Urban Conversations Conference: Strengthening the Middle Class with discussants Byron Brown, mayor of Buffalo; Manny Diaz, mayor of Miami; Mufi Hannemann, mayor of Honolulu; Lisa Servon, associate professor and director of the Community Development Finance Project at Milano; and Anthony D. Weiner, U.S. Representative (D- New York).
As income disparities between wealthy and working-class families become more pronounced, middle-class neighborhoods are disappearing from many American cities. How are leaders working to make their cities livable for middle-income families and affordable for the millions aspiring to gain a foothold in the middle class?
Urban Conversations brings together elected officials and leading thinkers from across the nation to foster fresh perspectives and new insights into the key challenges facing urban America and to discuss strategies for addressing them- The New School
Bio
Byron Brown
Mayor Byron Brown took the Oath of Office as the 58th Mayor of Buffalo, New York on December 31, 2005.
Jonathan Capehart
Jonathan Capehart is an editorial writer for The Post, specializing in national politics and environmental issues.
Capehart joined the editorial board in 2007. Prior to joining The Post, he was a member of the New York Daily News editorial board from 1993 to 2000. He then became National Affairs Columnist for Bloomberg News from 2000 to 2001, and left to work as a policy adviser to Michael Bloomberg in his successful campaign for Mayor of New York City. He returned to the Daily News as deputy editor of the editorial page from 2002 to 2005.
Capehart and the Daily News editorial board won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for their editorial series on the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Manny Diaz
First elected in 2001 and re-elected to a second term in 2005, Manny Diaz is the current mayor of Miami, Florida.
Having never before held elected office, Mayor Diaz is now recognized as one of America's most innovative Mayors, chosen to lead the United States Conference of Mayors as its president beginning in the Summer of 2008.
Mufi Hannemann
Mufi Hannemann is the 12th mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, the 13th largest municipality in the United States. Following a career in business, government, and politics, he took office on January 2, 2005, Honolulu's first native-born mayor in almost 40 years.
Fred P. Hochberg
Fred P. Hochberg is the dean of Milano at The New School for Management and Urban Policy.
Hochberg has more than twenty-five years of experience in business, government, civil rights activities, and philanthropy. From 1998 through 2000, he served as deputy and then acting administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), an agency elevated to cabinet rank by President Bill Clinton, with more than 4,000 employees and 100 offices across the country.
At the SBA, he directed the delivery of a comprehensive set of financial and business development programs for entrepreneurs, with particular outreach to women and minorities. He also served on President Clinton's Management Council.
Lisa J. Servon
Lisa J. Servon is Dean of Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Work Life Policy. Former Associate Professor and Associate Director, Community Development Research Center. Dr. Servon was also assistant professor at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. Professor Servon's teaching and research focus on urban poverty, community development, economic development, and gender issues. Her book, Bootstrap Capital: Microenterprises and the American Poor, was published by Brookings Institution Press in 1999.
Anthony Weiner
Anthony David Weiner is a Democratic politician from New York. He represents New York's 9th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. The district includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
member. 
