The Community's Conversation

What's in store for Central Ohio's economy in 2024? Inflation seems to be coming under control, and is well off its summer 2022 highs, yet the region's labor market remains incredibly tight, with just 3.3% unemployment in October 2023. While the local economy appears to be booming from some perspectives, many residents are feeling left behind and left out. Will Central Ohio's string of economic successes continue, or will the economy succumb to the slower growth and possible recession that many expect? This forum features the 25th annual official release of the Regionomics Columbus Economic Forecast and unpacks what the year ahead looks like for Central Ohio's economy from a panel of leading experts.

The panelists are: Ben Ayers, Senior Economist, Nationwide Insurance

Joyce Chen, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies, The Ohio State University

Bill LaFayette, Ph.D., Owner, Regionomics

The host is host Mark Williams, Business Reporter, The Columbus Dispatch

This forum was sponsored by Fifth Third Bank, The Robert Weiler Company, The United Way of Central Ohio, Ian Alexander Photography, and The Columbus Partnership.

The forum was supported by The Ellis and by The Columbus Dispatch. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on January 3, 2024.

Now, just as Downtown Columbus' South Side experiences a reawakening, a massive project is underway to reconnect two of the area's most historic neighborhoods — German Village and the Brewery District — to the heart of the city.

Columbus has done it successfully before. Years ago, I-670 bulldozed a 200-foot-wide corridor through the city's historic core, separating the Short North and Downtown. In 2004, the "Cap at Union Station" effectively reconnected the Short North back to Downtown with wide sidewalks and restaurants built over the highway below, setting the stage for the neighborhood's spectacular revitalization.

Next up: German Village and the Brewery District will be rejoined to downtown by three new freeway caps, one each on Third, Fourth, and High Streets. The High Street cap will feature park space on either side of the roadway, with the Third Street cap wide enough to accommodate retail spaces and restaurants like its Short North cousin.

It could be the cherry on top of massive investments in recent years to bring the Brewery District back to its former glory — and even more recent efforts to bring Downtown's south edge back to life with everything from a new county office to renovated commercial and residential spaces to popular restaurants and cafes.

Join us as we explore Columbus's massive – not to mention risky and expensive – efforts to rejoin and reconnect its historic neighborhoods together again.

Featuring panelists: Bhakti Bania, CEO, BBCO Design Chris Hermann, Principal, MKSK Thomas Slack, Administrator, Capital Programs, Ohio Department of Transportation Benjamin Perryman, Endangered Properties Fund Director, Columbus Landmarks Foundation Chris Hune, Immediate Past President, German Village Society The host is Mark Ferenchik, Columbus Neighborhoods/Urban Issues Reporter, The Columbus Dispatch.

CMC's "Developing a Dynamic Downtown" series is presented by The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation and Capitol South and sponsored by Thompson Hine.

This forum was sponsored by The Harrison Smith Legacy in Civic Engagement Fund - Recognizing Excellence in Downtown Development, Smith and Hale, The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, and MKSK.

The forum was supported by The Ellis and by The Columbus Dispatch. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on December 13, 2023.

Donna James is among Ohio's most successful and admired executives. Her current challenge may be among the most significant of her accomplished career: helping a storied Ohio-based global fashion and style icon re-imagine and re-invent itself after decades of both astounding growth and calls for change.

As board chair of Victoria's Secret & Co., James is helping set the VS&Co. ship on a new course toward greater inclusivity while working to win over new generations of younger customers who have their own diverse definitions of beauty.

This CMC forum features an in-depth conversation with Donna James and VS&Co.'s Chief Diversity Officer, Lydia Smith, plus industry expert Kimberly Minor as moderator. We reflect on career journeys and dive into the challenge of setting a globally-recognized brand up for success with a new generation of customers in an ever-changing fashion world.

Featuring Donna James, Board Chair, Victoria's Secret & Co., and Managing Director, Lardon & Associates LLC, and Lydia Smith, Chief Diversity Officer, Victoria's Secret & Co., with host Kimberly Minor, CEO, Bumbershoot, LLC.

This CMC forum was sponsored by The United Way of Central Ohio, RAMA Consulting, and Crabbe, Brown, and James, with support from The Ellis.

The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

It was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on December 6, 2023.

Author Richard Kahlenberg's new book offers an indictment of America's housing policy by revealing the social engineering underlying our segregation by economic class, the social and political fallout that result, and what we can do about it.

His new book, Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don't See, published in 2023 by PublicAffairs, closely examines America's "new redlining," restrictive single-family zoning that carefully controls what types of housing can be built and where.

While ostensibly created to maintain good qualities in neighborhoods, single-family zoning has instead been used to steadily inflate property values and is greatly exacerbating America's deepening housing crisis and economic inequality. Kahlenberg's new book shows that housing choice has been socially engineered to the benefit of the affluent, and that the most restrictive zoning is often found in politically liberal cities where racial views are progressive.

We unpack the nationwide implications of single-family zoning and zoom in on Columbus for an exploration of how exclusive zoning in Central Ohio is shutting thousands out from the benefits of home ownership.

Featuring Richard D. Kahlenberg, Non-Resident Scholar, Center on Education and Workforce, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University, Senior Fellow, Progressive Policy Institute, Professorial Lecturer, Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington University, and Author, Excluded: How Snob Zoning, NIMBYism, and Class Bias Build the Walls We Don't See; Shayla Favor, Member, Columbus City Council; Tehani Mesa-Morales, SHRM-CP, Families Flourish Program Graduate, and Human Resources Generalist, ViaQuest, Inc.; and moderator Amy Klaben. President & CEO, Families Flourish.

This forum was sponsored by Central Ohio Community Improvement Corporation, The Robert Weiler Company, and Homeport. It was supported by The Ellis.

The forum livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

It was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on November 29, 2023.

It's the leading cause of cancer death in the United States – and it's treatable: lung cancer kills some 127,000 people annually in the U.S., but it's not a hopeless disease, and in fact, can often be treated if detected early.

While treatments continue to improve with breakthrough "targeted" therapies, it's early detection that could prevent enormous numbers of lung cancer deaths. But screening rates for lung cancers remain significantly lower than for other cancers, and according to a new Stanford Medicine study, they're disproportionally failing minority populations, including African Americans.

What's the key to beating lung cancer in the U.S. and around the world? What are the racial disparities in lung cancer detection and treatment, and how can these disparities be addressed?

For Lung Cancer Awareness and National Smoking Cessation Month, we welcome two Ohio-based global leaders in lung cancer research to unpack the causes, examine groundbreaking detection strategies for – and new targeted treatments of – America's number one cancer killer. Featuring David P. Carbone, MD, PhD, Barbara J. Bonner Chair in Lung Cancer Research, Director, James Thoracic Center, and Co-Leader, Translational Therapeutics Program, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center; Jasleen Pannu, MMBS, Director of Interventional Pulmonary Translational Research at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; with moderator Cierra Johnson, Anchor and Reporter, WCMH NBC4. CMC's Optimal Health Series is presented by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children's Hospital. This forum was sponsored by AstraZeneca, CareSource, and Cardinal Health.

The forum livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

It was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on November 15, 2023.

Every U.S. election now feels like a litmus test for the health and future of American democracy, and this year is no exception.

On November 7, Ohioans took to the polls by the millions to decide key issues, including overwhelmingly approving both an amendment to the Ohio constitution to enshrine reproductive rights and a statute to legalize recreational marijuana for adults. Columbus voters elected City Councilmembers, retruned an incumbant Mayor to office, and approved funding levies for Columbus City Schools and the Columbus Metropolitan Library.

With a diverse panel of experts, we dive into an analysis of the 2023 election results, look at what the future might hold after Ohio's voters have spoken, and check in on the health of American democracy. Featuring Haley BeMiller, Political Reporter, USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau; Wendy Smooth, Ph.D. Professor of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies and Senior Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence, The Ohio State University; Meredith Freedhoff, Chairwoman, Franklin County Republican Party; Julie Womack, Head of Organizing, Red, Wine, & Blue; and moderator Julie Carr Smyth, Government & Politics Reporter, The Associated Press.

This forum was sponsored by G2G Consulting. The forum partner was The League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus, with support from The Columbus Dispatch and The Ellis.

The forum livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

It was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on November 8, 2023.

If it looks like Millennials are everywhere, they are. In fact, Millennials are now America's largest generation, surpassing the vaunted Baby Boomer generation as far back as 2019 in terms of sheer size, and the gap widens every year. If you know anyone between roughly the ages of 27 and 42 today, you know a Millennial, defined as anyone born generally between 1981 and 1996.

With so many Millennials, you might expect to find more in the halls of power as elected officials, but Baby Boomers have been hard to convince to step down or retire to make way for younger leaders, a fact not lost on many voters. As reported in August by Axios Columbus, Baby Boomers between make up about half of Congressional representatives, even though Boomers now are just 21% of the American population, and the ratio for Ohio's federal lawmakers is even more lopsided in favor of Boomers.

But there are Millennial lawmakers to be found in Ohio's State House, and we're joined by a panel of State House representatives to hear what's on their minds and how politics – and the country – might change once the Baby Boomers step off America's political stage.

Featuring Representative Dontavius Jarrells, 1st District, Ohio House of Representatives, Representative Thomas Hall, 45th District, Ohio House of Representatives, Representative Latyna Humphrey, 2nd District, Ohio House of Representatives, and Representative Nick Santucci, 64th District, Ohio House of Representatives, with host Anna Staver, Host, All Sides with Anna Staver, WOSU Public Media.

This forum was sponsored by CivicPoint and WOSU Public Media. The forum partner was The League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus. It was supported by The Ellis.

The forum livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

It was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on November 1, 2023.

In Ohio, cities that have attempted to enact their own gun control regulations have run up against a brick wall where municipal "home rule" – and their governing authority – ends abruptly. Ohio's legislature and courts have blocked cities' local efforts at gun control, citing the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment. Should Ohio cities have the right to take up gun control measures to reduce shootings and address other issues when the State and others see such measures as conflicting with the U.S. Constitution's right to bear arms?

Municipal home rule has been around in Ohio a long time – since 1912 – when 58% of the state's voters approved giving cities greater self-control by adding a "home rule" article to the state's Constitution. It stated:

'[M]unicipalities shall have authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within their limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws." The Ohio State Constitution, Article XVIII, Section 3 (1912)

But new revisions championed by the State legislature in 2019 and 2022 to Ohio's Revised Code began to chip away at home rule. The revisions restricted Ohio cities from enacting their own gun control laws – essentially a ban on bans. The revisions have shackled Ohio cities from acting to tackle endemic gun violence. The justification? The U.S. Constitution – plus Ohio's own – spells out gun rights that cities can't pre-empt.

The public clearly wants action to curb gun violence: polling data by The Columbus Dispatch shows Ohioans on both sides of the political spectrum overwhelmingly want at least limited statewide gun control measures.

What happens next? If gun control advocates can't overcome Ohio's "home rule" barrier and reduce gun violence through local ordinances, will they try for a new statewide constitutional amendment? Did the defeat of a plan to make it harder to amend Ohio's constitution open the door more widely for new citizen-led statewide gun control efforts? With an expert panel, we ask: in Ohio's battle over municipal home rule, who gets to decide?

Featuring Zach Klein, Columbus City Attorney, David Tryon, Director of Litigation, The Buckeye Institute, and Thell Robinson III, Founder and CEO, Halt Violence, and Amelia Robinson, Opinion and Community Engagement Editor, The Columbus Dispatch, with Clare Roth, Managing Editor, The Ohio Newsroom.

This forum was sponsored by The Ohio Mayors Alliance and Bricker Graydon LLP. The forum partner was The League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus, with support from The Ellis.

The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch. This forum was recorded on October 25, 2023 before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village.

The lives of LGBTQ+ Americans are under greater threat in 2023 than at any point in the country's recent past. This summer, the Human Rights Campaign declared a "state of emergency" for LGBTQ+ people in America. The rights of parents to make gender-confirming decisions for their children, of drag artists to perform and for venues to host drag performances, and bans on school employees from discussing gender and sexuality with students are under currently attack through proposed legislation.

Simultaneously, the flames of anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment are being fanned by calls for violence by far-right hate groups. Some Ohio lawmakers are also going on the offensive, recently introducing HB 245, which could charge drag performers with a felony if a juvenile is in attendance of a drag performance or the performance is considered "obscene."

How can anti-LGBTQ+ legislation co-exist with U.S. constitutional rights? Could passage of a Federal Equality Act explicitly prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ+ people serve to protect lives and rights of the LGBTQ+ community?

Our panelists are:

Khris Goins, President and Founder, Black Transmen of Ohio

J. Bennett Guess, Executive Director, ACLU of Ohio

Amanda Erickson, Director of Education & Outreach, Kaleidoscope Youth Center

Chris Equizi, Creator and Performer of Virginia West, and Show Director for District West

Our host is Ronald Murray, Associate Director of Health Advocacy, Equitas Health

This forum was sponsored by The Lynn Greer Legacy in Civic Engagement Fund, which celebrates inclusion and equity for the LGBTQ+ community, The United Way of Central Ohio, and Huckleberry House.

It was supported by The Ellis.

The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and by The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on October 18, 2023.

What's on the minds of Central Ohio's Gen Z girls, and where will they take America? Generation Z – the Zoomers – were born after 1996. The oldest of this rising generation has just graduated from college, and the youngest are now entering their teenage years, having been born just as Barack Obama entered the White House.

Their formative years have been shaped by a global pandemic and the tumult of a divided America. Studies have shown that Gen Z embraces strong values rooted in a passion for racial justice, a deep concern for the planet and environmental sustainability, and as consumers, favor access as much as (or more than) ownership.

Zoomers are digital natives, the first generation to grow up from their earliest childhoods with an ever-present Internet and portable digital technology. They're the fastest-growing segment of the Amercian electorate and the most racially-diverse,with a non-Hispanic white majority of just 52%.

CMC turns its stage over to Central Ohio Gen Z girls for an unfiltered look at how at this rising generation sees the world, themselves, and the future.

The speakers are:

Frankie Madosky, Miss Columbus Teen USA 2023

Lillian Corpening-Morgan, Co-Chair, Black Girl Think Tank, and Honors Senior, Pickerington North High School

Mercy Cala Avila, Undergraduate Student, International Business & Chinese, The Ohio State University

Olivia Graham, High School Student-Athlete, Womanist & Advocate for Representation, Columbus School for Girls,

The host is Camille Seals, Head of School, Columbus School for Girls.

This forum featured opening remarks by Dr. Lisa Hinkelman, Founder and CEO of Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX), and closing remarks by Kennedy Watkins, recipient of the highest honor in Girl Scouting, the Gold Award.

This forum was sponsored by The Mary Lazarus Legacy in Civic Engagement Fund Celebrating Women in Society, Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX), The Girl Scouts of Ohio's Heartland, Battelle, and the YWCA Columbus.

It was supported by The Ellis.

The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on October 11, 2023.