Weekly Update

As I’m sure the DC interns have already heard, the heat of the New York summer has finally broken. Even if this milder weather doesn’t last, it is a welcome respite from the heat and humidity of the last (what seems like) month. So it’s nice for once to wake up to a breezy Saturday, with sunshine, but no threat of a 100+ heat index.

On to the internship update:

Like many of you, my internship will be wrapping up soon. In the last week, we have sent out our August newsletter, attended two cleantech related events, and have continued to interact with and assess the health of the cleantech community in NYC. For the newsletter, as I’ve probably mentioned in an earlier post, I gathered a list of upcoming events, grant/competitions, key job openings relevant to the sector in NYC. Another intern configured these into a digital newsletter layout, and then as a team we edited the content and format.  We are tracking the subscription and performance (open rate) of the newsletter, and thus far it has continued to do well in both categories (i.e. people are interested in signing up for it and our open rates are consistently above average within our industry).

With regards to the networking events, the first was a less targeted event (greater Environmental community in NYC) whereas the second focused closer to our target area (green businesses/entrepeneurs). I think both events went well and were useful to the organization by way of building recognition (for a lack of a better term “brand awareness” may be a synonym here) for the services that we provide. Collectively, between the two events, I met two new organizations that we’ve not worked with in the past and who we may collaborate with on future events; two organizations that may be able to provide services (i.e. volunteers/interns/in-kind support); and two entrepeneurs who may apply to the incubator in the near future. Beyond the people who spoke with me directly, we also gained a few newsletter subscribers in addition to our  services mentioned as a resource during the event as well as having our information available for those who wanted to learn more.  

In terms of the last task I mentioned above, interacting with and assessing the health of the cleantech sector in NYC,  I spent a few days collecting data on existing cleantech/green startups located within NYC.  To make this more efficient, I looked for directories of startups as well as maps of cleantech businesses/startups across the country.  I learned that another organization affiliated with the Economic Development Corp. will be launching this kind of map (for the greater entrepreneurship community) in NYC shortly. Interestingly, I learned of this project after having posed the question to our followers on one of our social media channels.   It was great to see the number and quality of responses the question received.  Social media continues to inspire me in the ways that we can use it to harness both collective knowledge but also to network and get tangible results (I think I will elaborate on this in my final report that we need to submit).  Another tool I’ve been using is an investment tracking report that tracks the location, number, sector and size of investment deals completed during each quarter. In this way, I can at least have one metric to measure how the cleantech sector is doing in the country, in New York (as compared to CA and MA … its rivals when it comes to VC funding),  and which sub-sectors are receiving more private money (ie. wind vs solar, etc). It is certainly not the “end all and be all” of data metrics in terms of assessing the health of a sector, but it does give us at least some perspective into funding and financing patterns. The assessment task will likely continue into next week as well.

I think I’ll wrap up here for today.  I look forward to reading about your experiences.

Oh, and by the way, a question about the blog.  For some reason, the timestamp on this draft (right below where I am typing it) reads “Draft saved at 4:34:48 pm”, but in reality it is only 12:34pm EST.  Is anyone else experiencing this too? Perhaps the time zone for the blog is not set to EST?  I checked my account’s time zone and it’s set to NY. Hm.. well in any case, if any one has any ideas let me know. Thanks!

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Wrapping Up

I can’t believe it’s gone by so quickly. I have less than 2 weeks of work left. My boss left on vacation this week, which is only a problem when I come across a situation in the records that I haven’t seen before. As luck would have it, the closer I get to the present (I’m researching the files chronologically), the more standardized the files get. Also good luck – my boss presented me with a number of names, emails and phone numbers to contact if different problems present themselves. These are outside (of this office) individuals who are big names in the field of low-income housing. Connections! I think I will have at least one well-considered question for each of them. In any case, things are going well and it’s definitely become clear to me that I will finish the research with enough time to have a nice analysis to present to my boss the day he’s back from vaca. Lucky him.

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Part 3: ADA Celebration

The celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) continued from last week into this week. NDRN is most proud because one of their interns, Adrian Villalobos, had the opportunity to testify before Congress in the Committee of the Judiciary in celebration of the ADA’s progress and commitment to improving the lives of people with disabilities. It was his chance to voice his life experiences growing up with the ADA and his opinion on the progress of the ADA. He did so eloquently and moved everyone who listened.

Adrian\'s testimony
Adrian\'s answer to Congresswoman Jackson Lee

Here is his written Testimony: http://www.judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/Villalobos100722.pdf

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Part 2: Week Summary

Continuing from before…

The NMEP had been an informative training conference about the upcoming changes to Medicare. However, there could have been more dialogue on Medicare for people with disabilities under the age of 65. There was barely any mention of how Medicare could better serve these people that make up about 14% of Medicare beneficiaries. At this meeting, hundreds of national and local organizations were present. A discussion on the new changes to Medicare for people with disabillities would have been beneficial.

Especially because people with disabilities are more likely to have conditions that make health care a priority. Most tend to have low incomes and limited education: “43% have incomes lower than $10,000 a year, and 36% have not graduated from high school.” These percentages are much higher than those of over-age-65 beneficiaries. They are also less likely to be able to afford the medical and support services that they require. Educational programs and support for people with disabilities are necessary to provide information on the benefits they are entitled to and ensure that they actually receive these benefits.

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Conference week

The conference that I have worked on since the day I arrived is this Friday; Gender Mainstreaming: Justice for All is the name, and I will play rapporteur to the conference, recording throughout the weekend.

After a meeting last night, four of us were able to come up with a final preamble and “declaration” that focuses on realistic state-wide resolutions (as well as some federal recommendations) to deliberate upon during the conference and ultimately become recommendations for the state. The declaration, comprising three arenas, economics, governance (politics), and social policy, range from specificities such as state obligations to adhere to a code of sexual harassment, to more broad recommendations like urging the state to provide “adequate subsidies for poor households to offset the burden of care and ensure equitable standards of living.”

The days have flown by, and I almost forgot the conference was this week because I have worked on other things like a souvenir book for WCC’s 25^th anniversary. I finished up a brief history and some quotes to sell in advertising space. I’ll leave you with this little gem:

“Feminism is a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians.” –Pat Robertson

That’s not going in the book, but that guy is insane. Until next week…

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Fifth and Sixth Weeks

The past two weeks I was busy attending meetings and preparing for a big presentation to the CEO.

I also attended an event at the Time Warner Center hosted by Philanthropy NY. The event speakers discussed the new education standards implemented by New York State. New York State Education Commissioner David Steiner was the keynote speaker, explaining the new Common Core Standards in English and mathematics. These are new national standards which states are not required to adopt, but several states are embracing due to increased chances for Race to the Top funding. It is the first time that the United States is trying to move towards national standards, and is one of the few industrial/developed countries without them.

My presentation to the CEO was well received. I was asked to prepare a PowerPoint and speak about the policy problem and recommendations I worked on so far. My subject is not super exciting, so I was pleasantly surprised when the senior staff and the CEO did not fall asleep I explained the rising costs and current funding streams for early childhood education. They asked questions about budget advocacy and the benefits of early childhood education.
There is a big difference between day care and early childhood education. Currently a movement exists to streamline the two, and turn daycare for 3 and 4 year olds into a structured school setting. Overall, New York State increased total appropriations towards early childhood education, but United Way wants to see more state dollars put into programs instead of increased reliance on federal money.
Lately on the federal level, there is a big interest in the overall field of education. The federal government is giving states more funding for different education programs, so there is more money devoted to education. United Way’s education department wants to advocate New York State to allot more money from their own treasury so that the general early childhood education fund continues to increase and meet rising costs and greater need.

July is moving quickly and my policy paper is almost complete! Looking forward to a starting a new project and attending some cool events in August.

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A Brief Rant

This past week thousands (if not millions) of disabled individuals celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As I went to different celebration events around DC, all I could think of was how much further the ADA has to go before persons with disabilities can comfortably feel like they are active members of society. So many buildings that able people have access to are unacceptable to those with physical disabilities. 

In many places, the ADA has been implemented but ignored. On public transportation and in public gathering places designated areas for the disabled are clearly marked, but when persons without disabilities are asked to accommodate people with disabilities they reluctantly comply  or refuse. So many places that receive federal funding are not compliant with ADA guidelines, including the NYC transit system. DC seems to be a bit more accommodating since there are elevators at every Metro station but on hot summer days many of those elevators are out of service and the nearest handicap accessable shuttle bus is miles away.

accessibility is not the only issue that has not been resolved with the implementation of the ADA. Persons with disabilities have also been secluded and isolated because of their impairments. Since they are not able to gain access to certain places, they are not able to participate in activities that we enjoy everyday.

Honestly I think that we take our ability to do things for granted. We often don’t think of the plight of others until it directly impacts us. Now that I have had the opportunity to meet individuals with disabilities and learn about their struggles I will no longer get frustrated when I have to give my seat up to someone else.

As MPA students and undergrads interested in public service I think that we should all do our part in helping to advocate for those who are left out, unheard, and sometimes simply ignored.

-Maribeth

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Week 6 and 7

There is not much to write about week 6 since nothing exciting as such happened that week. The Senate was not in session and it was a holiday week; things were slow. We at office got the liberty to wear jeans throughout the week which made us deliriously happy not because we got the opportunity to wear casuals but because we got this sadistic pleasure of wearing casuals while others wore formal..human nature

Anyway, the next week was busier than the previous one. I had meetings scheduled with AAU (Association of American Universities). It was a two day conference where issues related to education in general were discussed. Many eminent speakers from popular universities made comments on the changing political environment concerning education and made valuable suggestions on how to approach congressmen to receive grants. Discussions on the first day mostly concerned the national mood and political context related to education and results of various surveys of democrats, republicans and independents on various issues (done by Pew Research Center, Princeton Survey, etc) was presented.

The second day was more interesting for me since it covered a topic which i could understand well and was not all that technical. A major discussion took place on OMB (Office of Management and Budget). Rich Jacob- Associate vice president for Federal relations, Yale university held a session on “Understanding the office of Management and Budget” which included topics such as- what is OMB, What role does OMB plays, Why non-profits should talk to OMB and most importantly when and how one should approach OMB. Let me share the Budget development process of OMB as explained by Rich Jacob. This timeline might help others if and when they want to contact OMB.

The budget development process-

* Budget Proposal

- working on budget of FY12

-Agencies develop their proposal-winter

-sends budget guidance to agencies- may/june

-agencies submit budgets and brief OMB- sept-oct.

*OMB review

- internal review-oct-nov

*Negotiation

- OMB response (pass back)-during thanksgiving

-Settlement process- Dec to early jan

*preparation of President budget- Jan, budget sent to congress- 1st Monday in Feb.

Thereafter, he discussed about OMB’s schedule, how the OMB examiner should be approached, what should be expected out of them (and what NOT should be expected out them too), the role of OMB staff and difference in perspective-OMB vs Congress.

On the whole, a very in-depth study on OMB was done and presented to us. The conference ended with action plan and strategies to develop for competing in this difficult economic situation.

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Goal: Summarize the week

Too much has happened this week to fully summarize it, but I will try my best here.

A few weeks ago, I had attended a Medicare Education and Outreach program. There I met the AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Island) Outreach Coordinator of the CMS (Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services), Anne Avery. Noticing my interest in the new changes and development to the new Medicare programs, more specifically for people with disabilities, she introduced me to Janet Miller, who is the CMS Health Insurance Specialist for people with disabilities, and also invited me to attend their training conference, NMEP (National Medicare Education Program).

This week, I attended the NMEP meeting and am pleased to see them addressing the donut hole. Basically, when a Medicare beneficiary falls past the prescription drug coverage limit, they have to fish into their own pockets to cover the entire cost of prescription drugs until they reach the catastrophic coverage threshold.

The presenters at the NMEP say “fear not seniors” because this year they are starting an all inclusive move towards closing the donut hole. They prophesy that the donut hole will be fully closed by 2020. Over 3 million people will have some relief starting this year as they begin to receive their $250 rebate checks in the mail (in fact, about 81,000 have received it and about 300,000 or so rebate checks are waiting to be dispersed). Next year, they will receive a 50% discount on brand drugs and a 93% discount on generic brands. The amount they are responsible for will continue to decrease until 2020.

They also mentioned a lot about “Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.” Apparently, the end of fraud, waste, and abuse is part of Obama’s plan to pay for the new Medicare changes. The example they continue to throw out is the indictment of 94 people for falsely billing Medicare and cheating the government of $251 million. Fraud, waste, and abuse has existed since Medicare began, so I am worried about how much of the billions of dollars of estimated loss will be recovered to cover the additional Medicare expenses.

I would like to have been able to summarize my week here, but much more has happened and I have to run..

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Week 8

This week was spent preparing for an event that is anticipated to attract 10,000. Though we don’t think that all of the attendees will be in our target audience, this is still a good opportunity to get the word out about our organization. I’ve also spent some of this week updating the conference database as well as the events list. It’s incredible to see the momentum that cleantech is gaining/has gained worldwide. For example there are conferences that focus on specific subfields like investing in cleantech, financing cleantech, policies that affect the cleantech sector. These subfields further break down into battery/storage systems, optics, energy efficiency, solar, wind, east coast/west coast, international meetings, etc. (topics just mentioned can be the theme of an entire conference).
Speaking of policy, I would love to hear from a DC intern who’s been following the climate/clean energy/cap and trade negotiations in the Senate. The best way to follow it from NY seems to be via twitter feeds as the major newspapers/news groups break the story.

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