Reclaiming the American Dream: A conversation with author Ben Hecht

At a time when deep divisions headline the national discourse on equality issues, a new book titled “Reclaiming the American Dream: Proven Solutions for Creating Economic Opportunity for All” frames real-world examples to illustrate America’s evolution toward including everyone in its promise of opportunity. Living Cities president and CEO Ben Hecht has spent decades exploring how leaders take proactive measures to combat growing racial disparity to make changes in their own backyards, detailing those perspectives in his new book.

On Thursday, September 20, the Metropolitan Policy Program hosted Hecht for a conversation with Brookings Vice President Amy Liu to discuss the themes of the book and how local leaders are taking action to address the root causes of inequality. Hecht then moderated a conversation among an impressive lineup of leaders who are rekindling the promise of the American Dream by leveraging the physical assets of their community, fostering entrepreneurship by increasing underserved communities’ access to capital, and improving educational and training opportunities for workers.

Following the panel discussion, speakers took questions from the audience.