ground Zero workers is symptomatic of many
of the unjust challenges injured Americans face when attempting
to pursue remedy. Over the last several decades, a collection of
corporate interests self-identified as tort “reformers” have aggressively
pushed forward laws that make it increasingly difficult for
Americans to hold corporations accountable for their misconduct.
Think tanks like the Manhattan Institute have been hard at
work feeding lobbyists and politicians the language to articulate
the nation’s problems as the result of greedy trial lawyers suing
too many corporations. This h as had very serious impacts,leading to state and federal legislation that blocks regular
Americans’ access to the courts.
DMI decided to fight back. We created a fellowship, en dowed by
board member Melvyn Weiss, for recent law school graduates
who have a background in progressive activism to spend a year
at DMI learning about and working on civil justice issues.
Cyrus Du gger, a graduat e of New York University School of Law
DMI Civil Justice
“Reclaiming the debate of America’s legal system
is “mission critical” for the Progressive movementand Tort Deform takes on the task. Much more
than a ‘legal blog,’ Tort Deform dares to ask
“Why” Americans see our legal system as a foerather than a friend—as a system that harms usrather than protects us from danger. And then,having posed that question, Tort Deform
generates the ideas to bring about positivechange for justice.”
—JEFF FELDMAN IS EDITOR OF FRAMESHOPAND A CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGIST WHO
LIVES AND TEACHES IN NEW YORK CITY.
Creating new tools and constituencies
for the effort to protect Americans’ access to the courts.
“Refreshingly free of legal jargon, TortDeform
helps remind us how important it is that we allhave access to the courts.”
—REBECCA BAUER, NATIONAL CAMPAIGNTO RESTORE CIVIL RIGHTS
“As we wait for better national policies, state and local leaders can takepractical steps to bring the underground economy we rely on into thelight of day, ensuring that everyone who loves and works on LongIsland is incorporated into the economic mainstream.”—Amy Traub
“The dichotomies presented to us—t
member, city versus unions—are faworkers who pay the taxes that fill thgovernments in the first place.”— A
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DMI ScholarsBasic Training for the War of Ideas.
DMI’s mission is to provide tools to those who advance a
progressive agenda. We already provide the ideas. Now we will
provide the talent to execute those ideas.
In doing so, we will meet a significant need. As Gloria Totten , the
Executive Director of the Progressive Majority, an organization
that recruits and trains progressive candidates on the local level,
recently said, “Progressives at all levels of government require staff
members that are superbly trained, articulate and ready to fight forgood progressive policy. By introducing college students to the
policy arena and giving them the skills they need to be effective
advocates, DMI will ensure that the n ext generation of progressive
leadership is waiting in the wings.”
In doing so, we will develop the future Chiefs of Staff,
Issues Directors, and Legislative Analysts advancing a
progressive agenda for our country.
DMI Scholars will identify progressivecollege students from underrepresentedcommunities and train them in the skillsnecessary to obtain and succeed inentry-level public policy positions.
At this year’s National Conservative Students Conference, one
young conservative stated that he comes, “to network with fellow
right wing conspirators, because we’re all going to run the count ry
some day.”
True or not, that ’s what he is taught to believe. The success of the
conservative right-wing in this country comes in great par t from
how well they have nur tured their young. Many of the
policymakers and influencers that dr ive the conservative
movement today were the young leaders of yesterday. They were
mentored, supported and placed on the pathway to in fluence.
For far too long progressives have been more successful with
getting young people to rallies and community service than
preparing them to enter the world of public policy, where the
ultimate long-term success of an agenda of social and economic
justice is determined.
Enter DMI Scholars.
DMI Scholars is the Drum Major Institu te’s answer to one of the
most critical challenges facing the progressive movement today:
the lack of a pipeline dedicated to support ing and guiding talented
young people into the field of public policy. We are recruiting college
activists from under-represented populations who can become, if
guided, the next generation of progressive thinkers and leaders.
DMI Scholars centers around a two-week Summer Institute that
will begin in 2007 as a “Progressive Public Policy 101” of sorts:
A basic training that offers DMI Scholars the public policy lens,
analytical and writing skills and resources and experiences to
understand, n avigate and successfully enter the public policyworld. For those who successfully complete the Summer
Institute and remain in terested in th e field of public policy, DMI
will facilitate ongoing leadership and development opportu nities
through internships and mentorships with progressive
policymakers and advocates.
“Having the political aspirations that I do, the DMIScholars program seems like a great entry to the
world of government and public policy with realopportunities that will affect the rest of my life.”
—WENDELL MARSH, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE
“This program willensure that we have
people who understandthe need for progressivepolicies within the
circles where policydecisions are made and
influenced. It guides
students in a way thathelps them succeed inthe field while remainingtrue to their values.”
—WALTER BARRIENTOS
BARUCH COLLEGE
us union
icipalityopshire
“People watching Lou [Dobbs’] show don't think, you know, today is health care day for me. Today
is an education policy day for me. Today is tax cuts for me… They experience things as anoverall feeling of anxiety. And Lou speaks directly to that anxiety.”—Andrea Batista Schlesinger
If you are a progressivecollege activist whowants to shape thedirection of our country,DMI Scholars is for you.
Theelectionis over.
Nowwhat?DMI Scholars is a “Public Policy 101,”preparing college students from diversecommunities to successfully enter thepublic policy world.
The progressive movement now needs adiverse, talented group of activists to viewpublic policy as a vehicle for their activism.
The Drum Major Institute for Public
Policy (DMI) is a think tank staffed byyoung progressives who want to drivepublic policy, not just lament its failures.We created DMI Scholars to build a farmteam of Chiefs of Staff, Issues Directors,and Legislative Analysts advancing aprogressive agenda for our nation.
If you want to learn how to make animpact on the policies that impact you,become a DMI Scholar.
Ourfirst Summer
Institute training for
DMI Scholars will bein New York City from
July 29–August 12, 2007.
And if you complete
our intensive training
successfully, we willhelp you explore
careers in this field
through internships and
networking opportunities.
All expensesare covered.Applications acceptedon a rolling basisDecember 8,2006–
January 17, 2007.
APROJECT OF
DMISCHOLARS
www.drummajorinstitute.org/dmischolars
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After six years of failed domestic policies,
Americans used the “short walk to the voting
booth” that Dr. King used to speak of to
demand change. They were no longer satisfied
with the immoral chasm, widening at a
dramatic pace, between the haves and
have nots.
As we approach 2007, our nation finds itself atan exciting time. The Drum Major Institute
finds itself is in important position to speak to
the critical issues of this time like the minimum
wage, social security, and immigration.
You would be amazed how many elected
officials are turn ing to the institut e for
guidance. And h ow many people are turn ing
to DMI to learn more about their elected
officials and whether or not they are
representing their interests in
Washington, DC.
This election showed that the “drum major
instinct” lives on. Now more than ever we
must heed Dr. King’s call for all of us to
involve ourselves in the march to social
justice. Indeed, it thrives in the care of people
like you: Americans who share Dr. King’sdream of a fairer and just nation and are
willing to support the work required to
achieve that dream, citizens who understand,
as a moral matter, that the rich can’t get richer
if the poor are getting poorer.
This cause is a deep part of my heritage. My
father, Harry Wachtel, founded the Drum
Major Foundation (th e predecessor to DMI)
when he was one of Dr. King’s close
advisors. I grew up surrounded by a
generation of like-minded heroes who knew
that giving back to our n ation means
helping the weakest among us, because “Icannot be what I ought to be, until you are
allowed to be what you ought to be.”
Our work has results—both at the ballot box
and in the legislatures of this great nation.
Policy matters, and DMI stands for policy
that doesn’t demean the memory of Dr. King
by stealing his words, but that h onors his
dream by putting words into action. Unlike
those on the conservative right, we don’t
opt King’s vision and values. We live the
So if you can find a place on your list
of worthy causes for th e Drum Major
Institute, I assure you with absolute
confidence that it will be an investment
will make you proud.
Please make a contribution to the Dr um
Major Institute today—and become, as
Dr. King said, a true drum major for justic
Sincerely,
Bill Wachtel
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Ambass ador Andrew YoungChairmanGood Works In tern ational, LLC
Melvyn I. WeissV ice ChairmanMilberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP
William B. WachtelFounder Wachtel & Masyr, LLP
John CatsimatidisRed Apple Group, Inc.
Bruce CharashApple P.I.E. (Partners In Education)
Cecilia ClarkeSadie Nash Leadership Project
Sandra CuneoCuneo Advocates
Jennifer Cunningham1199 SEIUUnited Healthcare Workers East
Rosanna M. DurruthyAequus Group
Stuart FeldmanChelsey Capital
Matthew GoldsteinCity Univer sity of New York
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.Waterkeeper Alliance
Martin Luther King, IIIRealizing the Dream
Danie l T. McGowanHIP Health Plan of New York
Bernard NussbaumWachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Morris Pearl
BlackRock Tom WatsonChanging Our World
Randi WeingartenUnited Federation of Teachers
Jennefer WitterThe Boreland Group, Inc.
Andrew Young IIIYoun g Solution s
STAFF
Andrea Batista SchlesingerExecutive Director
Amy M. TraubAssociate Director of Research
Cyrus DuggerSenior Fellowin Civil Justice
Penny AbeywardenaDirector of Strategic Relations
Elana LevinCommunications Manager
LeeAnn Fletcher
Operations Manager / Development Associate
Sarah SolonPolicy and Commun ications Associat
Tsedey BetruDirector of DMI Scholars
A Message from DMI Founder Bill Wachtel
Bill Wachtel and Martin Luther King, III
“Donald Trump said last week that ‘The middle class is disappearing and America is becoming
a two-class society. Soon you will be either rich or poor.’ This isn’t news to squeezed middle-class Americans. But when even Donald Trump is warning about the death of the AmericanDream, isn’t it time for our nation’s leader to pay attention?—Andrea Batista Schlesinger
“Brave, n
and reallaborcomsystem o
“If you want to say that I was
a drum major, say that I was a
drum major for justice; say that
I was a drum major for peace;
say that I was a drum major
for righteousness. And all ofthe other shallow things will
not matter... I just want to
leave a committed life behind.”
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Ebenezer Baptist Church,
February 4, 1968
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Thank you to our donors for their generous support.
Founders Circle$100,000 and AboveOpen Society Institute
William Wachtel
Melvyn I. Weiss
Patrons$50,000—$99,999Chelsey Foundation Trust
Morris Pearl
Defenders of the Dream$20,000—$49,999Neil Barsky
Democracy AllianceHIP Health InsurancePlan of New York
Horace Hagedorn Foundation
United Federation of Teachers
Keepers of the Flame$5,000—$19,9991199 SEIU UnitedHealthcare Workers East
John CatsimatidisChange to Win Labor Federation
Bruce Charash
Chelsea Green Publishing
Peter Fine
Mark Gallogly & Elizabeth Strickler
Local 32BJ SEIU
Helen & Louis Lowenstein
Chris McNickle
New York StateTr ial Lawyers Association
Sagner Family Foundation
Bernard Schwartz
Stephen Siegel
21ST Century ILGWUHeritage Fund
UNITE-HERE
Drum Majorsfor Justice$1,000—$4,999Astoria Graphics, Inc.
David Axelrod
Evan Behrens
Tonio Burgos
Jerry Colonn a
Rosanna Durruthy
Matthew Goldstein
Hecht & Co.Philanthropic Fund
George Kaufman
Craig Kirsch
Laborers’ InternationalUnion of North America
Steven Levy
Susan Mackenzie
Al Maloof
Jack Marco
The New York Observer
David Pollak
Retail Wholesale& DepartmentStore Union
Daniel Rosner
Service EmployeesInternational Union
Thomas Sweitzer
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Alan Vinegrad
Tom Watson
Howard Wolfson
Vshift, LLC
Alfred Yates
Progressive Patriots
$200—$999John Amorison
Sarah Jean Avery
Sarah Baglio
John Chachas
Cecilia Clarke
Sandra Cuneo
Michael D’innocenzo
Drew & Rogers, Inc.
Stephen & Elyse Gutman
Susan Herr
Jack Hoffinger
James Katz
Daniel Keating
Alissa LevinLarry Luftig
Michael Murphy
Karen N ewirth
NYS Public EmployeesFederation
Zeva Oelbaum &John Reichman
Iara Peng
Darryl Pitt
Precise Corporate Printing
Michael Rabinowitz
Diane ReevesRetirees Associationof D.C. 37, AFSCME,AFL-CIO
Daniel Rose
William Sipper
Andrea Batista Schlesinger
The PublicAdvocacy Group
Giovanna Torchio
Concerned Citizens
$199 and UnderJay Ackroyd
Louis Albano
Ken Albrecht
Clifford Anderson
Dawn Barber
Ruth C. Bauer
John Berman
Bruce Bernstein
Raoul Bhavnani
Adam Bonin
Nancy BurnhanLeonard Carr
Jamie Chandler
Lewis Cohen
Margaret Cott
Carolina Dyer
William A. Estlick
Cynth ia Edwards
Austin Evers
Fernando Ferrer
Thomas Fontana
Cynthia Freeman &Josh Goldstein
Stefan Friedman
Aaron Goldberg
Marjorie Harris
Eric Hauser
Randi Hazan
Noah Heller
Margaret Kass
Hilary & Junichi Kitasei
Hildy Kuryk
Rick LaBreche
Athena LaFlamme-Edwar
Maureen Lane
Raymond Levin
Abraham Markman
Andra Miller
John Mollenkopf
Roy Moskowitz
Sallie Motch
Christopher Murphy
Zulaihat Nauzo
Paul Ness
Dirk Neyhart
Tom Osterman
David Ourlicht
Sylvia PerezViktor & LillianPohorelsky
Clifton Poole &Amy Traub
Marcia Poston
Maria Teresa Rojas
Bruce Rosen
Martin & Barbara Schiffe
SEIU Local 200United
Harris Silver
Jonathan Silverman
James Siminoff
Michael Swanson
The Lloyd Group
Ronald and Susan Tr aub
Limor Weiner
ers have taken a fresh look at the problem
source of wage depression and unfairt immigrant workers themselves but rather aigration laws.”—Amy Taylor
“The more you look closely at what happened in the aftermath of
9/11, you start to see an alarming parallel between those eventsand the model of putting profits over safety—or what I like toterm the tort reform business model. —Cyrus Dugger
*This list includes contributions from December 2005 through November 2006
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1 2 3 4
6 7 8 9
11 12 13 14
16 17 18 19
21 22 23
1) John Edwards 2) New York State Governor Eliot S3) Markos Moulitsas of DailyKos.com 4) Senator HillaClinton 5) Paul Krugman 6) Maryland State Senator Gary Lawlah 7) SEIU President Andy Stern 8) Harry B9) New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn10) Arianna Huffington 11) Change to Win President ABurger 12) New York City Deputy Mayor Dennis Walc13) Katrina vanden Heuvel 14) Wynton Marsalis15) DMI Founder Bill Wachtel 16) United Federation of TPresident Randi Weingarten 17) Representative CharRangel 18) Al Franken 19) David Sirota 20) Los AngelMayor Antonio Villaraigosa 21) Ambassador Andrew Y22) Howard Dean 23) DMI President Emeritus Fernand
DMI: A Gathering Place for America’s Progressive Leadership
“This administration has corroded the public values that promote
children’s and parents’ well-being: the public sector’s competence,collective responsibility to one another, and the ability of manypoor Americans to save and own homes.”—Mark Winston Griffith
“This bill makes explicit the right-wing ca
that the working poor cannot be allowbenefit unless the idle rich benefitexponentially more.”—Elana Levin
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Dear Friend:
Now what?
The mid-term elections are over. Where do we go from here?
Unlike in sports, a victory in politics is only meaningful if itleads to something else. In this case, electoral victories must lead
to public policy that will actually improve people’s lives.
That’s why we do what we do. The Drum Major Institute for
Public Policy’s mission is to generate the ideas that fuel the
progressive movement. And since 1999 we have provided the
research, the models, the policies and th e tools that have shone
a bright light on h ow governmen t can actually work for the people.
It’s not always glamorous to be a par t of a think tank. But it’s times like
these—when elections are over and the tough task of governing begins—that
the n eed for our work is clear.
Th is year has special meaning. It’s been five years since I came to DMI,
and in this time I have watched the current administration push the
American Dream even fur ther out of reach for most of us. So I am honored
to serve as Executive Director of an organization that fights back by equipping
regular people to hold their representatives accountable, challenging the tired
orthodoxies of the left and the right on issues like immigration, and
preparing a new generation of progressives to create fairer and more just
public policy.
DMI wouldn’t stand a chance against the well-organized and well-funded
think tanks of the conservative right if it weren’t for th e commitment and
sustained support of our DMI community. Thanks to you, we doubled ourstaff size and budget and enjoyed an unprecedented national impact in 2006.
We are now prepared for even more in fluence in 2007, when th e country
needs our ideas the most.
On behalf of the DMI staff and Board of Directors, thank you for
your investment in our shared mission to defend and strengthen th e
American Dream. Th e New Year beckons with fresh hope and exciting
opportu nity. We look forward to the challenge. With your su pport, DMI
will seize this moment and help our nation to emerge from six years of
conservative failures.
Thank you again for an extraordinary year.
Andrea Batista Schlesinger
Executive Director
Now that you’ve readthis annual report frocover to cover, youknow that the DrumMajor Institute isplaying a critical role advancing a progressiv
agenda for our nation
Today, more than everwe are in a criticalmoment in the war ofideas. DMI can do itspart to turn the midterelectoral victory into amore meaningful, lastivictory for the AmericaDream. B u t we n eed yo u r s u pport.
Here are five waysyou can make an investmenin the Drum Major Institutefor Public Policy:
• Make a CASH CONTRIBUTIOwith a check, credit card, or wire transfer from your bank.
• CONTRIBUTE ONLINE.Our secure gift service offersa quick, convenient and safemethod for making a contributusing your credit card. Visitdrummajorinstitute.org/support.h
• Give a GIFT OF STOCK OROTHER SECURITIES. You mclaim a tax deduction for thefull market value of appreciastock, bonds, and other kindof securities that you have hfor over a year.
• Join an EMPLOYEE MATCHIGIFT PROGRAM. Manyemployers will match charitadonations made by theiremployees (often on a 2:1 o
3:1 basis). Ask your HumanResources or Public Affairsoffice for more information.
• Consider PLANNED GIVING.Name the Drum Major Institufor Public Policy in your will.
Your contributions are tax-deductibto the fullest extent of the law. Thayou for your support.
SUPPORT DMI “The world would be a better place if DMI got more money!”—ARI BERMAN, THE NATION
“I took the advice of Susan Brennan of Sayre and looked up the voting record of my
U.S. House representative, John R. Kuhl. Not surprisingly, regarding the same seven billsused to rate performance relating to the middle class vs. the rich, he, too, voted againstall seven bills and also was rated "F" (0 percent) by the Drum Major Institute.”
he Peter B. Collins Show
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110 East 59th Street, 28th Floor New York NY 10022 T 212.909.9663 F 212.909.9493 drummajorinstitute.org
The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy is a non-partisan, non-profit think tank generating the ideas that fuel the progressive
movement. From releasing nationally recognized studies of our increasingly fragile middle class to writing landmark analysis showing
that a progressive immigration policy is in the best interest of America’s current and aspiring middle class, DMI has been on the
leading edge of the public policy debate. For more information, please visit www.drummajorinstitute.org.
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