LEWISTON — Bates alumni will participate in a panel discussion on modern social movements and the elements needed for progressive change in today’s political climate at 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 19, in Hedge Hall 106.

The event is titled “Building a Progressive Agenda to Win: A Conversation with Bates Alumni in Social Movements,” and it will be moderated by Aditi Vaidya, who is a Senior Program Officer with the Solidago Foundation and See Forward and volunteers on the boards of several social justice and health organizations.

This panel is an extension of the short term course titled Social Change Organizing and Advocacy, co-instructed by Vaidya, Sarah Standiford and former city councilor Craig Saddlemire. The course is part of a new experiment at Bates College to offer practitioner-taught courses to students interested in building career-specific skills such as mediation, sound recording, entrepreneurship, urban planning and community organizing.

Panel speakers include Ben Chin, the the Political Director of the Maine People’s Alliance and candidate for Mayor of Lewiston; Kalila Barnett, the Executive Director of Alternatives for Community and Environment in Boston and formerly a senior organizer for Community Labor United; and Matt Schlobohm, the Executive Director of the Maine AFL-CIO and founder of the Maine Fair Trade Campaign.

The event is free and open to the public.