Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Role of the Safety Net
July 10, 2019 | Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
7 p.m. | Linfield Hall 125
Free and open to the public
Read the Lecture Media Release
Marianne Page, director of the Center for Poverty Research and professor of economics at the University of California Davis, will explore on July 10 poverty in the United States and the degree to which economic policies and government programs can help to solve the problem. The event is free and open to the public.
Page will present, “Breaking the Poverty Cycle: The Role of the Safety Net,” at 7 p.m. in Linfield Hall Room 125.
As part of the MSU Initiative for Regulation and Applied Economic Analysis’ Visiting Scholar Program, Page will discuss her research focused on poverty and intergenerational mobility and how anti-poverty policies can affect family processes that lead to poverty persistence.
Approximately 21 percent of the nation’s children, including 15 percent of children in Montana, are living in poverty, said Wendy Stock, co-director of the initiative and professor of economics in the MSU Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics, housed in the colleges of Agriculture and Letters and Science.
“Finding ways to alleviate poverty over the long-term is among the most important policy issues of our time,” Stock said. “The Initiative for Regulation and Applied Economic Analysis is thrilled to be able to provide a forum for top-notch researchers, like Dr. Page, to share their findings on the impact of anti-poverty programs.”
Presenter and Panelists' Bios
Marianne Page
Director of the Center for Poverty Research and Professor of Economics
Marianne Page is the director of the Center for Poverty Research and a professor of economics at the University of California Davis.
In addition to being a faculty member at UC Davis, Page is a research associate with the National Bureau of Economic Research and a research fellow at IZA Institute of Labor Economics. She holds her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan. A labor economist, she is an expert on intergenerational mobility and equality of opportunity in the United States. She has worked on various issues related to low-income families, U.S. safety net programs, education and gender. She has served as principle investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, with work published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, and the Journal of Labor Economics.
Christie Twardoski
Chief, Public Assistance Bureau
Human and Community Services Division, DPHHS
Christie Twardoski is Bureau Chief for the Human and Community Services Division within the Department of Health in Human services for the State of Montana. She also serves as the SNAP Director for Montana. Her knowledge includes over 18 years of experience with public assistance and safety net programs in Montana.
Heather Grenier
CEO/President
Human Resource Development Council, District IX, Inc., Bozeman
Heather Grenier is the president and CEO for Bozeman’s local Community Action Agency, HRDC. HRDC has been fighting the war on poverty since 1975 and operates a family of services aimed at moving the needle on poverty across early childhood care and education, housing and homelessness, energy savings and weatherization, transportation, senior independence, food and nutrition, economic wellness, and community development activities.
Heather is one of 200 nationally certified Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) instructors. She has more than 17 years of experience advocating in the Non-Profit and Community Action arena.
Heather was born and raised in Missoula, Montana and is an alumni of Montana State University.