Past Events

The Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities and the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research and Policy (NICRP) partnered to host “Legislative Training 101″ in mid-November 2016.

This training provided information on Nevada’s legislative process, how to communicate with legislators, and how to get involved in community advocacy efforts. Attendees learned how to navigate the legislative process and discover how this process can help bring an issue to the attention of the legislators and legislative committees.

The event was the second in the Guinn Center’s Capacity Building Workshop Series, which provide a variety of trainings for nonprofits and community advocates on how to increase their impact in Nevada.  The inaugural Capacity Building Workshop took place in September 2016.  The focus of this event was “Data Basics.” The topics discussed at the workshop included developing a logic model, data collection techniques and analysis, and grant writing.

The next Capacity Building Workshops will be held in 2017.

Leading up to the elections in November, the Guinn Center hosted two candidate forums for Nevada’s education boards on October 4, 2016 in Reno and October 5, 2016 in Las Vegas with co-host, Switch.  Candidates from the Clark and Washoe County School Districts Boards of Trustees, the Nevada System of Higher Education Board of Regents, and the State Board of Education attended the events.

In 2015, Nevada’s political leaders passed legislation that invested over $400 million per year into Nevada’s education system. In order to ensure Nevada’s taxpayers would receive a positive return on investment from these reforms, the Legislature included stronger measures of accountability in many of the education bills.

The quality of governance of these State and local education boards can also impact the return on investment of these new programs. The Guinn Center is hosting these candidate forums to raise awareness about the roles and responsibilities of these positions and the individuals seeking these offices.

Dr. Tyrus “Ty” Cobb hosted the Washoe County area forum, which took place at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum, and Dave Berns hosted the Las Vegas area forum at the Innevation Center powered by Switch.

In May 2016, the Guinn Center hosted three candidate forums throughout the Las Vegas area for education board candidates before the primaries in June 2016.

In partnership with the Elko Area Chamber of Commerce, The Guinn Center for Policy Priorities hosted a luncheon to present fact sheets on the  statewide questions on Nevada’s 2016 General Election Ballot at the Elko Convention Center on Monday, October 3, 2016.

Experts from the Guinn Center gave in-depth presentation on the following ballot initiatives:

• The Background Check Initiative, which would require an unlicensed person who wishes to sell or transfer a firearm to another person conduct the transfer through a licensed gun dealer who runs a background check on the potential buyer or transferee. Currently, private firearm sales made online, in-person or at gun shows are not usually conducted using a FFL dealer, and thus are not subject to a background check.

• The Initiative to Tax and Regulate Marijuana, which would regulate and tax the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana in Nevada in a manner similar to alcohol.

• The Medical Patient Tax Relief Act, which would provide a sales and use tax exemption across the state for durable medical equipment, oxygen delivery equipment and mobility enhancing equipment prescribed for human use by a licensed healthcare provider.

The purpose of the luncheon was to provide Elko residents with information on the ballot initiatives, including data on both sides of the issues.  Each of the accompanying fact sheets is designed to provide a summary of the initiative as it is written, a history of the related legislation, a summary of the comments that support and oppose the law, a status report on how other states and the federal government address the issue. They conclude with several policy considerations for stakeholders. For more information on the fact sheets or to read them in full, visit the Guinn Center’s website.

Disseminating this type of unbiased, bipartisan information to voters throughout Nevada is central to the mission of the Guinn Center.  Elko and many other parts of the state, in particular, have limited exposure to the key issues that voters will be asked in the upcoming election.  A number of the guests at the luncheon mentioned that commercials on broadcast television in Elko come from Salt Lake City area stations, which typically do not show Nevada-based advertisements.

If your organization would be interested in a presentation from the Guinn Center, please call (702) 522-2178 or email Megan at mrauch@guinncener.org.

In September, The Guinn Center for Policy Priorities presented on Fact Sheets on the ballot initiatives voters in Nevada will consider this November at weekly public forums as part of the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law’s Voter Education Program 2016.

The Fact Sheet presentations addressed the following:

• The Background Check Initiative, which would require an unlicensed person who wishes to sell or transfer a firearm to another person conduct the transfer through a licensed gun dealer who runs a background check on the potential buyer or transferee.
• The Initiative to Tax and Regulate Marijuana, which would regulate and tax the cultivation and sale of recreational marijuana in Nevada in a manner similar to alcohol.
• The Medical Patient Tax Relief Act, which would provide a sales and use tax exemption across the state for durable medical equipment, oxygen delivery equipment and mobility enhancing equipment prescribed for human use by a licensed healthcare provider.
• Clark County Question 5: Fuel Revenue Indexing, which asks Clark County registered voters if they wish to continue tying fuel taxes to the inflation rate. Fuel taxes in the County have been indexed to inflation since January 2014. This program—Fuel Revenue Indexing (FRI)—is set to expire at the end of 2016, unless voters in Clark County approve the ballot initiative.

Each of these fact sheets is designed to provide a summary of the initiative as it is written, a history of the related legislation, a summary of the comments that support and oppose the law, a status report on how other states and the federal government address the issue. They conclude with several policy considerations for stakeholders.

The Guinn Center does not have an official position on the ballot initiatives. Rather, the purpose of these Fact Sheets is to discuss the initiative, the possible implications should it pass into law, and outline possible impacts.  For more information on the Fact Sheets or to read them in full, visit the Guinn Center’s website.

The Guinn Center for Policy Priorities co-hosted a half-day data workshop aimed at providing hands-on learning related to data practices for nonprofits.  The event, “Data Basics” was the first in a series of Capacity Building Workshops  The event took place on September 23, 2016 at the Innevation Center and was co-hosted by the Young Nonprofit Professionals of Southern Nevada (YNPN) and UNLV’s Nonprofit, Community, and Leadership Initiative (NCLI).

The topics discussed at the workshop included developing a logic model, data collection techniques and analysis, and grant writing.  The Guinn Center’s Director of Social Policy Dr. Erika Marquez was one of the presenters and led participants through an exercise on program management and using logic models to measure success.

The Guinn Center’s capacity Building Workshops aim to address many of the needs of Nevada’s non-profits. Earlier this year, the Guinn Center hosted another workshop for nonprofits, during which participants completed an informal survey that asked about how effectively their organizations used data to advocate and raise awareness about the needs they are addressing. Many participants said that finding and using data, as well as tracking their own data, often hinder efforts by their organizations to apply for government and private grants. Approximately 65 percent of survey respondents said that their nonprofits did not know where to find relevant, current data to use in grant applications. Similarly, 65 percent of survey respondents said that their organizations do not use comprehensive data to inform the scope and delivery of services.

The second workshop in the Capacity Building Series took place on on Friday, November 18, 2016 from 1:00 to 2:30p.m. at the Innevation Center, powered by Switch (6795 S. Edmond Street, 3rd Floor, Las Vegas, 89118).  The workshop is co-sponsored by the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research and Policy (NICRP) and the topic will be “Legislative Training 101.”  It provided information on Nevada’s legislative process, how to communicate with legislators, and how to get involved in community advocacy efforts.

The Kenny Guinn Center for Policy Priorities hosted a half-day workshop today aimed at helping Nevada’s nonprofits strengthen their advocacy capacity. The workshop, entitled “Building Advocacy Capacity among Nevada’s Nonprofits,” took place at the CSN Cheyenne Campus on Tuesday, June 28, from 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Heather McLeod Grant, co-author of the best-selling book, Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Non-Profits, served the event’s keynote speaker.  She also led a session on network mapping. In the photo below, workshop participants worked collaboratively to map their networks in Nevada.

Ms. McLeod Grant has more than 20 years of experience in the social sector.  She was most recently a Global Account Manager at Monitor Institute, where her work focused on scaling impact, leveraging networks for social change, and transforming large-scale nonprofits; she has advised many leading organizations of our time. Prior to joining Monitor, Heather worked at McKinsey & Company, and co-founded Who Cares, a national magazine for social entrepreneurs. She lectures at Stanford, speaks at industry conferences, and has been widely published. Heather currently serves on the Woodside Elementary School Site Council and the board of Jacaranda, a women’s health-care nonprofit in Africa. She has previously served the Stanford Social Innovation Review, the National Civic League, Hands On Bay Area, and the Center for Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University. She holds an MBA from Stanford University and an AB from Harvard University.

The workshop covered a variety of other topics, including:

• The Nevada legislature with longtime lobbyist Erin McMullen for R&R Partners.
• Nonprofit Lobbying: Advocating without Jeopardizing Your Tax-Exempt Status with Eric Franklin, UNLV professor of law and owner of the Nonprofit Legal Clinic.
• Social Media 101: Engaging Millenials with the Guinn Center’s Megan Rauch.
• Using Data to Tell Your Story and Influence Others with the Guinn Center’s Executive Director Nancy Brune.
• Effective Advocacy Strategies with Elisa Cafferata, President & CEO of Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood Affiliates.

Elisa Cafferata, President & CEO of Nevada Advocates for Planned Parenthood Affiliates

The Guinn Center is planning to offer the same workshop later this year in Northern Nevada for nonprofits that were unable to attend the June 28th event.

Forum at West Las Vegas Library.

Leading up to the primary elections in Nevada in May 2016, the Guinn Center hosted three candidate forums for Nevada’s education boards:  Clark County School District Board of Trustees, Nevada State Board of Education, and the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

In 2015, Nevada’s political leaders passed legislation that invested over $400 million per year into Nevada’s education system. In order to ensure Nevada’s taxpayers would receive a positive return on investment from these reforms, the Legislature included stronger measures of accountability in many of the education bills.

The quality of governance of these State and local education boards can also impact the return on investment of these new programs. The Guinn Center partnered with Nevada Succeeds and H.O.P.E. (Honoring Our Public Education), a parent advocacy group, to host a series of candidate forums to raise awareness about the roles and responsibilities of these positions and the individuals seeking these positions.

Caryne Shea, vice-president of H.O.P.E., at the Centennial Hills Library

A key topic of concern addressed at all three meetings were the troubling number of teacher vacancies across the state, especially in Clark County.  In the video below, candidates discuss how to best solve this growing crisis:

For more information on the teacher vacancies in Nevada, please see the Guinn Center’s maps that illustrate the vacancies in Clark and Washoe Counties and read the Guinn Center’s OpEd from May 28th in the Las Vegas Sun.

Community leaders from the city’s historic westside also pressed candidates to address crumbling facilites in the neighborhood’s older school buildings at the final candidate forum on May 31st at the West Las Vegas Library. For more information on school facilities construction and maintenance, read the Guinn Center’s policy report for the Spending and Governance Efficiency  Commission (SAGE).

The first two forums, held on the 17th in Henderson and the 25th in Centennial Hills, were moderated by Las Vegas Review-Journal political columnist, Steve Sebelius.  The final forum was moderated by thinkLaw creator and CEO, Colin Seale.

On April 21, 2015, the Guinn Center conducted a Tax Policy Townhall, co-sponsored by the UNLV Boyd School of Law, College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance, Accion Nevada, Urban Chamber of Commerce, and Latin Chamber of Commerce.

Panelists included Dr. Nancy E. Brune (Guinn Center), Victoria Carreon (Guinn Center), Francine Lipman (UNLV Boyd School of Law), and Barbara Buckley (former Assembly Speaker).

View Presentation

Summary of Nevada 2015 Tax Proposals

View Guinn Center Reports and Testimony on 2015 Tax Proposals

On February 16, 2015, the Guinn Center presented Nevada K-12 Education Finance to Legislators and staff. This Guinn Center discussed how the Nevada Plan operates in practice and delved into all of the other local, state, and Federal funds school districts and charter schools receive. The presentation also identified issues for the Legislature to consider in the 2015 Session.

View Presentation

On December 9, 2014, the Guinn Center presented Mental Health Governance: A Review of State Models & Guide for Nevada Decision Makers to the Nevada Behavioral Health and Wellness Council.

View Presentation

View Behavioral Health and Wellness Council website

On October 10, 2014, the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities presented Nevada’s Mental Health Workforce: Shortages and Opportunities at the UNLV and University of Nevada School of Medicine Health Equities Symposium at the UNLV Dental School. The Guinn Center’s presentation was part of a panel titled Health Care Provider Shortages.

View Presentation

View Video

The Guinn Center also presented this paper at the Boyd School of Law on February 12, 2015 as part of a panel on healthcare worker shortages and at the University of Nevada Reno on February 24, 2015 as part of the Cultural Considerations in Health Care conference.

On August 4, 2014, the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities joined with Nevada Succeeds and the Public Education Foundation to present Reforming Professional Development to Improve Literacy Outcomes in Nevada at the Public Education Foundation.

This event brought together professionals from all levels of the Nevada education system, including legislators, the Nevada Department of Education, Clark County School District board members, administrators, principals, and teachers. Presenters included: Victoria Carreon, Guinn Center for Policy Priorities and Seth Rau, Nevada Succeeds. Panelists included Dena Durish (Nevada Department of Education), Marty Gardner (Executive Director of Curriculum and Professional Development, Clark County School District), Sal Rosales (Coordinator IV, Reading Rangers/WIPR), Ernie Rambo (Teacher Leader, Johnson Middle School). David Blodgett, of the Public Education Foundation, served as moderator.

View video of event                    View presentation

The Guinn Center and Nevada Succeeds have also presented this report at several other events, including the ECET2 conference (September 27, 2014) the Charter School Association of Nevada conference (October 2, 2014), the Education Alliance (October 17, 2014), the CCEA conference (November 22, 2014), and the ACT conference (February 6, 2015).

On June 30, 2014, the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities hosted its first major event at the inNEVation Center titled, The State of Latinos in the Intermountain West: Building the Infrastructure of Opportunity for Latinos in Nevada. Panelists included: Dr. John J. Hetts, Long Beach City College; Donna Linderman: City University of New York (CUNY); Dennis Perea, Director, Nevada DETR; Nory Angel: Executive Director, Houston SER-Jobs for Progress; Dr. Ruben O. Martinez, Michigan State University; and Anne Haines, President/CEO, Accion NM-AZ-CO-NV.

PowerPoint Presentations

On September 18, 2014, the Guinn Center for Policy Priorities presented The State of Latinos in the Intermountain West during a brown bag lunch and discussion at Great Basin College. Attendees included faculty and staff of Great Basin College, Elko County School District Superintendent Jeff Zander, Nevada Succeeds and community members.

On March 21, 2014, the Guinn Center presented information on the State of Latinos in Nevada as part of the Latino Network of Southern Nevada Summit, sponsored by the City of Las Vegas and held at the East Las Vegas Community Center.  More than 150 Latino leaders representing different backgrounds and community organizations attended the Summit.  The information presented by the Guinn Center was an excerpt of the June 2014 Guinn Center report titled, Latinos in the Intermountain West.

The Guinn Center for Policy Priorities has hosted several informational sessions on The Education Initiative (margin tax) for business groups, employees, and other interested parties.