JOHNSTON CENTER EVENTS

New Strategies for Southern Progress

A major conference scheduled for February 24-25, 2005, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will convene national, state and local political leaders, policy experts, private-sector decision makers, journalists and academics to rethink critical issues facing the South and chart a new progressive vision for the region.

The Road to Progress: Progressives' Take on Major Issues Facing the Nation. Thursday, Feb. 24, 1-3 pm in the Kresge Foundation Common room (039) in the Graham Memorial building. Carolina alumnae Melody Barnes and Cassandra Butts, senior policy analysts for the Center for American Progress (www.americanprogress.org), discuss faith and politics, taxes, social security and other key issues of the next four years. Following a brief presentation by the speakers, there will be
a lengthy discussion, open to all attendees. This event is
co-sponsored by the Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life (www.southnow.org) and the Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence (www.johnstoncenter.unc.edu).

While designed for undergraduates, this event is free and open to the public.

Participant biographies:

Melody Barnes, Senior Fellow

Melody Barnes is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress where she will focus on domestic policy issues, including civil rights, women’s health and gender equity issues, and the judicial confirmation process.
From December 1995 until March 2003, Ms. Barnes served as chief counsel to Senator Edward M. Kennedy on the Senate Judiciary Committee. As Senator Kennedy’s chief counsel, she shaped civil rights, women’s health and reproductive rights, commercial law, and religious liberties laws, as well as executive branch and judicial appointments. Ms. Barnes’ experience also includes an appointment as Director of Legislative Affairs for the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and serving as assistant counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights. During her tenure with the Subcommittee, she worked closely with Members of Congress and their staffs to pass the Voting Rights Improvement Act of 1992, which was signed into law.
Ms. Barnes is also a Principal at The Raben Group, a Washington, D.C.-based legislative law firm. She began her career as an attorney with Shearman & Sterling in New York City and is a member of both the New York State Bar Association and the District of Columbia Bar Association. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of The Constitution Project, The Maya Angelou Public Charter School, The Moriah Fund, and Progress Through Action. She received her law degree from the University of Michigan and her bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she graduated with honors in history.

Cassandra Q. Butts, Senior Vice President and Coordinator for Economic Policy

Cassandra Q. Butts is Senior Vice President and Coordinator for Economic Policy. Prior to joining The Center for American Progress, she was a senior advisor to Representative Richard A. Gephardt and volunteered as the policy director on his 2004 presidential campaign. Cassandra coordinated the formulation of policy on Rep. Gephardt's presidential campaign that included a universal health care plan and economic development proposals. In her seven years of work for Rep. Gephardt during his tenure as the House Democratic Leader, Cassandra was a principal adviser on matters involving the judiciary, financial services and information technology. She provided counsel and strategic advice to the Democratic Leader on a range of major proposals that came before the U.S. Congress including the 1998 presidential impeachment and legislation related to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, including the drafting of the groundbreaking September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001. In July 2000, she also served as an international election observer to the Zimbabwe parliamentary elections.
Prior to her service with Rep. Gephardt, Cassandra was an Assistant Counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, where she worked on civil rights policy and litigated voting rights and school desegregation cases. She also served as Legislative Counsel to Senator Harris L. Wofford of Pennsylvania. Cassandra is a recipient of the Georgetown Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship and the Stennis Congressional Staff Fellowship. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.