Event Agenda

Registered attendees, speakers, and press may pick up their credentials from 12pm - 2pm on September 3, 2025 downstairs in the Salamander DC Grand Foyer or beginning at 7:30am on September 4, 2025.

Please note:

  • All attendees must wear their registration badges at all times to enter each session.

  • Speaker remarks in the Grand Ballroom are on the record and may be attributed to named speakers.

  • Unless otherwise marked on the schedule, all speaker remarks in all breakouts follow the Chatham House Rule.

  • Closed sessions are considered off the record.

  • Off-stage conversations are considered off the record unless explicit permission is given.

Thursday,
September 4

9:00am - 11:30 am
Grand Ballroom

Welcome & Opening Remarks

  • Marshall Kosloff, Niskanen Center

The Build America Caucus

  • Derek Kaufman, Inclusive Abundance

  • Rep. Ritchie Torres, New York’s 15th Congressional District

  • Rep. Celeste Maloy, Utah’s 2nd District

  • Rep. Josh Harder, California’s 9th District

A Word from Our Co-Chairs

  • Zach Graves, Foundation for American Innovation

  • Jennifer Pahlka, Niskanen Center; Recoding America

A Liberalism That Builds

  • Jerusalem Demsas, The Argument

Abundance Needs Austerity

  • Reihan Salam, Manhattan Institute

Varieties of Abundance

  • Steve Teles, Johns Hopkins University; Niskanen Center

Building an Abundant Future

  • Emilia Javorsky, Future of Life Institute

  • Eli Dourado, Astera Institute

Lunch & Lunch Program

12pm - 1:15 pm
Grand Ballroom

What’s Next for the Abundance Movement?

  • John Arnold, Arnold Ventures

  • Rep. Brett Guthrie, Kentucky’s 2nd Congressional District

  • Rep. Scott Peters, California’s 50th Congressional District

Afternoon Program

1:45pm - 2:45pm
Various Locations

Note: Unless otherwise marked in the room, all speaker remarks in afternoon breakouts follow the Chatham House Rule.

Technocracy Vs. Market Dynamism
Gallery Ballroom A

  • Virginia Postrel, Works in Progress

  • Marc Dunkelman, Brown University

  • James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute

Is Abundance Just Neoliberalism?
Live Taping: The American Compass Podcast

Gallery Ballroom B

  • Oren Cass, American Compass

  • Matt Yglesias, Slow Boring

  • Marshall Kosloff, Niskanen Center

Philanthropy That Builds
Gallery Ballroom C

  • Matt Clancy, Open Philanhropy

  • Brian Hooks, Stand Together

  • Jennifer Pahlka, Niskanen Center; Recoding America

  • Seemay Chou, Astera Institute

Permitting War Room
Hirshorn (Closed Working Group; Invite Only)

  • Facilitated by the Breakthrough Institute’s Marc Levitt

Abundance For the Family
Renwick (Working Group, Limited Capacity)

  • Nicole Ruiz, Institute for Family Studies; Foundation for American Innovation

  • Leah Libresco Sargeant, Niskanen Center

Afternoon Program

3:00pm - 4:00pm
Various Locations

Note: Unless otherwise marked in the room, all speaker remarks in afternoon breakouts follow the Chatham House Rule.

How To Build Infrastructure - Live Statecraft Podcast
Gallery Ballroom A

  • Santi Ruiz, Institute for Progress

  • Zachary Liscow, Yale University

American Energy Abundance
Gallery Ballroom B

  • Thomas Hochman, Foundation for American Innovation

  • Jane Flegal, Blue Horizons Foundation

  • Levi Patterson, NVIDIA

  • Hannah Safford, Federation of American Scientists

Housing Abundance: Winning Messages & Advocacy
Gallery Ballroom C

  • Jamal Raad, Welcoming Neighbors Network

  • Gillian Pressman, YIMBY Action

  • Felicity Maxwell, Texans for Housing

  • Matthew Lewis, California YIMBY

  • Laura Foote, YIMBY Action

  • Justine Underhill, City Council, Falls Church, Virginia

Finance: The Missing Pillar of Abundance?
Renwick (Working Group, Limited Capacity)

  • Paul Williams, Center for Public Enterprise

  • Skanda Amarnath, Employ America

  • Austin Bishop, Reindustrialize

A New Golden Age of Science?
Hirshorn (Working Group, Limited Capacity: OPEN to press & ON the Record)

  • Daniel Correa, Federation of American Scientists

  • Ian Banks, Foundation for American Innovation

  • Seemay Chou, Astera Institute

Networking & Happy Hour

4pm - 5:30 pm
Grand Lawn & Marina Room

Evening &
Dinner Program

6:30pm - 8:30pm
Grand Ballroom

Note: This is a private dinner and is not extended to those with day pass registrations.

Bottom-Up Abundance
Alex Trembath, The Breakthrough Institute

Introducing Governor Spencer Cox
Chris Barnard, American Conservation Coalition

Utah: A State that Builds
A Conversation between Governor Spencer J. Cox and The Atlantic’s Yoni Appelbaum

Friday,
September 5

9:00 am - 9:15 am
Grand Ballroom

Day Two Welcome & Opening Remarks

  • Marshall Kosloff, Niskanen Center

Morning Breakouts

9:30am - 10:30am
Various Locations

Note: Unless otherwise marked in the room, all speaker remarks in afternoon breakouts follow the Chatham House Rule.

What’s Driving Blue City Flight: Cost of Living Vs. Quality of Life
Gallery Ballroom A

  • Charles Lehman, Manhattan Institute

  • Josh Barro, Very Serious

  • Laura Foote, YIMBY Action

  • Mark Miller, Pacific Legal Foundation

The Future of the Democratic Coalition
Gallery Ballroom B

  • David Shor, Blue Rose Research

  • Steve Teles, Johns Hopkins University; Niskanen Center

Implementation Lessons From the Biden Administration
Gallery Ballroom C

  • Jennifer Pahlka, Niskanen Center; Recoding America

  • Adam White, American Enterprise Institute

  • Andrew Rogers, Boundary Stone Partners

Healthcare Scarcity and How to Fix It
Hirshorn (Working Group, Limited Capacity)

  • Lawson Mansell, Niskanen Center

  • Alec Stapp, Institute for Progress

  • Jaimie Cavanaugh, Pacific Legal Foundation

  • Chelsea Boyd, R Street Institute

NIMBY: Nuclear in My Backyard
Renwick (Working Group, Limited Capacity)

  • Ted Nordhaus, The Breakthrough Institute

  • Emmett Penney, Foundation for American Innovation

Late Morning Breakouts

10:45am - 11:45 am
Various Locations

Note: Unless otherwise marked in the room, all speaker remarks in afternoon breakouts follow the Chatham House Rule.

Reindustrializing America
Gallery Ballroom A

  • Julius Krein, New American Industrial Alliance

  • Craig Hooper, California Forever

  • Jacek Prus, Mersenne

  • Elizabeth Kennedy, Activate

Will AGI Create Abundance?
Gallery Ballroom B

  • Samuel Hammond, Foundation for American Innovation

  • Dean Ball, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Are We Over-Lawyered and Under-Engineered?
Gallery Ballroom C

  • Nick Bagley, University of Michigan

  • Dan Wang, Hoover History Lab

High Skill Immigration
Renwick (Working Group, Limited Capacity)

  • Caleb Watney, Institute for Progress

  • Adam Ozimek, Economic Innovation Group

  • Garett Jones, George Mason University

  • Kristie De Peña, Niskanen Center

The Abundance Electeds Network
Hirshorn (Abundance Network - Members Only Session - Closed to press; Closed to the public)

  • Facilitated by Giselle Hale, Abundance Network

Lunch & Lunch Program

An Introduction

  • California State Senator Scott Wiener

Abundance in the States

  • Andrew Boesenecker, Colorado Speaker Pro Tempore & State Representative

  • Jessica Bateman, Washington State Senator

  • Daniel Zolnikov, Montana State Senator

  • Rep. Joe Alexander, New Hampshire General Court

  • Anna Hernandez, Councilwoman, City of Phoenix

A Conversation With Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

  • Ezra Klein, Co-Author, Abundance

  • Derek Thompson Co-Author, Abundance

  • David Brooks, NYT Opinion

12pm - 2:15 pm
Grand Ballroom

Closing Remarks & Conference End

2:15p - 3p
Unstructured Networking & Goodbyes