After eight years during which science and innovation took a backseat to politics and ideology, the Obama administration has ushered in a new era. In that spirit, please join us for a celebration of the release of Science Next: Innovation for the Common Good. This is the informed citizen's essential guide to science policy: an accessible compendium of essays on how public knowledge and understanding of science as an engine of progress will reveal solutions to today's most pressing problems, including climate change, national security, and the need for access to affordable health care. Join us for a discussion of how science and technology policy improves the lives of all Americans, and shouldn’t just be the domain of beltway insiders. After all, "wonk" spelled backwards is "know."

Copies of Science Next will be available for purchase.

Entrepreneurial ventures such as The New Teacher Project, New Leaders for New Schools, and the KIPP Academies are expanding the boundaries of traditional education models by creating innovative frameworks for schooling. Yet federal and state regulations and policies can often hinder rather than support the growth of education innovations. These barriers must be removed to better serve American students.

A new report by the American Enterprise Institute, the Center for American Progress, New Profit Inc., and Public Impact offers politically viable solutions to these challenges. At this event, entrepreneurs will share their experience in changing the traditional education landscape and, together with education policy experts, offer their perspective on how federal and state policy can better support the success and growth of innovations in education.

Health insurance policies are complex and consumers cannot always obtain key information about how coverage works. And with many health insurance policies, consumers may face financial risks they do not anticipate.

As policymakers consider national health reform proposals designed to improve the health insurance market for individuals and small businesses, one key question is likely to be how to ensure transparency of information on health insurance policy designs, and consumers' potential financial exposure.

Karen Pollitz, a nationally recognized health insurance expert, has recently compared the adequacy and transparency of health insurance policies in California and Massachusetts. A summary of this research will be released at this event. Her work not only highlights the risks that consumers unknowingly assume today, but also provides lessons for policymakers who seek to build a functioning health insurance marketplace.

The new administration faces profound challenges in antitrust and competition policy. The Bush administration adhered to a minimalist approach based on the "Chicago School" theory that government regulation more often makes mistakes and the self-correction of private markets almost always leads to the best result. The collapse of the U.S. and global economies challenges this fundamental premise on many fronts, not the least of which is antitrust. But it also leads to calls to weaken antitrust standards to sustain distressed industries.

In light of these profound issues, what should the Obama administration's competition policy and antitrust enforcement agenda look like?

Newly confirmed Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney will offer her preliminary thoughts on the challenges ahead for and objectives of the new administration in antitrust, followed by a panel of distinguished experts.

"The Least of These" explores one of the most controversial aspects of American immigration policy: family detention.

The film explores the government rationale for family detention, conditions at the facility, collateral damage, and the role - and limits - of community activism in bringing change. The film leads viewers to consider how core American rights and values - presumption of innocence, the protection of children, upholding the family structure as the basic unit of civil society, and America as a refuge of last resort - should apply to immigrants, particularly children.

Amid strapped state and local budgets and a weak national economy, some states and districts have responded to their budget woes by shortening the school week, laying off teachers, and withholding resources from innovative education reforms. Often, these decisions have been made with little regard to their impact on student achievement. Instead, the scarcity of resources should provide an opportunity to prioritize and make investments in strategies and reforms that are likely to yield positive academic outcomes in the long-term.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act offers an unprecedented opportunity to encourage bold, innovative education reforms that will bolster and strengthen America's economic future. Strategic investments include initiatives that will support high quality instruction in the classroom and the hiring and retaining of effective teachers; school improvement strategies, such as expanded learning time, to help turn around struggling schools; and promising new models, such as early college high schools, to redesign American high schools and better prepare students for college and the workforce.

Join the Center for American Progress in an event to take stock of the current opportunities in education reform and discuss how strategic allocations of resources can lead to long-term education and economic growth. Speakers will discuss viable ways to use stimulus funds for reform, strategies to improve our schools, and how we can make sure highly effective teachers are in the places we need them most. In addition, several new reports related to expanded learning time and performance-based compensation for teachers will be released.

“Could improved health for people and planet be as simple as eating fewer animals, less junk food, and super-refined carbohydrates?” The answer is an emphatic yes, says Mark Bittman, a New York Times columnist and best-selling author of How to Cook Everything. This lifestyle choice “could help you lose weight, reduce your risk of many long-term or chronic diseases, save you real money, and help stop global warming.”

The addition of the White House garden offers a unique opportunity to educate Americans on the nutritional and environmental value of locally grown and organic food.  Acclaimed chef José Andrés has made it his personal mission to appeal to President Barack Obama about making nutrition education a mandatory part of elementary through high school curriculums.

Please join the Center for American Progress as both chefs discuss food and nutrition, energy consumption, and sustainability.

Copies of Made in Spain, Food Matters, and How to Cook Everything will be available for purchase at the event.

The United States is the largest national donor of foreign aid in the world. It is also engaged in two major wars that require development assistance, and faces a variety of challenges around the world that demand effective responses.

But it does not have a comprehensive, coherent strategy to guide its development assistance programs. With the advent of a new administration, it's time to have a serious discussion about a National Strategy for Global Development.

The Sustainable Security Program at the Center for American Progress has written a National Strategy for Global Development, which it hopes will spark debate. The authors of the document, Dr. Reuben E. Brigety, II and Sabina Dewan, will discuss their proposal for an NSGD at this event. They will be joined by Mr. James Kunder, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund and former acting deputy administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

President Barack Obama has set a bold goal that, by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion in college graduates in the world, arguing that every American should have access to at least one year of postsecondary education.

Given the population growth rates and the size of the U.S. workforce, attaining the president’s goal will require assistance for many Americans who have not traditionally completed postsecondary credentials. This will mean an "affordability plus" approach that invests in preparing colleges and universities to provide quality education experiences that help working Americans, underserved youth and under-prepared populations actually succeed in college and obtain a credential of value to employers. There will have to be new approaches to teaching and learning, technology and partnerships that reach beyond the walls of higher education and engage the workforce system, business, unions and community organizations.

Please join the Center for American Progress and key thought leaders on postsecondary attainment as we explore opportunities and challenges of meeting the president's challenge to increase the number of Americans with postsecondary credentials.

In the same way charismatic individuals attract followers, charismatic organizations draw dedicated donors and committed champions. These groups don't depend on charismatic leaders - rather, they strengthen their core and build strong networks of support within and around themselves.

In The Charismatic Organization, experts Shirley Sagawa and Deborah Jospin show nonprofits of all types how to restructure their organizations, internally and externally, to become more charismatic—and more effective.

At this book event, co-authors Shirley Sagawa and Deb Jospin will share their research on "charismatic organizations" and how to apply these lessons even during an economic downturn.

Copies of The Charismatic Organzation will be available for purchase at the event.