How Government and Policy Shape Our World

Councilperson Erika Strassburger represents Pittsburgh's District 8, which encompasses Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, and Oakland on City Council. But what does a councilperson actually do? Beyond casting votes and drafting bills, Erika shapes how policy actually gets implemented, refined, and amended. In this talk, she'll share how trust built through small community conversations ripples upward, and why investing in local government may be the key to restoring faith in democracy itself.

In a country with notably expensive health care, health insurance is usually necessary but often is an insufficient condition for obtaining care. Even when insured and prescribed treatment, access is not guaranteed: insurers use utilization management tools to contain costs and reduce overprescribing, but these tools also deny some medically necessary care. Appeals are possible, but they impose heavy administrative burdens that people with lower health insurance literacy – typically those from historically marginalized groups – are less able to navigate. Private insurance constraints thus drive barriers to care and pose structural drivers of health and economic inequality.