FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jillian Wheeler

(202) 224-3616

April 29th, 2019

***PLEASE RSVP TO JILLIAN WHEELER BY EOB TODAY (4/29) IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND***

 

JEC To Hold Inaugural Hearing on Expanding Opportunity

WHAT:           Hearing on “The Wealth of Relations: Expanding Opportunity by Strengthening Families, 
                      Communities, and Civil Society”

WHEN:           10:00 a.m., Tuesday, April 30, 2019

WHERE:         216 Hart Senate Office Building            

WHO:             Dr. Nathaniel Hendren, Professor of Economics and Founding Co-Director of Opportunity Insights
                      Harvard University
                      Cambridge, MA

                      Dr. Ryan Streeter, Director of Domestic Policy Studies
                      American Enterprise Institute
                      Washington, DC

                      Mr. José A. Quiñonez, Founder and CEO
                      Mission Asset Fund
                      San Francisco, CA

                      Dr. Patrick Sharkey, Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department
                      New York University
                      New York, NY

Chairman Mike Lee (R-UT) will preside. 

Background:  For two years, the Social Capital Project has documented trends in associational life—what we do
                      together—and its distribution across the country. Now the Project is kicking off its new policy-
                      focused phase with the first JEC hearing under Chairman Mike Lee. The hearing will explore the
                      importance of social capital in promoting opportunity and consider policies to build social capital
                      toward that end.
                      Social capital refers to the valuable aspects of our relationships and constitutes a form of wealth
                      alongside financial, physical, and human capital. Who we know, the institutions to which we are
                      connected, and what they can do for us are obviously related to economic outcomes. Just as
                      obviously, economic precursors affect the social wealth of individuals and communities.

An online version of this advisory can be found here.