On December 19, 1991, The Wall Street Journal published Peter F. Drucker’s essay, “It Profits Us to Strengthen Nonprofits,” where he made several critical statements about America’s welfare state, including…”Government has proved incompetent at solving social problems, virtually every success we have scored has been achieved by nonprofits.”

In the nearly 25 years since Drucker’s essay was published, many of his observations still ring true. “What is needed,” he wrote a quarter century ago, ”is a public policy that establishes the nonprofits as the country’s first line of attack on its social problems.”

Today, America’s welfare state bureaucracies spend trillions of dollars each year osten sibly to improve people’s lives. With tens of millions of Americans receiving food stamps, disability benefits, medical coverage and other social welfare benefits, a comprehensive review of the paradigm that has created these programs, which has caused more dependency upon federal, state and local governments, is in order.

The greatest challenge for the American people is how to demonstrate their humanitarian concerns for their fellow human beings in an effective, less costly manner. Thus, Peter Drucker’s proposal needs to have an airing in these times of fiscal constraints.

To examine the impact of Drucker’s work and the challenges presented for the American people, several experts provide their perspectives in this informative panel discussion.

Howard Husock

Vice President for Research and Publications and Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Initiative at the Manhattan Institute

Author of Philanthropy Under Fire, The Trillion-Dollar Housing Mistake: The Failure of American Housing Policy; Repairing the Ladder: Toward a New Housing Policy Paradigm, and contributor to Forbes.com

Amanda Missey

Executive Director of the Bergen Volunteer Medical Initiative

On the Board of Advisors of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Bergen County Workforce Development Board

Past-president of the YMCA of Greater Bergen County

Mitch Kahn

Professor Emeritus of Social Work, Ramapo College of New Jersey

Serves on the boards of the Greater Bergen Community Action Program, the Bergen County Housing Coalition, and City Green, Inc.

Author of publications for the Social Service Review, the Journal of Community Practice, the Journal of Progressive Human Services, the Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, and popular media such as The Nation Magazine, and Policy Link

James Ostrowski

Attorney, Buffalo, New York

Author of Government Schools Are Bad for Your Kids: What You Need to Know; Political Class Dismissed: Essays Against Politics; Direct Citizen Action: How We Can Win the Second American Revolution Without Firing a Shot; and his latest book, Progressivism, A Primer

Sandra Miniutti

Vice President, Marketing & CFO for Charity Navigator

Regularly appears on television, radio and in print, regarding the non-profit sector

With a Rutgers professor, created a non-profit called GlassRoots to provide area youth with opportunities to create glass art and develop entrepreneurial and life skills

Member of the Board of Trustees for GlassRoots (2007-2014)

Member of the development staff of the Morris Museum

Event Poster (PDF)