Forum Panelist and Urban Farmer Will Allen Appears with Michelle Obama at The White House

Will Allen, the Milwaukee urban farmer who appeared at the Revolutionary Thinkers Forum earlier this Season, shared a stage with Michelle Obama at The White House yesterday as she launched a new program to combat childhood obesity.

Allen founded Growing Power, a nonprofit program that aims to provide healthy, quality and affordable food to people in all communities. At The Forum last October he discussed how he came back to farming after growing up a farm kid outside of DC and his belief that good food should be available to everyone.

Revolutionary Trivia: What's in Jessica Jackley's Refrigerator?

Now that you've gotten to know our "Revolutionary" Forum panelists, it's time for a little quiz!

**Hint: All of the answer choices below are the actual responses of our panelists and moderator from Revolutionary Thinkers. **

1. What is something Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot can't live without?
a). Music
b). Family
c). Conversations with her dad
d). Her coat collection
e). Darwin

2. What is Juan Enriquez's favorite place in the world?
a). Home
b). Underwater, diving on a coral reef
c). On a yoga mat
d). A lake house in New Hampshire
e). Martha's Vineyard

3. What is always in Jessica Jackley's fridge?
a). skim milk
b). vegetables
c). Mexican food
d). Pete's French Roast coffee
e). face lotion

4. What surprises people most about Will Allen?
a). "I'm nice but very confrontational when I want to be."
b). "How well I listen."
c). "That I can dance."
d). "I can't make good coffee and I have no sense of direction."
3). "I tend to be very quiet before I talk."

5. What book is Allison Stewart currently reading?
a). Born to Run
b). Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye
c). None
d). What is the What and The Greatest Generation
e). 10 different ones

Give up? Here are your answers. 1D, 2B, 3E, 4C, 5D

But can you guess who else said what? Let us know if you need a hint.

Some Revolutionary Thinking...

A taste of some of the the revolutionary thinking going on at the Forum on Friday...



Do you have a favorite moment? Want to see more? Let us know!

What a REVOLUTIONARY Evening!

Last night we kicked off our exciting season with Revolutionary Thinkers featuring Will Allen, founder of Growing Power, Jessica Jackley, co-founder of Kiva.org, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, renowned Harvard sociologist and educator, and Juan Enriquez, futurist and scientist. Award-winning TV and radio journalist Alison Stewart moderated.

Here are some behind the scenes photos!

Doris and Richard Sugarman welcome Moderator Alison Stewart to Hartford. Alison was very very interested in learning about Hartford and seeing how the current economic climate has affected our town.

Alison, Sara and Juan chat about their hometowns while signing autographs at the panelist meeting. Here, the panelists meet for the first time and get acquainted before the evening begins.

Want to know what Juan's favorite book is, or what is always in his refrigerator?
He answers those questions and more on our new panelist questionnaire.
Check back next week to see what all of our panelists shared!

Jessica Jackley warms up the crowd at the pre-Forum dinner.

Will Allen and Richard Sugarman greet the pre-Forum dinner guests. Richard and Will were old college pals at The University of Miami!

The panelists visit The Bushnell and meet our stage director Arnold Berman (at left).

Richard and Sara admire the many signatures that adorn the walls backstage at The Bushnell.

Alison and Richard sort through questions from the audience in preparation for the second half.

As you can imagine, it's easy to be intimidated by these big thinkers with even bigger accomplishments - but there was no need. They were all extremely friendly and kind, and seemed to be in awe of each other, just as we were all in awe of them. Revolutionary Thinkers proved to be just what we hoped...an inspirational, educational, and motivational evening full of ideas, reflections, and insights.

Come back soon for behind the scenes videos and more!

Six Degrees of Bill Clinton: The Clinton Global Initiative Recognizes Will Allen and Kiva

Yes, we've heard - you want us to bring Bill Clinton to The Forum.

Every year, when we survey our audience, YOUTH Forum members and various community members regarding ideas for our upcoming Season, there are certain individuals who repeatedly appear on your list of desired panelists - names like Oprah, Nelson Mandela, and... Bill Clinton.

And we try, we really do.

But did you know that two people honored by Clinton's Global Initiative (CGI) last week - one of whom Clinton called his hero - will be here, in Hartford, at The Forum this Friday? (That's tomorrow!)

Will Allen and his organization Growing Power work to provide high quality, safe and affordable food to all members of the community. With support from the Clinton Global Initiative, Growing Power will introduce its model of local food systems and sustainability in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Jessica Jackley and Kiva.org were also a part of the commitments made by the Clinton Global Initiative. Kiva.org provides micro-loans to third-world entrepreneurs to help them lift themselves out of poverty. With the commitment from CGI, Kiva, in partnership with Moodys, will build on-the-ground teams to "expand its capacity to connect with entrepreneurs, assess their creditworthiness, and monitor progress toward loan repayment."

Allen and Jackley will be joined at The Forum by Harvard Sociologist and Educator Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot and the futurist, scientist and businessman Juan Enriquez. Award-winning TV and radio journalist Alison Stewart will moderate.

You may not see Bill Clinton on stage at The Forum tomorrow night, but you will most definitely see the people Bill Clinton would like to see on the world's stage. And we think that's pretty cool.

Getting to Know our Revolutionary Thinkers

Ready to be inspired? Meet our Revolutionary Thinkers, some fascinating people who will inspire you to think big!

He feeds thousands of people from two acres of inner-city land in Milwaukee. How does he do it?

Will Allen is a pioneer in the urban farming movement and the founder of Growing Power. His programs transform the lives of low-income families by working to provide high-quality, healthy and affordable food for all residents in the community. Allen cites a simple but life-changing goal: to grow food, to grow minds, and to grow community.

Allen was recently featured in The New York Times magazine – read the article here.

This 32-year-old woman has generated nearly 100 million dollars for worldwide micro-lending. Want to learn more?
Jessica Jackley is a founder of Kiva.org, a non-profit microfinancing website that lets you lend as little as $25 to a specific third-world entrepreneur, empowering them to lift themselves out of poverty. She is revolutionizing personal giving and inspiring a new generation of philanthropists through technology.

Learn more by checking out Kiva.org here.

A brilliant futurist believes genetic sciences will radically change your life in the next 20 years.

Are you ready for it?

Juan Enriquez is one of the foremost authorities on genomics and the life sciences. He focuses on the ways in which scientific advances will impact business, technology, politics, and society.

Watch Enriquez’s TedTalk, one of the ten most popular on the site, here.

This renowned sociologist is changing the way we think about possibilities after age 50. Want to know more?

Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot is one of the nation’s leading educators and a Harvard Professor, whose most recent book, The Third Chapter: Passion, Risk, and Adventure in the 25 Years after 50, envisions a cultural shift in our attitudes toward youth and age.

Check out Lawrence-Lightfoot being interviewed by Bill Moyers on PBS here.


Full panelist bios and additional links will soon be available on our website. Stay tuned!

Revolutionary Thinkers takes place on Friday, October 2, 2009 at 8PM at The Bushnell in Hartford.