The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

As the country - and world - grapples with the aftermath of the pandemic, inflation, and supply chain disruptions, the banking industry has no doubt felt its share of tumultuous economic activity. In March, three small-to-midsize U.S. banks failed, setting up a chain of events now called the 2023 Banking Crisis. Add to this, the widespread calls for increased equity and access to economic opportunity, the world of banking and finance is changing.\r\n\r\nBrian Moynihan is CEO of Bank of America, a post he has held since January 1, 2010 and leads a team of approximately 215,000 employees dedicated to making financial lives better for people, companies of every size, and institutional investors across the United States and around the world. Moynihan also participates in several organizations that focus on economic and market trends.\r\n\r\nJoin Brian Moynihan at the City Club to learn more about Bank of America\'s priorities and strategies in an ever-changing banking world.

Like many legacy cities across the United States, Cleveland faces challenges in adapting to 21st-century economic realities. The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated these challenges, as firms transitioned to remote work and downtown vacancies climbed. It's clear that succeeding at economic development will not happen by accident, and groundwork to position our communities for success needs to be laid.\r\n\r\nThe Legacy Cities Initiative (LCI) presents a seven-part strategic framework for the equitable and sustainable revitalization of legacy cities. Join the City Club of Cleveland and the Lincoln Institute at Public Square in Cleveland to hear from LCI and other urban planning experts on how the city can leverage regional growth to boost its urban core, implement inclusive economic development, and more.

Founded by three doctors in 1986, the mission of Physicians for Human Rights is built on the idea that health professionals can help prevent human rights abuses. The organization works across the globe on a variety of issues including asylum, sexual violence, and mass atrocities. Research and investigations by the group have led to policy changes in the United States and have secured the rights and protection of asylum seekers, protestors, and frontline health care workers.\r\n\r\nIn March, Physicians for Human Rights named Sam Zarifi as its new Executive Director. Zarifi brings 30 years of experience in law and advocacy to the position. Before coming to Physicians for Human Rights, Zarifi was the Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists, an NGO that defends and sets international human rights standards through the legal system. Zarifi will lead Physicians for Human Rights during a pivotal time as the organization tackles human rights violations in Ukraine, emergency abortion care in a post-Dobbs country, and more.\r\n\r\nSam Zarifi will join The City Club for a discussion about the work of Physicians for Human Rights and the important role the organization plays in the fields of humanitarianism and advocacy.

A recent report released by Downtown Cleveland Alliance and Greater Cleveland Partnership examined downtown residential growth and revealed significant population increases in the area. For example, the downtown core experienced robust growth of households from 2010 to 2020--a 36.0% increase compared to a 4.4% increase for the City of Cleveland, making it one of the city\'s largest and fastest growing neighborhoods. And as our downtown population grows, so too, does the demand for diverse housing, jobs, retail, entertainment, and other amenities.\r\n\r\nOur downtown has the potential to serve a large and diverse population of people from Northeast Ohio and beyond. Join us in Public Square as we learn how Cleveland\'s downtown will continue to grow and welcome visitors, residents, students, businesses, and the greater community.

Reza Aslan is not just a creative writing professor at the University of California, Riverside. He is also an internationally renowned writer, scholar of religions, an Emmy- and Peabody-nominated producer, and the recipient of the prestigious James Joyce Award.\r\n\r\nIn his latest book, An American Martyr in Persia, Reza Aslan traces the extraordinary journey of Howard Baskerville from the halls of Princeton to the middle of a democratic revolution in Persia (modern-day Iran). After graduating from university, Baskerville traveled to Tabriz in 1907 to teach at a missionary school. While there, he became immersed in the lives of his students who were dedicated to fighting for freedom in the Constitutional Revolution of Iran. Baskerville, who died during the Battle of Ghazan, is often remembered as the "American Lafayette of Iran" and an "American martyr" for the country. Using Baskerville's life as a touchpoint, Aslan examines the power and allure of freedom and democracy and how Americans view these ideals outside of their own country.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as we hear from Professor Aslan for the inaugural Siddiq Forum on the Islamic World.

In the young adult adaptation of his 2020 memoir of the same name, Chasten Buttigieg details the challenges he faced as a closeted teenager growing up in Northern Michigan. As the youngest of three boys in a conservative Catholic family, he hid his sexuality from those closest to him for years. For many LGBTQ+ youth, Buttigieg's experiences are similar to their own.\r\n\r\nThe teenage years are a time of immense change, and those challenges are magnified for LGBTQ+ youth. Throughout his book, Buttigieg aims to inspire young people to embrace who they are and to reach a place of self-love and acceptance, all while offering hope that life gets better when you're true to yourself and find your community.\r\n\r\nButtigieg is a teacher, advocate, and writer. He is the husband of Pete Buttigieg, the Secretary of Transportation and a former presidential candidate. Chasten currently lives in his hometown of Traverse City, Michigan, with Pete and their two children, Gus and Penelope.\r\n\r\nThis Pride month, join The City Club of Cleveland for a conversation led by WKYC\'s Emma Henderson and Chasten Buttigieg about his book and what it means to grow up as an LGBTQ+ youth.

In Ohio, public education constitutes the largest share of the state's spending. As the legislature reviews Gov. Mike DeWine's proposed two-year budget ahead of the June 30 deadline, education funding will once again be up for debate. In the previous budget, Ohio lawmakers included the Fair School Funding Plan, which takes into account a school district's expenses when calculating the state's cost per student. For the 2024-2025 budget, Gov. DeWine proposed including more money for the Fair School Funding Plan. He also recommended expanding eligibility for private school vouchers and increasing spending for economically disadvantaged students who attend charter schools.\r\n\r\nOhio's public school system serves approximately 1.7 million students. In recent years, schools have faced an array of challenges and are still dealing with the lingering effects of the pandemic.\r\n\r\nDr. Howard Fleeter has an extensive background in education funding and policy. As the owner of the research and consulting firm Howard Fleeter & Associates, he has worked with a variety of statewide organizations including Columbus City Schools, Educational Service Center Of Central Ohio, Ohio Alliance For Arts Education, and the Ohio Department Of Education. Dr. Fleeter is also a research consultant for the Ohio Education Policy Institute which provides non-partisan data and analysis on state issues regarding education and tax policy.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as Dr. Howard Fleeter discusses the proposed biennial budget, the state\'s plans for school funding, and what it means for educators and students.

After covering police shootings of Black people across the country in his 2016 debut, "They Can't Kill Us All," in his second book, Wesley Lowery tackles the rise of white supremacy and its often violent consequences.\r\n\r\nMany in the nation cheered the election of Barack Obama and the significance it meant for racial progress in the U.S. But as Lowery explains in American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress, Obama's election also led to increased instances of racial violence. He draws a direct line between the rise of white power in America and the election of Donald Trump. Utilizing his background and skills as a journalist, Lowery analyzes the effects of white supremacy through a historical and present day lens-all while searching for a way forward.\r\n\r\nLowery is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who previously worked for The Washington Post. He is currently a contributing editor at The Marshall Project and a journalist-in-residence at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at City University of New York.\r\n\r\nJoin us for a conversation about racial progress and white supremacy with Shaker Heights native Wesley Lowery as he visits The City Club again.

In the United States, 22 percent of Americans live in places that authorize medical aid in dying. But as more states consider-and pass-legislation that supports the practice, confusion and hurdles remain. In 2015, author and anthropologist Anita Hannig began researching medical aid-in-dying in the United States. She spent hundreds of hours speaking with doctors, patients, and lawmakers across the country. The results of Hannig's long-term project are laid out in her latest book, The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America. Combining extensive research with personal narratives, Hannig goes beyond the surface-level polarization to offer a deeper, more nuanced assessment of a social issue that will continue to affect more Americans.\r\n\r\nThe Day I Die was a nonfiction finalist for the 2023 Oregon Book Awards. The State Library of Oregon also selected the title to represent the Oregon Center for the Book at the National Book Festival in Washington D.C.\r\n\r\nPreviously, Hannig served as an associate professor of anthropology at Brandeis University. Her first book, Beyond Surgery: Injury, Healing, and Religion at an Ethiopian Hospital, was awarded the 2018 Eileen Basker Memorial Prize from the Society for Medical Anthropology.

In recent years, Cleveland has welcomed several major sporting events, from the 2021 NFL draft to last year's NBA All-Star game. In 2022 alone, the city hosted 10 national sporting events, which brought in $155.1 million to the local economy. Next year the top collegiate women's basketball teams will come to Cleveland to compete in the NCAA Women's Final Four.\r\n\r\nCleveland previously hosted the Women's Final Four in 2007 when the University of Tennessee won its seventh championship. The year was a momentous one for women in sports as it marked the 35th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in any education program that receives federal funding. More than 25,000 people visited Cleveland during the 2007 Women's Final Four, bringing $10.7 million to the region. The city, led by the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, is preparing for next year's tournament, which is sure to make an even greater impact.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club for a forum highlighting the evolution of women's basketball in Cleveland. The panel will examine the past, celebrate the present, and look toward the future of women\'s basketball, all while focusing on gender equity and the need for continued representation within the sport.