Boston, April 4: MAP Report Release
The Multidimensional Aspects of Poverty research, which was conducted from 2016 to 2019 in six areas across the United States, sought to determine the various aspects of poverty as lived by people in poverty. Based on an innovative approach, people in poverty, academics, and social workers teamed up to design and implement this project, and to analyze the data together.
The result is a groundbreaking new look at poverty in the United States. But it is just the beginning. Join us for an evening of presentations and discussion to learn more and to share your own thoughts and ideas. A full list of speakers is coming soon.
Poverty is created by all of us. Together, we can end it.
6:30 - 7:30 p.m.: Presentations
7:30 - 8:00 p.m.: Q&A
Light refreshments will be served. Metered parking is available on Kirkland and surrounding streets, 8am-8pm. The closest parking garages are on Holyoke St. or Eliot St. (opposite Harvard Kennedy School of Government), both in Harvard Square and a 10 minute walk to William James Hall.
Speakers (partial list):
Rosa Almanza, is director of the family shelter at Project Hope. Rosa first came to Project Hope as a shelter resident in 1984. She lived at the shelter for 6 months with her infant son. After she moved, she began her career in Human Services. She was hired as front line staff at the Project Hope Shelter in 1988, and became the Director of the Shelter in 2008. She has completed over 2 years towards a Bachelor's degree in Human Services at UMass Boston. She has served on the Board of Homes for Families for over 20 years and also serves on the Board of the Little Sisters of the Assumption in Mission and has been an active layperson with the Little Sisters of the Assumption for many years.
Maryann Broxton of ATD Fourth World is co-director of the US branch of the international Multidimensional Aspects of Poverty research. A Boston native and graduate of Lesley University, her first-hand experience of poverty has combined with her academic experience to give her a unique approach to the study of poverty in America. For several years now Maryann has been writing and speaking about the MAP research and on the importance of changing our understanding of poverty in order to fight poverty, including joining economist Jeffrey Sachs on a panel at the United Nations High Level Political Forum in 2018 and giving guest lectures at Columbia University, Merrimack College, and Fordham University.
Marlon A. Wallen is a member of the Multidimensional Aspects of Poverty project national research team. Born in Trinidad, Marlon emigrated to the United States in 1988. Diagnosed with HIV in 1990, he has since been a strong advocate for the LGBTQ community and the fight against HIV/AIDS. Marlon served on the Title I Planning Council for the Ryan White CARE Act, a Federal law which funds treatment, care, and prevention for people living withHIV/AIDS. He has also been involved with MAP for Health, a community-based, nonprofit organization that works to improve healthcare access, disease prevention and service delivery for the Asian and Pacific Island community in Massachusetts. In 1999 Mr. Wallen was selected for the HIVSTOPSWITHME multimedia campaign, not only because of his role in the LGBTQ community as a gay man but also for his activism as an immigrant of color, addressing the stigma and shame of being gay and HIV positive. In 2009 he became a Constituent Advisor for the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts to contribute with his first-hand experience on homelessness, discrimination, abuse andHIV to the elaboration of inclusive and sustainable social policies.
Christopher Winship is the Diker-Tishman Professor of Sociology at Harvard University and a member of the senior faculty at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He is a faculty associate of the Institute for QuantitativeSocial Science, the program in Criminal Justice, the Ph.D. program in Organizational Behavior, the Center for Public Leadership, the Safra Center for Ethics, and the Program in Social Inequality. With his former student, Steve Morgan, he wrote Counterfactuals and Causal Inference: Methods and Principles for Social Research.