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As we move into the final weeks of the presidential campaign, please join us for a lively discussion with some of the nation’s leading political analysts and reporters about the state of the election.

Panelists include:

Josh Isay, former CEO of SKDK and a leading political consultant for national, state, and local campaigns

Lisa Lerer, New York Times National Political Correspondent and co-author of The Fall of Roe

Basil Smikle, former Executive Director of the NYS Democratic Party, Professor at Columbia, and frequent commentator on CNN and MSNBC

Moderated by Rich Baum, President and CEO of Educational Alliance

About the panelists:

JOSH ISAY is a nationally recognized leader in advertising, public relations, and electoral politics. As co-founder and CEO of SKDK, Josh helped redefine the public affairs and political consulting business.  Under his leadership, SKDK became the first consultancy to successfully, and at scale, apply the persuasion and marketing skills of political campaigns to help the world’s most recognizable corporate brands, philanthropies, and non-profits. Working with an unparalleled group of partners, Josh grew SKDK into a renowned, award-winning communications powerhouse. SKDK played a leading role in electing two Presidents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and hundreds of Senators, Governors, Members of Congress, Mayors, and state and local officials.  It has been at the center of virtually every important national debate of the last twenty years, from marriage equality to climate change, from racial justice to a woman’s right to choose. Josh stepped down as CEO of SKDK at the end of 2022.  Over the past year, he has been consulting on various issues including leading the 10/7 Project – an effort by five of the nation’s leading Jewish organization to fight anti-Semitic and anti-Israel bias in the media — and working with the Democratic National Committee.

LISA LERER is a national political correspondent for the New York Times, who has written about American politics, power, and elections for nearly two decades. She recently published her first book, “The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America,” which was a national bestseller. She has covered five presidential campaigns, the White House, and Congress. Her focus is examining the big personalities, ideas and emotions that drive American politics. She joined The Times in 2018, as the founding author of the On Politics newsletter. Previously, she was a national political writer at The Associated Press, and reported for Politico, Bloomberg News, Businessweek, and The American Lawyer magazine. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Journalism School. After about a dozen years in Washington, she now lives in New York City with her family.

BASIL SMIKLE is a Professor of Practice and Director of the M.S. program in nonprofit management in the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University. As an MSNBC Political Analyst, he regularly shares his insights on national media outlets. With 20 years in higher education and 30 years devoted to public service, his influence and insights span a broad spectrum of contemporary issues including civic engagement, nonprofit advocacy and communications, electoral politics and education policy. His contributions earned him numerous accolades, including the New York Urban League Community Service Award, the Bronx Branch NAACP W.E.B. Dubois Scholar Award, citations from the New York State Governor and Comptroller, and a Proclamation from the New York City Council for his unwavering commitment to public service and education equity. Prior to his role at Columbia, Basil was the Distinguished Lecturer and Director of the Public Policy Program at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College-City University of New York. Basil holds a PhD in Politics and Education and an MPA from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. He serves as a Trustee of The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and sits on the boards of the Center for Charter Excellence, The Opportunity Charter School in Harlem, Oliver Scholars, FoodCorps, and The Association to Benefit Children.

About the moderator:

RICH BAUM is the President and CEO of Educational Alliance. He has deep experience leading large, complex organizations in the educational, nonprofit, and government sectors, including at the largest private university in the United States and the state government of New York. Rich most recently served as Chief of Staff to the President of New York University, a position he held for the past 11 years across two university presidents. Before that, Rich served as Chief Operating Officer at the New York Academy of Sciences, one of the nation’s premier scientific academies. Rich served in New York State government for nearly a decade, as Secretary to the Governor and Chief of Staff to the Attorney General. Rich also ran two successful statewide political campaigns, the first of which was a razor-thin major upset, while the second resulted in the largest gubernatorial margin of victory in New York state history. Born in Middletown, New York, Rich began his public service career in his hometown when he was elected as the youngest member at that point in the history of the Orange County Legislature and was chosen for four years to serve as Minority Leader in the Legislature. Rich earned his B.A. degree in history from Cornell University.