Columbia Institute of Global Politics

08/28/2026

ICYMI: This week, we announced the Columbia IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellows for 2026-27

This year’s cohort includes a diverse mix of new and returning high-profile practitioners from around the globe, representing a range of sectors: former high-ranking policy officials, business leaders, groundbreaking activists, and more.

Meet the 2026-27 IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellows: https://igp.sipa.columbia.edu/distinguished-fellows

Columbia | SIPA

08/20/2026

“My mouth is more powerful than my fist,” - words from Bertha “Mama Cookie” Bradley that reflect the power of united workers. An elected regional leader of the Union of Southern Service Workers in North Carolina, her mission of worker advocacy started long before joining the Fight for $15 movement.

Now 66, her journey began at 19 years old when she participated in her first strike. Her grandfather, a union worker, taught her how to stand up for herself, giving her the courage to fight for what’s right. But as a Black woman in the South, Mama Cookie worried about violence at protests. At one point, she stepped away from the movement altogether. In that time, the conditions that had drawn her in - like caring for her grandmother without support, working multiple jobs while raising children - remained unchanged. Mama Cookie returned, continuing her fight for workers rights in the South, and watching a new generation of advocates take the lead: “It means a lot when you see young people stand their ground.”

Mama Cookie’s story holds themes shared across America - the struggles of working with a minimum wage of $7.25/hr that has become unlivable. The Fight for $15 movement aims to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour, giving financial relief to millions of workers. By the end of 2026, 136 jurisdictions - cities, towns, counties and states - will reach or exceed a $15 minimum wage. But the fight is far from over. Read more about the Fight for $15 and the lessons learned for future movements in a new Columbia Institute of Global Politics report by Mary Kay Henry and Dylan Baca:https://igp.sipa.columbia.edu/sites/igp/files/2026-07/Fight%20for%2015%20and%20a%20Union.pdf

Pictured here: Mama Cookie (center) and participants in the November 2025 Worker Leader Convening at Columbia IGP / Columbia | SIPA, where worker leaders gathered to share their experiences and offer critical insights drawn from years of organizing and advocacy.

08/18/2026

What did the Fight for 15$ and a Union movement achieve for millions of Americans?

IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow Mary Kay Henry reflects on the movement’s impact.

Read her new report, written with co-author Dylan Baca, “Lessons Learned from the Fight for $15 and a Union Movement” at the link in our bio.

08/18/2026

“The dramatic increase in minimum wages in cities and states across the country over the last decade is often heralded as a policy milestone. But it is also a story about what can happen when large, long-term investments are made before there is any guarantee of success.”

IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow Mary Kay Henry writes about the lessons learned from the Fight for $15 Movement for philanthropic donors. Read her op-ed in The Nonprofit Quarterly:

The Fight for $15 movement succeeded because a union made a massive, risky, long-term bet before victory seemed possible—and it’s a victory that philanthropic donors can learn from.

08/18/2026

NEW report from Columbia IGP: Lessons Learned from the Fight for $15 and a Union movement. Read it to understand what the movement achieved (including more than $150 billion in raises for 26 million workers) and the lessons we can learn from it:https://igp.sipa.columbia.edu/sites/igp/files/2026-07/Fight%20for%2015%20and%20a%20Union.pdf

By IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow Mary Kay Henry and her co-author Dylan Baca.

08/07/2026

How are American workers thinking about AI, and what do they want from AI policy?

Mary Beech, Michelle Miller, Crystal Weise, Alex Jacquez, Ai-jen Poo, and Alexander Hertel-Fernandez discussed the most pressing questions around AI labor market policies during our recent webinar.

This webinar was a part of the American Democracy Initiative and Ann F. Kaplan Women’s Initiative series on AI and labor.

08/05/2026

As AI technologies continue to improve, policies to regulate their use in the workplace and prepare for potential AI-driven job displacement as well as degradation of job quality and working standards are being debated ahead of the midterm elections.

Join us for a webinar addressing some of the most pressing questions around AI labor market policies:

How are American workers thinking about the ongoing and future impacts of AI?

How should employers, government, and worker organizations respond?

How do differences across race, gender, education level, and occupation shape/influence workers’ demands for policy responses?

This event is cosponsored by IGP’s American Democracy Initiative and Ann F. Kaplan Women’s Initiative at Columbia SIPA, and Workshop

Speakers:

Mary Beech, Fellow, Workshop; Visiting Fellow, Washington Center for Equitable Growth

Alex Jacquez, Senior Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Research, Groundwork

Michelle Miller, Director of Innovation, Center for Labor and a Just Economy, Harvard Law School

Ai-jen Poo, Executive Director, Caring Across Generations, and President, National Domestic Workers Alliance; IGP Carnegie Distinguished Fellow

Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Herbert H. Lehman Professor of Government, Director of IGP’s American Democracy Initiative, and IGP Faculty Advisory Board Member, Columbia SIPA

Opening Remarks:
Jennifer Klein, Ann F. Kaplan Professor of Professional Practice and Director of IGP’s Ann F. Kaplan Women’s Initiative, Columbia SIPA

07/29/2026

NEWS: Today, we announce the recipients of our newest round of IGP Faculty Grant Awards.

Seven projects led by Columbia | SIPA faculty and their collaborators will explore topics ranging from household finance and economic development to the geopolitics of critical minerals, the future of long-term care, electricity grid modernization, democratic leadership, workplace technology, and the politics of extraction in the Amazon. Congratulations to this year’s grant recipients:

Fernando Cirelli
Robert Metcalfe
Timothy Naftali
Suresh Naidu
Nicole Peisajovich
Eric Verhoogen
Cesar Zucco
Daniela Campello

Learn more about the Columbia IGP Faculty Grant Awards and this year’s recipients: https://igp.sipa.columbia.edu/news/igp-announces-202627-faculty-grant-awards

07/17/2026

“It is time to stop offering American moms empty, unfunded promises, and start providing the affordable, equitable and accessible healthcare they need to stay alive.”

In Ms. Magazine, Director of the Columbia IGP Ann F. Kaplan Women’s Initiative, Jennifer Klein and co-author Stephanie Ogorzalek examine the growing crisis of maternal mortality in the American healthcare system.

As reproductive healthcare faces continued cuts, the US now has the highest maternal mortality rate among all high income countries.

Read about what’s driving the crisis, and what policy makers can do to address it:

American healthcare was fundamentally reshaped a year ago with the passage of H.R. 1. The sweeping federal budget reconciliation bill President Donald Trump called the One Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law on July 4, 2025. One year later, the country's sexual and reproductive health system is i...