On June 21 and 22, the Roosevelt Institute | Campus Network will host its Solve 2012 Policy Expo in Washington, DC to highlight the innovative ways that young people are creating an impact in their communities while shaping the broader dialogue on how to move the country forward in 2012 and beyond. Hear from students who are designing alternative energy policies for universities, creating solutions for food waste, and discovering ways to deliver critical health services to low-income neighborhoods. The event includes two days of discussion, debate, and discourse with some of the brightest young minds of the Millennial generation as they share their innovative ideas for solving our greatest challenges.

For more information and to register for the event, click here.

While watching the drawn-out battle over passing health care reform sometimes felt like peering into a sausage factory run by lobbyists, Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow Richard Kirsch was at the grassroots frontlines, leading ordinary Americans in a successful charge against moneyed interests and entrenched conservatives. His new book, Fighting For Our Health, hits book stores today. It gives a first-person account of the successful grassroots lobby he led for health care reform. And it assesses the role of a coalition of progressive advocates who pushed the law to victory over powerful opponents, including tea partiers, the Republican Party, the insurance industry, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The book is already making waves with the likes of The Hill and Talking Points Memo, so don't get left out -- buy your copy today and get the inside scoop of what really went down when the Obama administration's hallmark legislation was passed.

For more on the book, check out his series of excerpts from the book that chronicle the challenges and victories on the bill's way to passage. Stay tuned for more excerpts to come.

In 1926, then soon-to-be First Lady of New York State Eleanor Roosevelt decided to found Val-Kill Industries. It was dedicated to crafting replicas of early American furniture, pewter, and weavings, but also served to provide jobs and training to local men and women and therefore keep them in rural Hyde Park instead of heading to New York City's factories. Until it closed in 1936, its reproductions were carried in leading department stores across the country.

Join the Roosevelt Institute, in partnership with the Museum of the City of New York, on October 26 for a lecture from professor and author of Eleanor Roosevelt: Transformative First Lady Maurine Beasley on the fascinating story of Val-Kill and its cultural relevance then and now. Friends of the Institute receive a discount on tickets; click here to purchase them and enter code Roosevelt1026.

Some say Fannie and Freddie were the real cause of the financial crisis. Others say that's baloney. But either way, with rampant foreclosure fraud, a housing market still in ruins, and no good ideas about how to reform the GSEs, what to do about housing policy in the U.S. remains an open question. To talk about some potential answers, join the Roosevelt Institute for an event next Tuesday, September 13 in Washington, D.C.

Phil Angelides, Chair of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, will kick things off by discussing the role Fannie and Freddie did (or did not) play in the crash. Then hear from noted panelists including Roosevelt Institute Fellows Jeff Madrick, Rob Johnson, and Mike Konczal and others as they talk about the government's role in housing and how to reform the GSEs. It will all wrap up with a final address from Roosevelt Institute Senior Fellow and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz.

If you are interested in attending, RSVP by sending an email to Madeleine Ehrlich at mehrlich [at] rooseveltinstitute [dot] org by the close of business on Friday, September 9.