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Past FOCUS Forums

2023 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

January – FOCUS Forum on the Future 2023; FOCUS Greater Syracuse and the Community.

February – Aunt Harriet: Reflections on the Life and Legacy of Harriet Tubman; Michele Jones Galvin, FOCUS Board of Directors and Co-Author of Beyond the Underground: Aunt Harriet Moses of Her People; Marc Jones, President and CEO of Dreissig Apparel Inc. and Fan Hands LLC.; Evelyn Ingram, Director of Community Relations, Central New York Region of Wegmans Food Markets

March – Syracuse STEAM School: A Collaborative Approach to Education; Jody Manning, Executive Director/Planning STEAM Principal; Anthony Davis, Superintendent of Schools, Syracuse City School District (SCSD); Jeremy Belfield, Superintendent of Schools, LaFayette Central School District

2022 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

January – FOCUS Forum on the Future 2022; FOCUS Greater Syracuse and the Community.

February – City Housing / Looking Forward; Daniel Kwasnowski, Director, Syracuse Onondaga Planning Agency (SOCPA); Owen Kerney, Deputy Director, SOCPA; Stephanie Pasquale, Director, Neighborhood Advancement with the Allyn Family Foundation.

March – Lyme and Tick-Borne Illnesses; Royale Scuderi, Executive Director of the CNY Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Alliance; Dr. Brian Leydet, Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Ecology at ESF.

April – FOCUS on Affordable Housing; Walt Dixie, Executive Director, Jubilee Homes; Sally Santangelo, Executive Director, CNY Fair Housing; Megan Stuart, Director, Housing and Homeless Coalition of Central New York; Palmer Harvey, Co-founder, Syracuse Tenants Union.

May – The Changing Landscape of Local Media; Mitch Gelman, President and CEO, WCNY; Ken Jackson, Editor and Publisher at Urban CNY; and Joel Kaplan, Professor of Magazine, News, and Digital Journalism and Associate Dean, Office of Graduate Programs, Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications.

June – Housing Assessments 101; Matt Oja, Commissioner, Department of Assessment, City of Syracuse; Warren Wheeler, IAO, Executive Director, NYS Assessors Association; and Donald Weber, Director of Real Property Tax Services

July – Designing a Community Grid for All; Victor Dover, Founding Principal, Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planning; Josh Frank, Project Director / Urban Designer & Town Planner, Dover, Kohl & Partners Town Planning; & Joe Driscoll, Interstate 81 City Project Director, City of Syracuse

September – Salt City Market; Adam Sudmann, Market Manager, Salt City Market; Tori Shires, Chief Development Officer, Rescue Mission Alliance; Jeremy DeChario, General Manager, Syracuse Cooperative Market; with Vendors Sleyrow Mason of SOULutions and Duyen Nguyen of the Cake Bar.

October – Housing Needs in CNY – What’s Going On?; Michelle Sczpanski, Deputy Commissioner, Syracuse Neighborhood & Business Development; Dan Kwasnowski, AICP Director, Syracuse and Onondaga County Planning Agency (SOPCA); Sam Gordon, Planning Practice Leader, EDR

December – Micron and the Community; Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon, II.

2021 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

January – Resilience and Challenges of Our Immigrant and Refugee Community under COVID; Haji Adan, Refugee and Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE); Marwah Alobaidi, Interfaith Works’ Center for New Americans; Felicia Castricone, Catholic Charities of Onondaga County and Felicien Seruhungu. Moderator The Rev. James Mathews of St. Lucy’s Church.

February – FOCUS Forum on the Future; FOCUS Greater Syracuse Board of Directors and Community.

March – Blueprint 15; Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens; Mikki Anderson, Purpose Built Communities; William Simmons, Syracuse Housing Authority; Stephanie Pasquale, Blueprint 15 and Neighborhood Advancement for the Allyn Family Foundation.

April – Higher Education in a Time of COVID; LeMoyne College President Linda LeMura and Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud.

May – Workforce Development for the Individual; Brian Fay, Syracuse Northeast Community Center; Joan Royle, Westcott Community Center; Maribel Arce, Syracuse Community Center Collaborative and Chol-Awan Majok.

June – Priorities for Making Our Community a Better Place to Live for All; with LGS, Mayor Ben Walsh and County Executive J. Ryan McMahon, II

July – Child Care in Onondaga County; opening remarks by (now) Governor Kathy Hochul, Laurie Black, Early Childhood Alliance (ECA); Sarah Merrick, Commissioner of the Onondaga County Department of Social Services – Economic Security; and Lori Schakow, Child Care Solutions.

September – Bridging the Digital Divide; David Bottar, CNY Regional Planning and Development Board; Annabeth Hayes, CNY Digital Inclusion Coalition, Director, Tully Free Library; Jennifer Tifft, City of Syracuse; and Kevin Sexton, Onondaga County Department of Information Technology. Moderator Dr. Sharon Brangman.

October – Mayoral Candidate Debate – How Do You Create a Sustainable Syracuse?; with GreeningUSA, and the CNY Solidarity Coalition; Councilor Khalid Bey, Janet Burman, Mayor Ben Walsh. Moderator Chris Bolt.

November – Empowerment, Accessibility, and Disability Services in CNY; Tania Anderson, ARISE; Paul Joslyn, AccessCNY; Tanisha Wiggins; Angela Palmieri.

2020 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

January – Meeting the Best to Avoid the Worst: Emergency Management and Preparedness; Onondaga County Emergency Management Commissioner Dan Wears and Chris Gorman, Principal Program Manager for Community and Customer Management at National Grid

February – FOCUS Forum on the Future; FOCUS Greater Syracuse Board of Directors and Community

June – Social Distancing and Isolation Under COVID: Coping with Physical and Mental Health Challenges; Sharon Brangman, MD, Chair of the Department of Geriatrics at SUNY Upstate Medical University and Tracey Musarra Marchese, Professor of Practice in Syracuse University’s School of Social Work.

August – Healing the Earth; Former SUNY ESF President Neil Murphy and Onondaga Environmental Institute President Ed Michalenko explore the opportunities and challenges for the environment in a new virtual FOCUS Forum.

September – Housing in a Time of COVID; Home HeadQuarters Chief Executive Officer Kerry Quaglia, and Housing Visions Director of Community and Government Relations Mike La Flair, joined FM Realty President Don Radke

October – Arts Adapt in a Time of COVID; with Thursday Morning Roundtable, Bob Hupp and Jill Anderson from Syracuse Stage, Larry Luttinger from CNY Jazz Arts, and Sara Felice from Point of Contact Gallery.

October – Community Dialogue in a Time of COVID; JahQuan Bey-Wright and Peter Willner from the El Hindi Center for Dialogue, and Asean Malik Bey and Geraldine Linares Esq. from the Peacemaking Team of the Center for Court Innovation.

November – Funding Change in a Time of COVID; Sheena Solomon of the Gifford Foundation, Peter Dunn of the Central New York Community Foundation, Nancy Kern Eaton of United Way of Central New York, and Meg O’Connell of the Allyn Family Foundation.

December – Mental Health in a Time of COVID – Meeting the Moment; Onondaga County Commissioner of Adult and Long Term Care Services Lisa D. Alford; Clinical Director of Psychological Healthcare Ronald C. Fish, PhD; and the President of NAMI Syracuse Marla Byrnes. Moderator Paul Joslyn.

2019 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

Jan. – Joint City-County forum at National Grid Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon

Feb. – New Syracuse Police Chief, Kenton Buckner

March – Citizens Review Board, Administrator Ranette Releford and Board Chair Peter McCarthy

April 4 – Housing the Homeless, Rescue Mission Alliance Chief Executive Dan Sieberg and Housing and Homeless Coalition of Central New York Executive Director Megan Stuart

April 25 – New CEO of public broadcaster WCNY, Mitch Gelman

May – Lazer FOCUS on OCC, the 2016-2021 strategic plan for Onondaga Community College

June – ReZone Syracuse, Owen Kerney, Syracuse Onondaga County Planning Agency

July – The Syracuse Surge, Syracuse Chief Data Officer Sam Edelstein and Juhanna Rogers, PhD, of Centerstate CEO

Sept. – Renewable Energy Here and Now, Chris Carrick of CNYRPDB and Lindsey Speer of HeatSmart CNY

Oct. – Mini-cog Pilot Project, Maria Brown, PhD, and Kathy Pearson of Southwest Community Center

2018 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

Jan. – Visit Syracuse, Dan Liedka

Feb. – Erie Canalway, Ed Rodriguez, Travis Glazier, Owen Kerney, Sam Gordon

March – The Business of Running, Ed Griffin, Pat Leone, Jeff Mickle (at Nancy Cantor Warehouse)

April – New Strategies for Syracuse, Mayor Ben Walsh, Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens, and Director of Administration Christie Elliott

May – Showcasing Greater Syracuse, with Nancy Watt, Marty McDermott, Kim Parker, Ben Sio of Centerstate CEO, and John Desantis of Believe in Syracuse

June – Patient Centered Health Research, with the President and CEO of the national Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute Dr. Joe Selby

July – Onondaga Citizens League 2018 Study: The State of the Community Engagement Infrastructure of Central New York

August – Onondaga Lake: Travis Glazier, Holly Granat, and John McAuliffe

September – Meet the Peacemakers: Michelle Stanley, Carl Thomas Sr., Jesus Rolon, and Leah Russell

September, too – Community Economic Development I: Jim Damicis and Chris Steele

October – Community Economic Development II: Joe Russo, Nora Spillane, Andrew Fish, and Laura Miller

November – Community Economic Development III: Mark Olson, Carolyn Evans Dean, Mike LaFlair, and Mark Venesky

December – Veterans Services: Lynn Fox, Jennifer Menard, and Jeff Bastable,

2017 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

Jan. – How CNY Moves, Centro, OCL, SMTC

Feb. – Building Community with Soul, Landbank, Sean and Liam Kirst

March – Unmanned Aerial Systems, NUAir, Gryphon, SU

April – Youth Employment, City Parks & Rec, CNY Works

May – DEC Natural Resources Damage Assessment

June – Syracuse City Schools technical programs

July – Onondaga Citizens League report How CNY Works

August – The New State Fair

September – Disaster Preparedness workshop

October – Economic Inclusion with Centerstate CEO

November – Growing Artfully – CNY Arts Syracuse. Stage

December – Framing the Future of FOCUS

2016 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

Jan. – House Calls with U.Penn researchers

Feb. – Innovation Team rollout of technology

March – Resources to tackle substance-abuse issues

April – Reconnecting Onondaga Lake with the public

May – I-81: Matthew Driscoll and Mark Frechette

June – ­­­Upstate Revitalization Initiative, Richard Tobe

July – Canalway – Danielle Krol, Owen Kerney, Sam Gordon

Aug. – HOPE antipoverty, Sharon Owens, Helen Hudson, Frank Lazarski

Sept. – Emergency Management Dan Wears, Rosie Taravella

Oct. – Connect the Drops, Lake Survey

Nov. – OCCRA with Dereth Glance

Dec. – Media changes with Joel Kaplan

2015 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

Jan. – Infrastructure Planning

Feb. – Financing Infrastructure Matt Driscoll

March – Parks Planning

April – Age-Friendly CNY with National Grid savings

May – Swim in Onondaga Lake

June – Marketplace for Info. 211

July – Lacrosse Championship

Aug. – Innovation Team

Sept. – Public Safety Technology

Oct. – Syracuse Airport

Nov. – OCM BOCES

Dec. – Age-Friendly van tour

2014 FOCUS FORUM TOPICS

Jan. – Sustainability and a Healthy Population

Feb. – Pro Sports and Sustainability

March – ESM Project Based Learning

April – Housing Options

May – Consensus

June – Bird Friendly Onondaga Lake

July – Natural Resource Damage Assessment

Aug. – OCM BOCES

Sept. – Office of Aging and Youth Services

Oct. – Retiring Boomers and Economic Impact

Nov. – Citizens Vision for Age-Friendly Community

Dec. – Downtown Our Local Treasure

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2022 Major Wisdom Keeper Sponsors

Wegmans
CNY Business Journal
PathFinder Bank
National Grid
Reisman Foundation
Syracuse University


Recent Posts

  • FOCUS is Hiring a New Program Manager! Apply Now March 17, 2023
  • Syracuse STEAM School: A Collaborative Approach to Education March 7, 2023
  • February FOCUS Forum – Aunt Harriet: Reflections on the Life and Legacy of Harriet Tubman February 7, 2023
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