Policy Outsider

The delivery industry boomed during the COVID-19 pandemic. In New York City, the engine of this expansion was app-based delivery workers, many of whom are immigrants. On this episode of Policy Outsider, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy Deputy Director & Intergovernmental Liaison Guillermo Martinez interviews Rockefeller Institute Director of Labor Policy Maria Figueroa about her research into the efforts of these workers to secure improved working conditions and compensation.

Guests

• Guillermo Martinez, Deputy Director & Intergovernmental Liaison, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy
• Maria Figueroa, Director of Labor Policy, Rockefeller Institute of Government

Learn More

• View Maria's presentation at the Institute on Immigrant Integration's 2025 annual conference, "Engineering Cohesive Communities: Social Integration of Foreign-Born Americans."

Federal health policy is undergoing its most significant changes since the Affordable Care Act was signed into law more than 15 years ago. The health policy team at the Rockefeller Institute is tracking these changes closely and has written extensively on how provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and related rule-based changes may impact New York State. On this episode of Policy Outsider, we invite the authors of these recent analyses to discuss the shifting health policy landscape and share what they are keeping an eye on as the impact of these changes comes into focus.

Guests

• Courtney Burke, Senior Fellow for Health Policy, Rockefeller Institute of Government
• Jillian Kirby Bronner, Special Advisor to the Budget Director, New York State Division of the Budget
• Troy Oechsner, Fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government

Learn More

• Read our series on how federal health policy changes are impacting New York State.

This episode of Policy Outsider features a conversation between Rockefeller Institute Director of Labor Policy Maria Figueroa and Brendan Griffith, president of the New York City Central Labor Council. The discussion explores the work of the Central Labor Council, the pressing issues facing the labor movement today, and the priorities of labor under the next mayoral administration.

Guests

• Maria Figueroa, Director of Labor Policy, Rockefeller Institute
• Brendan Griffith, President, New York City Central Labor Council

As summer winds down, the perennial question of how to create a safe and equitable environment for students is on the minds of many school leaders, administrators, and teachers. On this episode of Policy Outsider, we explore the practice of using multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams to evaluate students who are at risk and recommend holistic and programmatic pathways to make sure their needs are being met.

Guests

• Eric Madfis, Professor, Criminal Justice and Director, Violence Prevention and Transformation Research Collaborative, School of Social Work & Criminal Justice, University of Washington-Tacoma
• Jaclyn Schildkraut, Executive Director, Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, Rockefeller Institute of Government

New York City's major property tax law was enacted decades ago. On this episode of Policy Outsider, we take a deep dive into the law's limitations and challenges to reforming it. Our guests are Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna, Carol O’Cleireacain, a Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow at the Institute, and Preston Niblack, commissioner of the New York City Department of Finance.

Guests

• Robert Megna, President, Rockefeller Institute of Government
• Carol O’Cleireacain, Richard P. Nathan Public Policy Fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government
• Preston Niblack, Commissioner, New York City Department of Finance

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinates responses to large disasters that exceed state and local capacity. In recent months, the Trump administration has floated the idea of abolishing the agency. On this episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute President Bob Megna is joined by Jackie Bray, commissioner of the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, to discuss what it might mean to eliminate or drastically reduce the scope of FEMA.

Guests

• Robert Megna, President, Rockefeller Institute of Government
• Jackie Bray, Commissioner, New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services

Dr. Heide Castañeda is a professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida and the author of the 2023 book, Migration and Health: Critical Perspectives, which examines how we think about migration, mobility, and borders, and how these phenomena produce health inequalities. On this episode of Policy Outsider, Dr. Castañeda is interviewed by Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy Executive Director Dina Refki and Shiyue Cui, an immigrant integration fellow at the Institute. The conversation builds off the wide breadth of topics covered in the book to provide an incisive look into the complex and tangled relationship between migration and health.

Guests

• Heide Castañeda, Professor of Anthropology, University of South Florida
• Dina Refki, Executive Director, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy
• Shiyue Cui, Immigrant Integration Fellow, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy

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• Migration and Health: Critical Perspectives

TheDream.US is the nation’s largest college and career success program for undocumented immigrant youth. This episode of Policy Outsider features an interview with TheDream.US co-founder Don Graham, president and CEO Gaby Pacheco, and Chief Operating Officer Hyein Lee. In the recorded conversation, the TheDream.US team is interviewed by the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy's Executive Director Dina Refki and Immigrant Integration Fellow Adriana Mintarsih.

Guests

• Don Graham, Co-Founder, TheDream.US
• Gaby Pacheco, President and CEO, TheDream.US
• Hyein Lee, Chief Operating Officer, TheDream.US
• Dina Refki, Executive Director, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy
• Adriana Mintarsih, Immigrant Integration Fellow, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy

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• TheDream.US | Scholarships for Undocumented Students

Refugee resettlement organizations play a critical role in immigrant integration, providing job training programs, interpretation and translation services, and other educational programming for individuals and businesses. The indefinite pause of the refugee resettlement program by the Trump administration froze funding for many of these organizations, including those with long-established relationships with local communities, employers, and other community-based organizations. This integration infrastructure takes years to build and is often the catalyst that helps foreign-born people move from surviving to thriving.

On this episode of Policy Outsider, we dive into the services provided by one of these organizations, the benefits these services have in the community, and how the organization is navigating a challenging new funding and cultural landscape. Jennifer Rizzo-Choi, the executive director of the International Institute of Buffalo, an organization whose mission is to "make Western New York a better place for, and because of, immigrants and refugees," speaks with the Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy's executive director, Dina Refki, and Ken Irish-Bramble, a fellow with the Institute on Immigrant Integration.

Guests

• Jennifer Rizzo-Choi, Executive Director, International Institute of Buffalo
• Dina Refki, Executive Director, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy
• Ken Irish-Bramble, Immigrant Integration Fellow, Institute on Immigrant Integration Research and Policy

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• International Institute of Buffalo

With a new presidential administration come new (and dimmer) prospects for the rescheduling of cannabis. The rescheduling process, which began under President Biden, has met with legal hurdles and will now be overseen by a group of Trump appointees that view the drug less favorably. On a new episode of Policy Outsider, Rockefeller Institute director of operations, fellow, and resident cannabis policy expert, Heather Trela, provides an update on where we are in the process, the new players, and what to expect in the coming months.