Student Debt Impact 2021

Thursday, February 25, 2021
12:30 PM

Virtual Event

Financing Education and Economic Opportunity

Student Debt Impact explores how unprecedented borrowing disproportionately burdens BIPOC students and their families, how it exacerbates the racial wealth gap, and how to create models of higher education financing that provide pathways to economic opportunity.

Thank you to everyone who attended and for your interest in addressing student debt's impact on students and families. Our profound gratitude goes to our incredible panelists, moderator, and sponsors for making this event possible.

We invite you to watch the conversation below! 

Panelists

Asha Srikantiah

Head of Fidelity Student Debt Program, Workplace Emerging Products

For over five years, Asha has led Fidelity’s Student Debt Program, pursuing the mission of tackling student debt from a variety of angles. Asha and her team have built a suite of employer-sponsored benefits and consumer-facing financial planning products, which are collectively accessible to over 20 million Fidelity customers nationwide. In addition to product development, Asha has brought thought leadership on the financial and emotional impacts of student debt to a variety of arenas, including the White House, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Treasury, and Congress. She holds an MBA from the Rotman School at the University of Toronto, and an undergrad in film from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

Naomi Zewde

Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Management, CUNY

Naomi Zewde is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy at the City University of New York and holds an appointment as a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. Zewde joins CUNY from the School of Social Work at Columbia, where she was a postdoctoral research scientist in the Center of Poverty and Social Policy. She is formerly a member of the research staff at the Penn Wharton Budget Model and a visiting researcher at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Her research centers on economic inequality in wealth and in health insurance, and examines the ability of public policies to reduce these inequalities. Research includes studies of the economic impacts of public healthcare coverage, including impacts on poverty and rates of home eviction, and impacts of high-deductible health insurance on consumer wellbeing. Other research includes policies to address racial wealth inequality, including publicly-funded trust funds termed "Baby Bonds." Zewde has a PhD in health policy and administration from Pennsylvania State University, an MPH in health systems management from Emory University, and a BA in anthropology from Emory University.

Helaine Olen

Opinion Writer, The Washington Post

Helaine Olen is an opinion writer for The Washington Post's opinion section and the senior managing editor for the online journal Public Seminar at The New School. She's the author of "Pound Foolish: Exposing The Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry” and co-author of "The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to be So Complicated." She serves on the advisory board of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.

Thank you to our generous sponsors!