Panel Description Members of the Coalition For Change, Inc. (C4C), a civil rights group formed to address race discrimination and retaliation in the federal government, will present workshop participants with an engaging overview of the Elijah Cummings Federal Employee Anti-discrimination Act of 2020. The panelists will discuss the origin of the law as well as the provisions of the law that passed on January 1, 2021. Expressly, panelists will address how the Elijah Cummings Federal Employee Anti-discrimination Act of 2020 amends the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002, and will discuss the critical actions the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission needs to take to enforce effectively antidiscrimination laws.

While Congress is closing in on landmark legislation to control police abuses, so far the proposals all have skipped what is essential for the reforms to make a difference: whistleblower protection. Without safe channels to bear witness, the new reforms may be an illusion. State reforms are also taking place, some of which represent the most sweeping law enforcement reforms in the last 50 years. This dynamic panel explores law enforcement reforms from a whistleblower, public health and safety, mental health, and civil rights perspectives. Panelists will include whistleblowers, activists and advocates with particularly compelling stories.

While the Office is not authorized to receive whistleblower disclosures, this session will also explore the Office’s publicly available resources that aim to facilitate safe and effective communications between whistleblowers and Congress, as well as other tools that may be of value to the whistleblower stakeholder community.

Virtual Happy Hour with the "Sallie Mae Not" Filmmakers hosted by Northeast Filmmakers Lab

The panel discussion with filmmaker and cast offers an informative discussion of leading voices of diverse affiliations (GOP, DEM, Green, Independent) seeking to unravel the nation's largest consumer debt of $1.7 Trillion in student loans. Discussion topics to include: challenges and ongoing efforts facing whistleblowers; filmmaker's journey to distribution, building community and strategy to return fair lending laws and consumer protections in an otherwise predatory lending system that has no brakes; the need for media to cover topic beyond the issue of whether to "cancel student loan debt." SALLIE MAE NOT is chapter One in the untold story of how the US Government set up a system of greed that gutted student loans of consumer protections leading to the skyrocketing cost of tuition and indenturing millions through predatory lending. Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi discovers Alan Collinge, author of The Student Loan Scam, a dedicated stalwart who turns from scientist to activist when he is wrongfully thrown into default by Sallie Mae. In 2006 on 60 Minutes, Collinge warned how this same scheme continued to throw millions of students, parents, and colleges over the cliff. Unfortunately, no one paid much attention, and despite today’s headlines of privilege, scandal, greed and blame, the predatory lending system designed to indenture millions, predominantly women and people of color, remains hiding in plain sight.

This informational panel will introduce the House Office of the Whistleblower Ombuds, an independent and nonpartisan support office established to advise the House on best practices for working with whistleblowers from the public and private sectors. The Office's staff will provide an overview of their services and discuss frequently asked questions.   While the Office is not authorized to receive whistleblower disclosures, this session will also explore the Office's publicly available resources that aim to facilitate safe and effective communications between whistleblowers and Congress and other tools that may be of value to the whistleblower stakeholder community.  

The Opening Plenary is the formal welcome and introduction of the occasion honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Pentagon Papers followed by brief remarks by summit hosts, co-hosts and/or sponsors, such as ACORN 8, Pacifica Foundation, Justice Integrity Project, Society of Professional Journalists, Government Accountability Project, National Whistleblower Center.