25th Anniversary Policy Forum and Reception

Building the Future We Deserve: The Imperative of a Third Reconstruction  

Ensuring a new era of democracy rooted in racial and economic justice 

The Monday after Election Day, we’ll gather to discuss the change agenda necessary to achieve a just and equitable future for DC and the nation.  

For 25 years, the DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) has advanced policies that expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and put racial and economic justice at the center of decisions about DC’s future. As we mark this milestone, we will also assess the landscape and the possibilities for what can be built in the years ahead.  

Across the country, and in DC, we confront fundamental questions about the survival of democracy, the ability to achieve economic justice, and the role of government in building the future we all deserve. The years ahead may offer windows of opportunity to pursue a Third Reconstruction: a period of systemic, transformative change that can redefine our democracy, economy, and public institutions for generations to come. This kind of bold, collective change is imperative to our ability to deliver on the promise of America that generations of movements for civil, social, racial, and economic rights have fought to make true.  

As we take stock of the election and look toward what opportunities lay ahead, DCFPI’s 25th Anniversary Policy Forum will bring together leading thinkers, policymakers, advocates, and community voices to explore shaping and moving the magnitude of change we need. We’ll discuss DC’s specific role in catalyzing a new wave of political rights nationally and the next wave of transformative economic rights locally. 

The future we deserve is not simply something we imagine. It is something we must build together.