It’s been 10 years since United Way set an ambitious goal to make the invisible visible. Hidden within every community, every age group, and every ethnicity were a growing number of workers earning above the poverty line, but less than what’s needed to survive. In a state perceived as wealthy, United Way placed a spotlight on these workers, calling them ALICE® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed).

Today with some 900,000 ALICE households in New Jersey — nearly triple the number in poverty — it’s a moral and economic imperative that we find innovative solutions that stem this growth in financial instability.

NJ Spotlight and United Ways of New Jersey teamed up on October 29 to bring together our state’s top lawmakers and thought leaders to explore how New Jersey can be a national model for change in reversing this trend.

Keynote

Michellene Davis, Esq., Executive Vice President, and Chief
Corporate Affairs Officer, RWJBarnabas Health

Capitol Conversation: A conversation exploring how and where state policy
and law can bring change.

Senator Steve Sweeney, New Jersey Senate President

Assemblyman Craig Coughlin, New Jersey Assembly Speaker

Panelists

Carol Ash, DO, MHCDS, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, RWJUH Rahway

Alfa Demmellash, CEO & Cofounder, Rising Tide Capital

William Rodgers, III, Ph.D., Professor & Chief Economist, Rutgers University
Heldrich Center for Workforce Development

Moderator

John Mooney, Founding Editor, Education Writer, NJ Spotlight

Sponsors