In late 2016, Opportunity America organized a coalition of center-right think tanks and business groups to host a two-day conference showcasing new conservative thinking on poverty and opportunity.
Participants included Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, best-selling author J. D. Vance, American Enterprise Institute scholar Charles Murray and William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, as well as some four dozen researchers and policy experts on topics ranging from single-parent families to college affordability.
Following the conference, Opportunity America distilled some of the best thinking presented at the event in a volume of essays published by the American Enterprise Institute. Among the contributors: AEI president Arthur Brooks, AEI director of economic policy studies Michael Strain, Manhattan Institute senior fellow Oren Cass and Opportunity America president Tamar Jacoby.