Drum Major Institute

The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy is an American progressive public policy institute founded during the Civil Rights Movement. Its primary focus is on the economic issues of the middle class, and the idea that government can be a force for good. It is under the leadership of its executive director Andrea Batista Schlesinger.

History

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 America's increasingly fragile middle class to showcasing progressive policies that have worked to advance social and economic justice, DMI has been on the leading edge of the public policy debate. DMI is also noted for developing new and creative ways to bring its work to the advocates and opinion leaders that need it, from starting one of the first public policy weblogs to pioneering the use of Google Adwords to hold elected officials accountable for their votes on issues of importance to their constituents.

The Drum Major Foundation (later Institute) was founded in 1961 during the turbulent years of the Civil Rights Movement by Harry Wachtel, a New York City lawyer who was an advisor to Martin Luther King Jr.. The organization became more or less defunct for several years after King's death, but was relaunched in 1999 by Martin Luther King III, William B. Wachtel (Harry's son) and Ambassador Andrew Young.

Dr. King often used the phrase "Drum Major Instinct" meaning the instinct to be a leader. In his famous speech at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on February 4 1968 he said: 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 of the other shallow things will not matter... I just want to leave a committed life behind.

The Institute was led from 2002 through 2004 by Fernando Ferrer, the former Bronx Borough President. Ferrer resigned from the Institute at the end of 2004 to run for Mayor of New York City. He won the democratic nomination for Mayor in 2005, but lost to Republican Michael Bloomberg. Since 2002, the Institute has been led by Andrea Batista Schlesinger.

DMI seeks to change policy by conducting research into overlooked but important social and economic issues, by leveraging its strategic relationships to engage policymakers and opinion-leaders in its work and by offering platforms to amplify the ideas of those who are working for social and economic fairness. From releasing an almost instantaneous analysis of the President's State of the Union Address to launching a fellows program that highlights the unique insights of activists, DMI consistently demonstrates that its reach extends far beyond the tired orthodoxies of both the right and the left.

Institute Initiatives

Publications and Projects

The Drum Major Institute has an ongoing series of discussions providing a platform for policymakers from across the country who have successfully put progressive values into practice. This series, entitled the Marketplace of Ideas[2], has provided ideas to inspire policy and demonstrates the power that government has to make a positive impact on people's lives. Lessons from the Marketplace, a report recently published by DMI, highlights four successful initiatives: Maine's prescription drug program, San Francisco's criminal recidivism lowering program, Minnesota's public subsidy accountability initiative, and Oklahoma's universal preschool.

One of DMI's major areas of interest is advocating for policy that benefits America's current middle class and all those aspiring to become middle class. DMI recently issued a report approaching the need for sensible, comprehensive immigration policy to the needs of America's current and aspiring middle class. "Principles for an Immigration Policy to Strengthen and Expand the Middle Class"[3] takes an in-depth look of what types of immigration policy will be beneficial America's middle class, and examines the positive contributions that immigrants make to American society. The report makes the case that progressive immigration reform is in the interest of hardworking Americans if it does two things: bolsters the critical contribution that immigrants make to our economy, and strengthen the rights of immigrants in the workplace to avoid a "race to the bottom" that harms American workers. Ezra Kline, of The American Prospect, said of the report, "To this day, the best set of principles I've read for dealing with immigration is the Drum Major Institute's middle class framework."

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DMI's Google AdWords campaign[1]

DMI has also recently published several reports focusing on the problems that America's middle class is currently facing. Saving Our Middle Class: A Survey of New York's Leaders[4] examines what policies are needed to protect and expand New York City's middle class. These policies are explored in the report, and include a more progressive income tax structure, universal full-day preschool, mandatory inclusionary zoning, expanded eligibility for state-subsidized health care, requiring large businesses to provide all employees with health insurance, and allowing welfare recipients to count hours spent in education or training as work. Additionally, DMI has released middle class scorecards for both the United States Congress[5] and the New York State Legislature[6]. The scorecards grade elected officials on how they vote for policies that will either support and expand or undermine and obstruct the middle class. Along with the reports, DMI launched a Google AdWord campaign that would display the official's "middle class grade" every time his or her name was searched in Google[7]. The campaign was hugely successful, prompting Scott Shields, of MyDD.com, to say, "To me, this is brilliant. What better way to get relevant information to people looking up their state representatives than a Google AdWords campaign?"[8]

The Drum Major Institute believes that we have left the public policy conversation to those who reside in Ivory Towers for far too long. The DMI Fellows program[9] seeks to change the conversation about public policy by changing who participates in it. Our Fellows are effective and innovative activists and advocates working on the grassroots level who bring first-hand experience and credibility to their analysis. With DMI's research and communications support, their experiences on the ground are leveraged into the broader conversation about public policy. DMI publishes their Op-Eds and blog posts and arranges for radio and TV appearances to weigh in on the issues of the day, positioning them as experts with real experiences in contrast to the professional pundits. In the process, DMI helps these activists and advocates – all relatively young -- to develop their research and communications skills and satisfy their itch to weigh in on public policy without leaving their organizations bereft of their leadership. DMI's Fellows are:

• Ezekiel Edwards, criminal justice fellow, The Innocence Project
• Andrew Friedman, language access and immigrant justice fellow, Make the Road by Walking
• Mark Winston Griffith, community development and economic opportunity fellow, Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project
• Maureen Lane, welfare policy and higher education fellow, Welfare Rights Initiative at Hunter College
• Adrianne Shropshire, workers rights and community development fellow, New York Jobs with Justice

Yet another aspect of the Drum Major Institute's work is fighting for legal rights for the middle class. Thus far, trial lawyers and courts have been framed as the enemy, leading to state and federal legislation that blocks regular American's access to the courts. DMI's Civil Justice Fellow is responsible for influencing the public discussion about the courts to reflect policies that positively influence the middle class, instead of removing their access to legal remedies for wrongdoings. This is primarily done through the TortDeform website[10], and seeks to involve policymakers and victims of restricted court access alike in the conversation.

The Institute also runs a blog[11] that is currently on the lookout for pertinent local and national news. Unlike quick-hit horse-race politics blogs, the DMIBlog is written by people at the forefront of efforts to create fairer and more effective public policy. In addition to regular staff contributers, DMI invites people and organizations whose work should have a larger platform to guest blog, like Amber Sparks[12] of Grocery Workers United, Heather Boushey[13] of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, and Omar Freilla[14] of the Green Worker Cooperatives, among many others. 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 urban development projects and the dialogue about them is impacted by race and class.

Upcoming Events

On Thursday, June 21, the Drum Major Institute is presenting its annual Drum Majors of Justice Awards to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and PBS's Tavis Smiley. Mayor Bloomberg is being honored for PlaNYC, his plan to transform New York City into a model of environmental sustainablity. Smiley will be recognized for being an outstanding voice for social change in the news media and beyond. The event will take place at Cipriani in New York City, and proceeds will benefit the Drum Major Institute. Click here to purchase tickets, and for more information.

DMI is hosting its second annual Summer Institute[15] July 29-August 12, an intensive program designed to introduce young scholars to the world of public policy. After the training, the Institute will work with participants, called DMI Scholars, to explore the field of public policy through internships with our progressive partners. The workshops and relationships built through the DMI Scholars program promise to enrich the lives of young activists, as well as to expand their career opportunities.

Board of directors

As of 2007, the board of directors consists of:

• Ambassador Andrew Young, Chairman, Good Works International, LLC
• Melvyn I. Weiss, Vice Chairman, Milberg Weiss
• William B. Wachtel, Co-Founder, Wachtel & Masyr, LLP
• John Catsimatidis, Red Apple Group
• Bruce Charash
• Cecilia Clarke, Sadie Nash Leadership Project
• Sandra Cuneo, Trial Lawyers Care
• Jennifer Cunningham, Knickerbocker SKD
• Rosanna M. Durruthy, Aequus Group
• Stuart Feldman (investor), Chelsey Capital
• Matthew Goldstein, City University of New York
• Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Waterkeeper Alliance
• Martin Luther King III, Co-Founder, The King Center
• Daniel T. McGowan, Health Insurance Plan of New York (HIP)
• Chris McNickle, Greenwich Associates
• Bernard Nussbaum, former White House Counsel, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
• Morris Pearl, BlackRock
• Tom Watson (journalist), Changing Our World
• Randi Weingarten, United Federation of Teachers
• Jennefer Witter, The Boreland Group Inc.
• Andrew Young III, Young Solutions

Staff

Andrea Batista Schlesinger

Executive Director

Since 2002, Andrea Batista Schlesinger has led the effort to turn the Drum Major Institute into a progressive policy institute with national impact. Under Andrea's leadership as Executive Director, DMI has released several important policy papers to national audiences including: Congress at the Midterm: Their 2005 Middle-Class Record[16], and From Governance to Accountability: Building Relationships that Make Schools Work[17]. Andrea studied public policy at the University of Chicago. Andrea has worked in various capacities to promote educational equity and youth empowerment. She directed a national campaign to engage college students in the discussion on the future of Social Security for the Pew Charitable Trusts, and served as Director of Public Relations of Teach For America before working as the education advisor to Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer. Andrea has been profiled in the New York Times, New Yorker magazine, Latina Magazine and in Hear us Now, an award-winning documentary about her tenure as the student member of the New York City Board of Education. She has been published in Alternet.org, New York Newsday, New York Sun, and City Limits Magazine. She grew up and currently lives in Brooklyn.

Amy M. Traub

Associate Director of Research

Amy Traub joined the staff of the Drum Major Institute at the beginning of 2005. A native of the Cleveland area, Amy is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Chicago. She received a graduate fellowship to study political science at Columbia University, where she earned her Masters degree in 2001 and completed coursework towards a Ph.D. Her studies focused on comparative political economy, political theory, and social movements. Funded by a field research grant from the Tinker Foundation, Amy conducted original research in Mexico City, exploring the development of the Mexican student movement. Before coming to the Drum Major Institute, Amy headed the research department of a major New York City labor union, where her efforts contributed to the resolution of strikes and successful union organizing campaigns by hundreds of working New Yorkers. She has also been active on the local political scene working with progressive elected officials. Amy resides in Manhattan Valley with her husband.

Penny Abeywardena

Director of Strategic Relations

Prior to joining DMI, Penny was the Development Program Officer at the Funding Exchange, where she managed donor advised funds, and actively participated in developing fundraising and grantmaking strategies. She has worked in both development and program areas for Human Rights Watch, the Fund for Global Human Rights and UNICEF-Jordan. Penny was the editor of Rights News, an annual publication by the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University from 2004-2006. Most recently, Penny served on the planning committee for the 2005 & 2006 Making Money Make Change retreat and the advisory council for the 2006 Creating Change Through Family Philanthropy conference – both of these national gatherings are for young people with wealth committed to supporting social justice. Penny serves on the Board of Resource Generation and Sakhi for South Asian Women. She is also a mentor for Third Wave Foundation's Why Give program for young women of color and transgender youth.

Penny earned a BA in Political Science with a minor in Business Administration from the University of Southern California. In 2004, she completed her Master in International Affairs at Columbia University, where she studied economic & political development and non-profit management. She concurrently completed Columbia's Fundraising Management program.

Elana Levin

Director of Communications

Elana Levin's press and communications skills were honed working as a community organizer and activist. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College in 2001 and working in the art industry, Elana volunteered on Howard Dean's campaign, an experience that inspired her to change career paths. Since then she has worked on state and local political campaigns, serving most recently as the Volunteer Coordinator of former ACLU lawyer Norman Siegel's Public Advocate campaign.

Elana was also co-founder of the Greene Dragon street theatre group, which sought to change the media's portrayal of protest and patriotism during the 2004 Republican National Convention. She helped organize what NPR named the "Best Protest of the RNC."

In addition, Elana has been involved in community development issues such as the Williamsburg Waterfront rezoning and the successful fight to stop the West Side Stadium.

In the past two years, Elana has successfully pitched stories to, or been quoted in, a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, Newsday, The Village Voice, Time Magazine, The Daily News, Le Monde and several small town papers nationwide. Clips of political actions and interviews have been shown on WNBC, PBS, MSNBC, BBC, CSPAN, NY1, ABC 7, Fox 5 and on NPR affiliates. She has also been profiled on Gothamist.com.

Sarah Solon

Policy and Communications Associate

Hailing from Colorado College, where she double-majored in comparative literature and women and public policy, Sarah Solon began her communications internship at DMI in January 2006. Before DMI, she was a contributing editor of the CiPher, her school's award-winning alternative news and arts magazine. Sarah has served as the President of Publications at Colorado College, as an intern at BUST magazine, as a Public Affairs intern at Planned Parenthood, and as a research and writing intern at an economic consulting firm. Sarah is happy to be in New York, learning about policies and communications from the DMI staff.

Tsedey Betru

Director of DMI Scholars

Prior to joining the Drum Major Institute, Tsedey was the Director of Administration for the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, managing operations for a range of services that support New York City charter schools. She has provided research support to PolicyLink on their Equitable Development Toolkit, the Center for Social Inclusion¹s Diversity Advancement Initiative and the Living Cities Milano Collaborative for the Milano Graduate School for Management and Urban Policy. In addition to her work in nonprofit administration and research, Tsedey led national and local mobilization campaigns with young people for the Fannie Lou Hamer Project of the National Voting Rights Institute and the 7th Street McClymonds Neighborhood Improvement Initiative of the San Francisco Foundation. These campaigns aim to build the capacity of youth to become agents of change in their communities. She serves on the Coordinating Committee of The Grassroots Movement, a national grassroots advocacy organization. Originally from Ethiopia, Tsedey grew up in Memphis and currently resides in Manhattan. She has a B.S. in Urban Planning from Cornell University and a M.S. in Nonprofit Management from New School University.

Suman Raghunathan

Immigration Project Coordinator

Suman is the Immigration Project Coordinator at DMI. Prior to joining DMI, Suman was the Interim Executive Director of Chhaya Community Development Corporation, a community-based organization serving South Asian immigrants in New York City. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Suman has over seven years of experience in the immigrant rights movement, largely in the arena of encouraging immigrant involvement in the political process as a tool to advance larger goals of justice for immigrant communities. Suman has developed and coordinated programs to involve immigrant voters in the electoral process at the local, state, and federal levels at the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC) and Hate Free Zone Washington. She received her undergraduate degree in International Relations from Brown University in 1998, and will receive her Masters degree in Nonprofit Management from Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy in December 2007. Originally from Los Angeles, Suman speaks fluent Spanish and French.

Lauren Su

Operations Manager

Lauren joined the staff of the Drum Major Institute as the Operations Manager in January 2007. Prior to joining DMI, she worked in public relations at CNN. A native New Yorker, Lauren graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Government, concentrating in Law and Society. In Washington, D.C., Lauren worked as an outreach coordinator with the National Foundation for Women Legislators, an organization that strives to provide strategic resources and leadership development for women legislators on the local, state, and national levels.

Kia Franklin

Senior Fellow in Civil Justice

A native of Seattle, Washington, Kia graduated from Stanford University in 2003 with a B.A. in Political Science and African and African-American Studies. She wrote her Senior Honors Thesis on Youth Mobilization and Hip Hop, exploring the use of music as a cross-racial tool for civic engagement and coalition-building among Bay Area teens. After college she worked at two Seattle-area law firms, gaining exposure to civil and criminal litigation matters.

Kia was an active member of the Georgetown University Law Center community and a recipient of Georgetown’s prestigious Dean’s Scholarship. She served as Secretary of the Black Law Students Association, and belonged to various clubs including the Just Praise Gospel Choir and the Total Knock-Out Mentoring Program. As a second-year student, Kia participated in the Street Law Clinic, teaching high school Constitutional Law and coaching her students for the annual Street Law Mock Trial competition. In her last year, Kia interned at the Public Education Network, exploring the intersection of law and policy in issues of educational equity. She also volunteered for the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless and the Center for American Progress. During her summers, Kia explored her interest in civil litigation while working at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP (Washington, DC), and at Perkins Coie, LLP (Seattle).

Elizabeth Hartline Green

Communications Intern

Born and raised in the South, Elizabeth recently moved to New York City to study educational policy at Teachers College, Columbia University. Thus far, she has done research on how race and business interests shaped the development of Atlanta and its school system, universal preschool programs, and Cambodia’s educational system. Elizabeth graduated from the University of Georgia in 2006 with a bachelor's degree in early childhood education, and has been involved with numerous non-profits serving children. She currently resides in Manhattan with her husband.

External links

• DMI Official page
• Blog authored by DMI fellows
• Benefit Tickets
• Tort Deform