The Institutional Antiracism and Accountability (IARA) Project conducts rigorous research to find what works — and doesn’t — to create antiracist change.
As institutions make commitments to racial equity, there’s a growing need for effective and implementable policies and practices. Research can play a crucial role in identifying field-tested solutions.
Practitioners in the field want to know: Which structures and strategies are proven to achieve more equitable outcomes for Black, Indigenous, and communities of color? And which are ineffective or even harmful? The IARA Project evaluates these efforts to move organizations from words to action to accountability.
What does this look like in practice?
IARA’s current work includes:
Race, Research, and Policy Portal: A free online resource that features easily accessible research summaries on diversity, racial equity, and organizational change.
Global Processes of Justice, Truth–Telling, and Healing: This three-year project surveys international examples of truth-telling and societal repair, learning directly from those involved in truth commissions across the world and locally in the U.S.
Healthcare Institutions: This research focuses on the organizational practices and policy changes that effectively create institutional change and community health equity.
Bias Education: This project aims to inspire parents, teachers, and school leaders to disrupt racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other harmful biases in early childhood education and curricula.
Getting at the Root: Perspectives on Global Justice, Truth Telling and Accountability
The Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project and the Carr Center for Human Rights hosted a discussion with scholars studying processes and practices of global truth telling, repair, and justice from the fields of law, government, and political science.
From Words to Antiracist Action and Accountability
LaChaun Banks, Ash Center Director for Equity and Inclusion, sat down withKhalil Gibran Muhammad, Ford Foundation Professor of History, Race, and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and Director of the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability (IARA) Project, housed at the Ash Center, to discuss leading organizations to antiracist change and accountability.
Overcoming Racism to Build a True Democracy: Two Authors Share the Way Forward
Confronting racism directly and building a fully inclusive democracy are completely intertwined. Two authors with strong history in the democracy movement have recently written forcefully and personally on the subject. Heather McGhee served as President of Demos before writing the New York Times bestseller The Sum of Us, and Theodore Johnson, after serving twenty years in the military, is the Director of the Fellows Program at the Brennan Center for Justice and the author of the just-published When the Stars Begin to Fall. Harvard Law Professor Guy Uriel-Charles engaged with them on their experiences, their arguments, and how they see the way forward.
Money Left on the Table: The Economic Argument for Diversity (Truth and Transformation 2021)
This video starts off with the introduction to the 2021 Truth and Transformation Conference. Then, we go into the first panel, “Money Left on the Table: The Economic Argument for Diversity.’ Does the economic argument for diversity make sense? Why hasn’t everyone already won? This panel engaged key leaders watching organizations grappling with moving toward antiracism the question: what does resistance to change look like and what drives it, from an economic, psychological, and historical perspective?
This panel discussion, which starts at minute 24:00, features:
Jarik Conrad, Equity at Work
Dana Peterson, The Conference Board
Lisa Cook, Michigan State University
Michael McAfee, PolicyLink
Levi Sumagaysay, MarketWatch
Learn more about the Truth and Transformation Conference and the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project online: https://ash.harvard.edu/iara
Preserving Seats at the Table: White-Dominated Boards (Truth and Transformation 2021)
This video starts with the second panel discussion from the 2021 Truth and Transformation conference, hosted by the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. Then, at 59:27, starts the lunchtime musical performances by The Reminders and Brown Rice Family.
The panel discussion, titled, “Preserving Seats at the Table: White-Dominated Boards” features:
Trina Jackson (Speaker) Senior Solidarity Program Officer – US Internationalist Program, Grassroots International
Samantha Tweedy (Speaker) President, Black Economic Alliance Foundation
Rebecca Shuster (Speaker) Assistant Superintendent of Equity, Boston Public Schools
Cheryl Mills (Speaker) Founder & CEO, The BlackIvy Group
Jeffrey Ginsburg (Moderator) Executive Director, East Harlem Tutorial Program
Learn more about the Truth and Transformation Conference and the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project online: https://ash.harvard.edu/iara
Equity Takes Time, Commitment, & Disruption (Truth and Transformation 2021)
This video starts with the final panel discussion from the 2021 Truth and Transformation conference, hosted by the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School. Then at 1:03:00, remarks from Boston Mayor Kim Janey begin and are followed by a closing discussion between IARA Senior Fellow Erica Licht and Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad at 1:15:50.
The panel discussion, titled, “Equity Takes Time, Commitment, & Disruption” featured:
Carmen Rojas (Speaker) President & CEO, Marguerite Casey Foundation
John C. Yang (Speaker) President & Executive Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Eric Ward (Speaker) Executive Director, Western States Center
Mary McNeil (Moderator) Ph.D. Candidate, American Studies Program, Harvard University
Learn more about the Truth and Transformation Conference and the Institutional Antiracism and Accountability Project online: https://ash.harvard.edu/iara