The 2026 Kohn Social Policy Conference brings together scholars, practitioners, policymakers, students, and community partners to examine pressing social policy challenges and explore how social policy can advance equity and promote human thriving.
Terri Friedline will discuss her book, Banking on a Revolution: Why Financial Technology Won’t Save a Broken System, which takes a critical look at advancements in financial technology (“fintech”) in the banking and financial industries.
Carolyn Barnes will discuss her book, “State of Empowerment: Low-income Families and the New Welfare State,” exploring how government-funded after-school programs can enhance the civic and political lives of low-income citizens.
Jeremy Levine will discuss his book, “Constructing Community: Urban Governance, Development and Inequality in Boston,” which explores the complexities of neighborhood redevelopment in Boston.
Indivar Dutta-Gupta, co-executive director of the Georgetown Center on Poverty & Inequality in conversation with H. Luke Shaefer about approaches to economic redistribution.
Join professor Frederick Wherry in this discussion about how dignity and respect affect consumers' engagements with and responses to debt. Wherry will share about his work to understand and empower the linkages between lending and human values.
