What is your Big Idea for Philadelphia?
Delaware Valley Alliance: Fighting for Economic Justice
Evelyn Sample-Oates
OIC of America and its partners are spearheading the Delaware Valley Alliance—an aggressive movement toward economic justice that enriches people’s lives and economic well-being, while addressing a critical need for today’s economy.
The regressive gas tax disproportionately affects forgotten people living in forgotten places, while the public works that it funds disproportionately employ those already overrepresented in the construction trades. With an $8-$10 billion annual PennDOT budget—$3.4 billion in the five-county Philadelphia region alone—we have an opportunity to ensure those who pay the most are able to benefit from the jobs created.
Building equity in the construction trades will improve economic justice and reduce poverty—particularly in Black and brown communities, which face a 27 percent poverty rate across the region.
The Delaware Valley Alliance is the blueprint for an economic model that addresses the systemic barriers that keep people—especially those in poverty and in the justice system—from fully participating in today’s economy.
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About the Speaker
Evelyn Sample-Oates has dedicated her career to service to our city. Born and raised in West Philadelphia, she spent more than a decade working for the School District of Philadelphia before transitioning to leadership positions at local nonprofits: first the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and since last summer, at OIC of America. At OICA she carries on the legacy of founder Rev. Dr. Leon H. Sullivan, a towering international civil rights leader. With Evelyn as Senior Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Policy, OIC of America positions the workforce of today, tomorrow and the future to harness their economic power into political power. In her view, with the right training and tools, historically oppressed people can use their talent to have the strongest influence on policy and cultural change. Through a career spent in Philly, as well as longtime service to her beloved Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority (where she counts Vice President Kamala Harris as a sister), Evelyn has built a deep and influential network of colleagues and friends whom she regularly taps in the interest of enriching the lives and economic well-being of forgotten people in forgotten places. Since bringing Evelyn on board, OIC of America has reestablished the deep Philadelphia roots planted by Rev. Sullivan, for the benefit of those across the Delaware Valley.
Evelyn Sample-Oates