May 24, 2023

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New course moves Targeted Universalism from theory to practice

We are excited to be partnering with the Social Impact Exchange and the Seed Collaborative on a first-ever Targeted Universalism Community of Practice.

The program is designed to train people from foundations, large nonprofits, and institutions who want to take a deep dive into understanding and implementing Targeted Universalism. TU has been gaining traction over the past few years as an effective policy and program approach that combines the benefits of both targeted and universal policies, and is now being used by the Biden administration to address homelessness.

Members of the Community of Practice will convene virtually for 90-minute sessions monthly over a 9-month learning journey (9 sessions), with one individual coaching session, and will have access to an ongoing curated communication channel where participants can share tools and information. The program will begin in September. Learn more about this unique opportunity here, or by emailing michelle@seedcollab.com. Deadline to apply is June 16!

Learn more about the TU Community of practice

Save the dates for our upcoming O&B Conferences in Berlin and Oakland!

We're so happy to announce that we're in the midst of planning two upcoming Othering & Belonging Conferences—our first conference outside the US, to be held in Berlin on October 26-27, 2023, and our next US-based conference, to be held in Oakland on April 25-27, 2024! Be the first to receive news of registration, confirmed speakers, and more by signing up to our conference newsletter using the button below.

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Tomorrow! - Radical Hope & Black Mattering

Join us tomorrow, Thursday, May 25 for a global reading event dedicated to the exploration of liminal and generative concepts in Bayo Akomolafe's essay, "Black Lives Matter: But to whom? Why We Need a Politics of Exile in a Time of Troubling Stuckness.” The event, a partnering between the Democracy and Belonging Forum at the Othering and Belonging Institute and Ijeruka, facilitated by author and scholar Professor Erin Manning, will be a co-exploration of the concepts of radical hope and black mattering, grounded by a reading of Bayo's essay.

Register here

Event: Cities Against Racism

Join the Democracy & Belonging Forum and the German Marshall Fund of the United States on June 14, 2023 (8:00 AM - 9:15 AM PT / 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM ET / 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM CET) for our next (Un)Common Threads conversation, where we’ll explore the strengths and challenges of city governments pursuing anti-racist policies with civic leaders from Europe and the US. They’ll discuss opportunities in learning from each other internationally, and the trends, patterns, and differences from the perspective of European and U.S. localities.

Register here

How is the Global South building resilience to the climate crisis?

Last week Hossein Ayazi, a policy analyst from our Global Justice program, participated in a news briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services on the topic of climate migration. During his remarks, Hossein presented some findings from the recent survey and analysis we published last month showing how climate orgs in Africa are responding the crisis. See a snippet from Hossein's presentation in the video above, and read an article about the news briefing here.

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New partnership with BMW Foundation

Earlier this month, more than 40 civic and philanthropic leaders from across Europe gathered with OBI Director john a. powell in Portugal for a retreat hosted by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt and OBI’s Democracy & Belonging Forum on the topic of racialization and othering in Europe. The retreat marked the launch of a 3-year community of practice cohosted by the BMW Foundation and the Forum that aims to broadly connect and resource leaders working across Europe to grapple with diverse forms of othering, better understand racialization in the region, and advance narratives that promote belonging in different European contexts. Learn more about this partnership. Read more about this partnership.

Strategies to undo segregation's damage

On June 1 a sequel to the The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, a National Book Award finalist, authored by our Senior Fellow Richard Rothstein, will be out! The new book, titled, Just Action: How to Challenge Segregation Enacted Under the Color of Law, co-authored with Richard's daughter Leah Rothstein, lays out strategies for community groups to begin to undo segregation's damage. We encourage you to check out the book here, which is available for pre-order, and sign up for Richard and Leah's new substack page in which they will provide ongoing commentary about efforts to redress segregation.

Jovan Scott Lewis debates reparations on Piers Morgan show

Earlier this month OBI faculty scholar Jovan Scott Lewis, who is also a member of California's reparations taskforce, went on the conservative British news program hosted by Piers Morgan to discuss some of the recent updates to the taskforce's work. It included a lively debate with another guest. Check it out here!