This public discussion will highlight key challenges of racism, misogyny and other discrimination faced by our Asian and Asian-American community, the responses of local organizations who have long sought to address such challenges, and what more needs to be done in our own communities. Speakers represent perspectives from the Harvard Kennedy School’s staff, faculty and student groups, as well as leading local non-profits.

Speakers include:

• Anisha Asundi, Research Fellow: Gender Specialist, Harvard Kennedy School Women and Public Policy Program...

Now that the COVID-19 vaccine is available to everyone, cities and counties across the United States are facing another challenge: vaccine hesitancy. Mayors and other public officials are uniquely positioned to use their positions to improve vaccine utilization. Based on the findings of a multi-city project and report, this session will offer recommendations for cities on actionable steps to promote vaccine adoption and will discuss how cities are engaging their communities to ensure equitable access to vaccines and address hesitancy.

Speakers include:

• The...

The United States experienced an unprecedented surge in progressive social movement activity during the Trump presidency, with both new and existing groups organizing in opposition to the former administration’s agenda. What will these movements do now that there is a new administration? How can they take advantage of new federal leadership to advance their agenda as well as continue to grow and engage their members at the grassroots level? In this discussion, Ash Center Democracy Postdoctoral Fellow Johnnie Lotesta will talk with leaders from the environmental justice, gun violence...

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The 2020 election and January 6th insurrection underscored the extent to which disinformation impacts political discourse and democratic norms in the United States. Many pundits, academics, activists, and politicians discuss the effects of disinformation in American life, yet these conversations lack a thorough evaluation of how disinformation and even radicalization specifically impact Latinx and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. This panel aims to fill this gap, focusing on how members of these communities have accessed, reacted, and forged new identities...