Press Release

Progress 2020: Meet Our Keynote Speaker!


The theme of this year’s conference is Policy for the People, and few embody this sentiment more than our keynote speaker.

Published on Feb 6, 2020

The theme of this year’s NJPP conference is Policy for the People, and few embody this sentiment more than our keynote speaker: Olugbenga Ajilore.

Gbenga Ajilore is a leading national voice on tax equity and closing the racial wealth gap. His research recognizes that for policy to really be for the people, it must address the nation’s legacy of slavery — and structural racism — in concrete, meaningful ways. This means that widespread economic justice is inextricably linked to racial justice. You cannot have one without the other.

Ajilore is a senior economist at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC. His expertise includes regional economic development, macroeconomic policy, and issues in diversity and inclusion. He has been invited to testify before Congress and his work has been featured in The New York Times and The Washington Post. Gbenga was previously an associate professor of economics at the University of Toledo, and in 2018 he served as the President of the National Economic Association.

Please join Gbenga Ajilore and the NJPP team at Progress 2020 on Friday, April 24 at The Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick as we examine policy for the people, not special interests.

Click here to purchase your tickets!