Munk School International Institute on Social Policy

Hope, Despair, and Divided Futures in America and Beyond:

Can Wellbeing Science Save us from Despair?

Much attention has been paid to the despair that has been wrought by the disruptive social and economic changes of the past few decades. But less attention has been paid to its inverse: the essential role of hope in engendering resilience in both individuals and communities. Carol Graham brings the tools of economics together with a close exploration of reported experience to addressing the “power of hope” and the role of social policy in providing the resources to support and sustain confidence that a belief that “one can make one’s life better."

Carol Graham, Senior Fellow, Economics, Brookings Institution and College Park Professor at the University of Maryland

Moderator: Dan Zuberi, Professor of Social Policy, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto

followed by a reception 

Breakfast

• Stefano Scarpetta, Director, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, OECD 
• Andrew Parkin, Executive Director, Environics Institute 
• Kelly Foley, Associate Professor, Economics, University of Saskatchewan

• Moderator: Paul Thompson, Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada

• Mike Moffatt, Senior Director of Policy and Innovation, Smart Prosperity Institute and Assistant Professor, Ivey Business School, Western University

• Ito Peng, Director, Centre for Global Social Policy and Professor, Department of Sociology and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto

• Christopher T. Wimer, Co-Director, Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Columbia University
• Moderator: Catherine Adam, Senior ADM Strategic and Service Policy, Employment and Social Development Canada, Government of Canada

Coffee break

• Josh Hjartarson, Global Leader for the Human and Social Services, Deloitte Inc., and National Leader for the Human and Social Services, Deloitte Canada

• Dr. Arif Jehta, Associate Scientific Director and Scientist, Institute for Work & Health and Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto

• Nathan Wilmers, Sarofim Family Career Development Associate Professor and Associate Professor of Work and Organization Studies, MIT Sloan School of Management

• Moderator: Karen Myers, President and CEO, Blueprint

Lunch break.

• Luke Shaefer, Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy and Professor of Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan

• Arjumand Siddiqi, Canada Research Chair in Population Health Equity and Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto

• Michael Stepner, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Toronto and a Research Principal at Opportunity Insights, Harvard University
• Moderator: Anita Stellinga, Vice President, Corporate Communications & Public Policy and Corporate Secretary, United Way of Greater Toronto

Coffee Break

• Michael Donnelly, Associate Professor, Political Science and Munk School, and Director, Professional Master's Programs, Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto
• Alan M. Jacobs, Head of Department and Professor, Political Science, University of British Columbia
• Jennifer Robson, Associate Professor, Public Management, Carleton University
• Moderator: Carolyn Tuohy, Professor Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow, Department of Political Science and Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy

Summary of the day's proceedings.