The audience at CO-OP's THINK conference was enthralled with Newark Mayor Cory Booker's story of working to clean up his city. They were entranced by the sprite-like singer Daria Musk's atypical rise to stardom, not to mention her powerful voice. Both speakers brilliantly met the expectations set by theme of the conference: Disrupt business as usual.

Booker approached Republicans by recognizing their disdain for big government. The prison system represents a large hunk of government spending, so let's change that. He implemented prison release programs, including one that trained fathers to work as partners with the mothers of their children, which helped drop the recidivism rate from 62% down to 7%. Newark experienced its first month without a murder in 40 years. Newark's population began growing again after 60 years of decline.

Booker also relayed a story from when he was a city councilman. He was approached by a resident of his ward regarding what Booker could do about an area where people were afraid to walk out their front doors. He had a heated exchange with the woman. and they hung up on each other. He felt powerless in that moment. He was ready to quit politics forever that night.