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CSI is a
“policy intermediary”: we bridge the worlds of public policy and
grassroots organizing, to ensure that local activism is strengthened
by research and ambitious policy ideas, and that policy development is
informed by community perspectives. This way, policy reflects the
needs and lived experience of real people, and activists can make
policy demands with real impact on the lives of their communities.
All of
our projects work to develop potentially transformative ideas, nurture
leaders who can advocate for them, and provide communications
strategies to increase support for efforts to address structural
racism.
Here are
the major projects that we are currently engaged in:
Race and Opportunity in New York City:
Using “opportunity mapping” to understand how resources are
distributed across different communities, CSI has detailed stark
racial disparities in New York City and the surrounding region. We
will use this information to foster public discussion of how we can
create a thriving region for all of us.
Diversity Advancement Project: for too
long, race has played a corrosive role in American political
discourse, manipulated by the right to erode support for humane and
progressive policies that benefit us all. CSI uses empirical tests to
develop and refine strategies for fostering productive conversation.
Alston Bannerman Leadership Initiative:
For 20 years, the Alston Bannerman program has offered much-needed
sabbaticals to organizers of color, who work tirelessly on the front
lines of social justice. At CSI, the program is being expanded, to
include an option for intensive research projects, and to create a
national activist network, with the Bannerman alumni as its core.
Gulf Coast Leaders Network: Even today,
the work of rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina remains
cruelly unfinished. In this perpetual crisis, activists and community
organizations remain overstretched and overwhelmed. CSI’s Gulf Coast
Leaders Network creates space for local leaders from the Gulf States
to come together to forge a truly regional effort to demand equitable
rebuilding.
Building Resiliency in Communities (BRIC):
The federal government allocates billions of dollars to local
law-enforcement for disaster preparedness. What if some of these
funds instead went to support community infrastructure building, and a
public health approach? BRIC is an effort to design such a program,
and to build a movement to push for federal action to support it.
Mississippi Leaders Education Advocacy Development (MS-LEAD):
Mississippi is a state where public schools fail dramatically to meet
the needs of Black and rural families. But there is room for change:
local education and racial justice advocates have had increasing
success in demanding that the state address persistent racial
inequities in public education funding. CSI is working on a capacity
scan to assess the needs of education advocates and the strategic
opportunities for reform.
Land Loss Prevention Initiative: Across
the south, economic pressures are forcing African-Americans and others
to sell or abandon land that has, often, been in their families for
generations. CSI is working with the Ford Foundation to coordinate
and assess efforts to keep these families on their land. This work
builds on our efforts to develop sustainable rural development
strategies in Columbia, SC. |