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The Drum Major Institute Fellows Program seeks to counter the domination of the conservative right in the discussion about public policy by cultivating New York City's most talented up-and-coming progressives. DMI's first-rate Fellows program will take on the institutes of the right, but not by matching them policy wonk for policy wonk. Instead, we will pioneer a new model that gives a platform to progressive leaders working in the communities of New York City. From the founder of Brooklyn's first black-run credit union, to a pioneering advocate for environmental justice and sustainable development in the South Bronx, to the organizer of a grassroots student activist and leadership training organization at Hunter College in Manhattan, quite literally, the DMI Fellows not only span the physical city, but a range of pressing issues its residents care about. With a combination of their talent and experience, and our rigorous research support, communications training, and aggressive dissemination and placement of their work, DMI aims to change the face of discussion about public policy in this city.
Kia Franklin
Kia C. Franklin joined The Drum Major Institute in 2007 as a senior fellow in civil justice. Kia’s work focuses on promoting and strengthening the civil legal rights of ordinary Americans. Her research examines how the civil court system protects and empowers people, focusing on the ways in which corporate power influences access to the courts. Kia has represented DMI on local and national coalitions and to advocacy groups working to protect Americans’ legal rights. She has published reports and law review articles on critical civil justice issues, and presented her work to a variety of legal and media watchdog groups around the country. Her essays on major legal topics have appeared in The Nation, the Houston Chronicle, Newsday, and The Root. Kia is managing editor of TortDeform.com, a widely recognized source in the blogosphere of lively debate on civil justice issues and the dangers of tort “reform.” Kia earned her BA in political science and African and African-American studies from Stanford University, and her JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
The Latest from Kia Franklin
Screwed by the Fine Print, February 10, 2009
Obama, McCain views of unequal-pay case are revealing, October 21, 2008
More about Kia Franklin >
Mark Winston Griffith
Mark Winston Griffith is currently serving as a Fellow at the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy. Mark is also a community economic justice activist and journalist whose articles have appeared in dozens of publications including the New York Times, the Nation, the New York Daily News, the Village Voice, the Source, Spin magazine and Essence magazine. Mark is also a columnist with Gotham Gazette, a board member of Free Speech TV based in Denver Colorado, and a board member of City Futures, which includes City Limits magazine and the Center for an Urban Future.
From 2005 to 2007, Mark served as the co-director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, a leading economic justice advocacy group. Prior to that he served for twelve years as the founding Executive Director of the Central Brooklyn Partner?ship, a grassroots economic self-determination organization, and was the founding board chair of the Central Brooklyn Federal Credit Union.
Mark is a gradu?ate of Brown Universi?ty and received a Master's degree in contemporary literature from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria in 1988. Mark was also a Revson Fellow at Columbia Universi?ty, a Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leadership Fellow and an Open Society Institute (OSI) Community Fellow.
The Los Angeles Times’ Ron Brownstein called Mark a “fresh voice” on economic security policy. Mark was the recipient of the Union Square Award and has also received awards from Crain's New York Business, Black Enterprise magazines, Fortune Magazine and New York Magazine.
The Latest from Mark Winston Griffith
Urban Inequality, Rev. James Forbes, and Citizens United, February 1, 2010
What EFCA is Up Against, June 30, 2009
More about Mark Winston Griffith >