We are disgusted by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. We are angry about the ongoing racism faced by Black people. This anger is not new in the US, as Black Americans have faced a long history of racist violence driven not by a few bad actors, but by systemic racism and a culture of white supremacy stretching back more than 400 years to its roots in slavery. This systemic racism permeates all aspects of our society, including our education system, financial industry, political and electoral process, labor markets, and healthcare system. We need to look no further than the current COVID-19 pandemic, which is infecting and killing Black Americans at a disproportionate rate, for evidence of the disparity in the American healthcare system and its outcomes.

The dismantling of systematic racism can seem overwhelming at times, and some throw up their hands and say “we can’t solve racism in America” or that it’s an intractable problem. The evidence suggests otherwise. There are proven approaches to reduce racism in almost all of the areas that propagate it. We don’t have all the answers. Where they exist we must work to get them adopted, and where they do not, ideas42 will work tirelessly to find them. We implore others to do the same.

These words of support and solidarity and the work that ideas42 has done thus far to combat inequities are not enough. We can, must, and will do more both internally and externally. 

ideas42 commits to the following:

• As a means of greater accountability, we will publicly report annually on the progress we have been making on our existing internal commitments to increase our team diversity, and specifically to have a senior team and board of directors that reflect the populations we serve, both in the United States and around the world
• We will adopt a more race-conscious and anti-racist lens in project selection and project execution
• We will increase by eightfold the number of Black scholars in our academic affiliate network
• We will conduct more applied research in the service of designing anti-racist interventions in all of the policy areas in which we work
• We will challenge our funders and our partners to adopt similar diversity and inclusion practices in their internal and external structures, and also to consult viewpoints that are more representative of the populations they serve when setting their research and development agendas
• We commit to expanding our existing Safety & Justice work and place a greater focus on fighting racial injustice in the broken criminal justice system
• We commit to partnering with more organizations on the front line of this battle. Please email us at racialjustice@ideas42.org or contact us on social media if you have ideas or opportunities to partner in the fight for racial justice

We know this is still not enough, and we acknowledge that we do not have all the answers. We know that this is not all that ideas42 can do to help in the fight to end racial injustice. We know that we will need to make additional commitments as we move forward as an ally in this fight. It is going to take all of us continuing to push for change to dismantle and rebuild our failing systems.

We know that behavioral science can help combat racism, empower people, challenge oppression, and fight injustice. With those tools at our disposal, as well as a deep sense of humility and determination we commit to working toward racial justice.

ideas42 stands in solidarity with the organizations and governments we partner with for change, everyone fighting for Black lives, and most importantly with Black people.