- Pritzker Fellows
- Former Fellows
- Stephanie Murphy
Stephanie Murphy
Former U.S. Representative (D-FL)
A businesswoman, policy expert, and former U.S. Congresswoman. In strategy and investment roles, Ms. Murphy worked with businesses across a range of industries. As an executive at an investment firm, she evaluated business opportunities and worked with management teams to navigate regulatory and business risk. She provided strategic advice to senior executives at multinational companies while at Deloitte Consulting. In addition, she was an instructor of finance at Rollins College and helped launch the social entrepreneurship program on campus.
Ms. Murphy was a national security specialist at the U.S. Department of Defense, where she received numerous awards for her service, including the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service. She helped to shape U.S. policy in the Asia Pacific by fostering cooperation in capacity building, disaster preparedness, special operations, and counterterrorism. Ms. Murphy led the effort to set the Defense Department’s strategic direction and priorities for security cooperation and contingency planning. She also worked on budget and acquisitions for the U.S. Navy.
In Congress, Ms. Murphy was known as an effective legislator cutting through partisan gridlock to establish an exceptional record of legislative success. Ms. Murphy was consistently named one of the most effective and bipartisan members of Congress during her three terms (from 2017 to 2023). She led the bipartisan effort to lift the federal gun violence research ban and created the tax benefit that enabled businesses to retain and rehire workers during the pandemic. Ms. Murphy was a key player in delivering historic infrastructure and climate investments. She also carved out a role as a leading Congressional voice on trade and national security policy.
Ms. Murphy served as co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of House Democrats focused on fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense, and a principled and pragmatic approach to legislating. She also served as a Chief Deputy Whip of the House Democratic Caucus and on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. In these roles, Ms. Murphy helped to shape the House policy agenda. In addition to her leadership roles, Ms. Murphy served on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, the House Armed Services Committee, Small Business Committee, and the historic Select Committee to Investigate the Jan 6th Attack on the Capitol.
Ms. Murphy earned a B.A. in Economics from the College of William and Mary and an M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. In 2022, Ms. Murphy received honorary doctorate degrees from her alma mater, William and Mary, and from Gettysburg College. Ms. Murphy is the chair of the Future Forum Foundation and co-chair of the US Global Leadership Coalition. She also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Rand National Security Advisory Board, and the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security Advisory Council.
Seminars
“Going Deep on the Intersection of Business & Politics”
Former Florida Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy is a refugee from a communist country and an immigrant who has had the opportunity to live the American Dream. My hard-working parents raised me in a trailer park in rural Virginia, but I was afforded a quality public education which set my path to corporate boardrooms, Pentagon SCIFs, and the corridors of Congress. My story could have only happened here in the United States, where the two pillars that make America great - her governance system of democracy and her economic system of capitalism - made it possible.
Democratic capitalism is a system in which the economic rules are defined by democratic governments responsive to the people they govern. Over the last decade, both democracy and capitalism have been severely tested.
In these seminars, we will look at the changing nature of American party politics, the policies being promoted by both parties and the impact on democratic governance and democratic capitalism. We will explore the changing dynamics of the American electorate and the major parties' reorientation to their base. We will discuss the policy changes to the democratic processes and the potential impact on the next election, and explore the domestic and foreign policy changes that are reshaping the business environment.
I will share my personal journey from an autocratic communist country to the United States to American boardrooms, the halls of the Pentagon and the corridors of Congress, paved by America’s unique democratic governance and capitalist economy. The Jan 6th Select Committee gave me a bird’s eye view on how the democratic system can be vulnerable. We will discuss changes to voting and election processes across the country that seek to shore up or further weaken the democratic process, as well as shifts in economic conventional wisdom that are making significant changes to how our market economy functions.
Republicans are struggling with exurban, college educated and young voters while Democrats are losing rural, working class and older voters. The class inversion of American Politics is what New York Times writer David Leonhardt calls “one of the most consequential developments in American life” and one of the main reasons that the consensus in Washington is moving away from free-market economic policies and toward more populist policies. The Biden administration is promoting their worker-centered trade policies and key Republicans like Marco Rubio are breaking with Ronald Reagan-style policies and embracing anti-business policies to capture the votes of a key demographic.
In 2022, Dems lost the two-party House vote by 10 points among working-class voters and Republicans regained control of the House by winning districts with below median incomes. So how precisely did we get here? How does each party’s base voter influence the policies of their political leaders?
Special Guest (via Zoom): Ruy Teixeira, Political Demographer & Commentator, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, Author of the Upcoming Book “Where Have All the Democrats Gone? The Soul of the Party in the Age of Extremes”
Suggested Reading:
Five Reasons Why Democrats Should Focus Obsessively on Working-Class Voters
In the last election, Republicans won control of the House by winning districts with lower than national average median incomes. Biden’s ability to win in the upcoming election relies in large part on his ability to maintain the critical support of the working class in several key states. As such, Republicans are sliding away from free trade, the U.S. Chamber, Corporate PACs, and Big Business while Democrats have ratcheted up increased antipathy toward the same groups. In an effort to capture or hold the working class, generally defined in the U.S. as those without college degrees, what policies are each party espousing?
Special Guest (via Zoom): U.S. Representative Dean Phillips (D-MN)
After decades of political aversion to industrial policy, the last Congress sent President Biden bills to sign into law that make significant investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and the environment. With the exception of the Inflation Reduction Act which included the historic climate investments, the other bills were bipartisan. This is a stunning reversal for Republicans who are usually skeptical of industrial policy. As these laws are implemented, can the government be a successful selector of winners and losers? What additional requirements are being added to the implementation of these bills that can enhance or inhibit reaching the objective of the laws (e.g. child care requirements)? What market distortions are occurring as business seeks to maximize the new laws?
Special Guest (via Zoom): Adrienne Elrod, Director of External and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s CHIPS for America
The Biden Administration has continued a policy that began under President Trump to manage China’s competitive potential and to limit China’s technological edge. During the Trump Admin, the prevailing policy position on China was that it was a threat and a competitor that needed to be managed and that economic decoupling was necessary to safeguard American interests. In a change to conventional policy prioritization, this Administration has stated that national security will be the guiding principle irrespective of the impact on economic objectives. Why is there such bipartisan support for an anti-China policy? What policies have resulted from that consensus? What impact has it had on American businesses and American consumers? What are the policy objectives and is the U.S. government achieving them and at what cost?
Special Guest (via Zoom): U.S. Representative Jacob Auchincloss (D-MA)
Suggested Reading:
U.S. companies are under increased shareholder pressure to consider how environmental, social and governance issues factor into the company’s long-term strategy to create financial value and also positive social and environmental impacts.
Yet the issue of ESG implementation has become a political football in conservative circles, with companies being accused of “woke” policies and companies facing an unprecedented level of pushback on myriad ESG policies. In some states, there have been laws passed to prohibit companies from considering ESG, and those laws have subsequently been challenged. As the legal issues work their way through the judicial process, many companies find themselves navigating the precarious line between shareholder interests and politics. What are the best practices for companies? Discuss!
Special Guest (via Zoom): Bruce Mehlman, Partner at Mehlman Consulting, former Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Technology Policy under President George W. Bush
Suggested Reading:
Judge Rules in Favor of Montana Youths in Landmark Climate Decision
Increasingly companies are under pressure to take a stand on political issues. Last year, Florida governor Ron DeSantis sparked a war with Walt Disney after the company publicly criticized the state’s Republican-controlled legislature over its bill banning teachers from leading discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation - the “Don’t Say Gay” measure. In April, Disney took to federal court to hit back. In 2021, Delta and Coca-Cola found themselves in a fight with their home state of Georgia over the passage of restrictive voting rights. This year, Starbucks CEO was in the Senate hot seat accused of union busting by Senator Bernie Sanders. Recently, Budweiser stumbled into a public relations firestorm when it employed a transgender influencer to promote its products. Can anyone in America enjoy a beer without a political debate anymore? Where is the line between government oversight and political retaliation? Who are the villains and the heroes in a show that’s a cross between a political reality TV and morality theater?