President Barack Obama participates in a discussion about poverty during the Catholic-Evangelical Leadership Summit on Overcoming Poverty, at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., May 12, 2015. From left, moderator E. J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post columnist and professor in Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, Robert Putnam, professor of public policy at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government and Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Today at Georgetown University, President Obama sat down with Harvard professor Robert Putnam and American Enterprise Institute president Arthur Brooks to share his views on poverty in America and what we can do to ensure every American — no matter who they are, where they come from, or where they live — has access to the opportunities they deserve.
The conversation, hosted by the Washington Post’s E.J. Dionne, touched on economic solutions that can broaden opportunity, the political will to support initiatives that expand those opportunities, and the minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by the decision — or failure — to make those investments. The President also offered his candid and personal views on how growing up without a father shaped how he sees these issues today.
Check out the top three highlights from the conversation here: