Over 100 attendees joined us at the Village Well Books & Coffee for a Community Book Discussion on The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. Supervisor Mitchell and Jasmine D. Hill, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Sociology at UCLA led a conversation on key themes from the book, including how racism hurts everyone and the importance of uplifting groups that have historically been impacted by unjust policies.

Together in small groups we strategized policy solutions to address the inequities in our communities on topics including the student debt crisis, the foreclosure crisis, poverty alleviation, healthcare access, redlining, workers’ rights, environmental justice and voting rights.

Discussion groups were led by Aissa Conchola Banez, Policy Director at Student Borrower Protection Center, Rafael Carbajal, Director of the Department of Consumer & Business Affairs, Kristin Meza, Poverty Alleviation Initiative Executive Director, Professor Vickie Mays of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Carolina Bhalla of the USC Price Center for Social Innovation, Gregory Lewis of the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, Fernando Gaytan from Earth Justice, and Sonni Waknin of the UCLA Voting Rights Project.