Heirs鈥� Property and the Racial Wealth Gap Conference

Presented by听The Initiative on Land, Housing & Property Rights at BC Law

Thursday, March 21, 2024 - Friday, March 22, 2024 | Boston College听

Note: This is a hybrid event, registration required to attend or .听See agenda section for session details. Guests may register for either or both dates.

Heirs鈥� Property and the Racial Wealth Gap Conference

Well over $32 billion in real property in the U.S. is estimated to be heirs鈥� property, a highly unstable form of ownership. Loss of heirs鈥� property and heirs鈥� properties that lack clear title increase the racial wealth gap. Learn about the problem鈥攁nd existing and potential solutions.

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CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS

Screening of award-winning feature-length documentary (Al Roker Entertainment), followed by Q&A with director Eternal Polk, film participants, and Tharlyn Fox from John Deere
Panels with senior staff from USDA, Fannie Mae, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Presentation from Dr. Dewayne Goldmon, Senior Advisor, Racial Equity, USDA
Keynote address by Drinan Professor and MacArthur 'Genius Grant' recipient听Thomas W. Mitchell, founder & director of BC Law's Initiative on Land, Housing & Property Rights
Panels addressing many heirs鈥� property issues, including partition law abuse, property tax foreclosure, clear title/tangled title matters, and racial will-making gaps
Panels with leading heirs' property academics, researchers, and practitioners
Roundtable on media鈥檚 role in uplifting Black property & heirs鈥� property issues with award-winning reporters, documentary filmmakers & people featured in such media pieces

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Conference Organizer

Thomas W. Mitchell a MacArthur 鈥淕enius Grant鈥� Fellow, holds the Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Endowed Chair at BC Law and is founder and director of the ILHPR. He was the principal drafter of model state legislation to reduce property loss among disadvantaged families that are disproportionately Black, which 23 states and jurisdictions have adopted at this time.

Co-sponsored by: The Institute for the Liberal Arts at Boston College

Schedule and Registration
Thursday, March 21听\|听300 Hammond Pond Parkway
12:00鈥�1:00 PM	Check-in
1:00鈥�1:15 PM	Welcome
1:15鈥�2:15 PM	Graduate Student Heirs鈥� Property Research Panel Panelists: Belay W. Alem, LL.B, B.A., LL.M, Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, the University of Florida Uju Egiebor, Graduate Student (Ph.D.), Integrative Public Policy & Development, Tuskegee University Jasmine Simington, NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology & Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan Moderator: Tes Myrie, MSc-PhD Student, Precision Forestry Lab & Remote Sensing, Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia
2:15-2:30 PM	Break
2:30鈥�4:00 PM	Roundtable: Media鈥檚 Role in Uplifting Black Property and Heirs鈥� Property Issues Presenters: Lyle Kendrick, Producer at VICE News Lizzie Presser, Reporter at ProPublica Kim Duhon, featured in The Cost of Inheritance Professor Thomas W. Mitchell, Boston College Law School Moderator: Associate Professor Angela Ards, English Department, and Director of Journalism Program, African and African Diaspora Studies, Boston College
4:00-4:15 PM	Break
4:15鈥�4:45 PM	Presentation by Dr. Dewayne Goldmon, Senior Advisor for Racial Equity to the Secretary of Agriculture
5:00-6:15 PM	Dinner
6:30鈥�8:00 PM	Screening Gaining Ground: The Fight for Black Land Please note that due to contractual obligations, we are not able to stream the documentary itself to our virtual audience; it will be shown only to in-person attendees.
8:00鈥�8:30 PM	Gaining Ground Panel Discussion Panelists: Tharlyn Fox, LEAP Manager, John Deere Company Professor Thomas Mitchell, Boston College Law School, and film participant Eternal Polk, Director Moderator:听 John T. Cooper, Jr., Associate Professor of the Practice in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, Texas A&M University.

Friday, March 22, 2024听\|听300 Hammond Pond Parkway
8:00鈥�8:45 AM	Check-in & breakfast
8:45鈥�9:00 AM	Welcome
9:00-10:00 AM	Panel 1 - Quantifying Heirs鈥� Property: Methodologies and Significance Panelists: Maria Evans, Vice President for Sustainable Communities Partnerships, Fannie Mae Natasha Moodie, Research Associate, Housing Assistance Council Assistant Professor Ryan Thomson, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Auburn University Kara Woods, Research Analyst, Socially Disadvantaged Ranchers and Farmers Policy Research Center, Alcorn State University Moderator: Cassandra Johnson Gaither, Research Social Scientist, Southern Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
10:05-11:05 AM	Panel 2: The Racial Will-Making Gap and Efforts to Close It Panelists: Professor Keeva Terry, Howard University School of Law; Gal Wettstein, Senior Research Economist, Center for Retirement Research, Boston College; Jesse Williams, Law Fellow, Environmental Law & Policy Clinic, Heirs鈥� Property Project, Wake Forest University School of Law. Moderator:听 Terrence Franklin, Partner, Sacks, Glazier, Franklin & Lodise LLP.
11:15 AM-12:15 PM	Panel 3: The Role of Federal Institutions in Addressing Heirs鈥� Property Matters Panelists: William Cobb, Deputy Administrator for Farm Loan Programs, Farm Service Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture Cassandra Johnson Gaither, PhD, Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service, Southern Research Station Sarah Stein, J.D., M.A., Senior Research Adviser, Community & Economic Development, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Moderator:听 Professor Robert Zabawa, Research Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Tuskegee University.
12:30鈥�1:30 PM	Lunch with Keynote Speech and Fireside Chat Keynote from Professor Thomas W. Mitchell, holder of the Robert S. Drinan S.J. Endowed Chair and Director of the Initiative on Land, Housing and Property Rights at Boston College Law School. Fireside chat with Dean Odette Lienau following keynote address.
1:45鈥�2:45 PM	Panel 4: Perspectives on Heirs鈥� Property Matters From Lawyers in the Trenches Panelists: Jacy Fisher, Attorney, Gregory Varner & Associates (AL) Brianna Bogan, Director of Legal Services, Center for Heirs鈥� Property Preservation (SC) Andrea Barnes, Director of Heirs鈥� Property, Mississippi Center for Justice (MS) Moderator: Mavis Gragg, CEO, HeirShares (NC) and Loeb Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Design
3:00鈥�4:00 PM	Panel 5: Property Tax Foreclosures of Heirs鈥� Property Homes Panelists: Professor Heather Way, University of Texas School of Law Andrea Bopp Stark, Senior Attorney, National Consumer Law Center Kate Dugan, Staff Attorney, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia Moderator: Odette Williamson, Senior Attorney, National Consumer Law Center
4:15鈥�5:15 PM	Panel 6: Heirs鈥� Property/Tangled Title Issues in the Urban Context Panelist: Octavia Howell, Manager, Philadelphia Research and Policy Initiative, The Pew Charitable Trusts Kristopher Smith, Community Development Program Officer, Jacksonville LISC Genevieve H茅bert-Fajardo, Clinical Professor of Law, St. Mary鈥檚 School of Law in San Antonio, TX Scott Kohanowski, General Counsel, Center for NYC Neighborhoods James Leonard, Attorney and Commissioner of Records, City of Philadelphia, PA Moderator: Nefertitti Jackmon, Community Displacement Prevention Officer, City of Austin, TX
5:15鈥�5:30 PM	Closing Remarks
5:30鈥�6:30 PM	Reception

Campus Map and Parking

Parking is available at the nearby Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue Garages.

Boston College is also accessible via public transportation (MBTA B Line - Boston College).

Directions, Maps, and Parking

Visitor Parking Information

Boston College strongly encourages conference participants to receive the COVID-19 vaccination before attending events on campus.

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