Biden Foundation launches forum on middle class economics

Julia Fair | USA TODAY

Former vice president Joe Biden's foundation announced Wednesday the launch of the Biden Forum, an online conversation on the future of work and equality in America.

The decision follows Biden's lifelong commitment to fighting for working Americans, the Biden Foundation said in a statement. The Biden Forum will expand on ideas to strengthen the middle class, increase economic equality and expand opportunities for all.

“I am more optimistic now about our country’s prospects than at any point in my career," Biden said in a statement. "Never have we had so many innovative ideas or better ways to share them. My hope is that this forum makes it a little easier to hear one another, to listen to one another, and to move forward together.”

Forum contributors will include industry leaders, innovators, elected officials and Americans from all around the country, the foundation said.

The forum will display local initiatives from communities within the U.S. and will promote collaboration between organizers sharing ideas.

"By hosting an open dialogue on the issues that impact American families, we hope to advance policies that ensure everyone — no matter their income level, race, gender, age, or sexuality — is treated with dignity and respect and gets a fair shot at achieving the American Dream," the foundation said.

Biden wrote the first post on the site, detailing how a strong middle class is important for a successful America.

"I’ll tell you what the middle class is to me. It looks like America. All of America. It is a set of values. A code of conduct. A belief in the possible. It embodies hard work, dignity, grit, pride, principle, and hope," Biden wrote.

See the full post here.