oin the Urban Institute for a conversation about how data, evidence, and analyses can advance social and economic policies that can help remedy persistent structural racism. Urban is working with leaders across sectors and disciplines to move our society toward greater equity and justice. This event, moderated by Shena Ashley, vice president of Urban’s Office of Race and Equity Research, will feature key contributors from The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System, the first collection of essays penned by Black scholars and experts across public policy, economics, education, health, climate, and technology. The discussion will explore how equity-focused leaders can leverage data to design and inform race-conscious solutions and will be centered on elevating Black expertise and experience.

SPEAKERS

-Shena Ashley, Vice President of Research Innovation, Office of Race and Equity Research, Urban Institute @shenarashley

-Kristen Broady, Senior Economist and Associate Director of The Economic Mobility Project, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago @KEBroady

-Brandeis Marshall, Principal, Brandeis Marshall Consulting LLC, and Chief Executive Officer, DataedX @csdoctorsister

-Preston Mitchum, Adjunct Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law @PrestonMitchum

-Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, Editor, The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System @itsafronomics

-Sarah Rosen Wartell, President, Urban Institute @swartell

From ongoing reports of police brutality to the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on Black Americans, 2020 brought a renewed awareness to the deep-rootedness of racism and white supremacy in every facet of American life.

Edited by Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, The Black Agenda is the first book of its kind--a bold and urgent move towards social justice through a profound collection of essays featuring Black scholars and experts across economics, education, health, climate, and technology. It speaks to the question What's next for America? on the subjects of policy-making, mental health, artificial intelligence, climate movement, the future of work, the LGBTQ community, the criminal legal system, and much more.

Essayists including Dr. Sandy Darity, Dr. Hedwig Lee, Mary Heglar, and Janelle Jones present groundbreaking ideas ranging from Black maternal and infant health to reparations to AI bias to inclusive economic policy, with the potential to uplift and heal not only Black America, but the entire country. (St. Martin’s Press)

Harvard Book Store's virtual event series welcomes award-winning researcher, entrepreneur, and editor ANNA GIFTY OPOKU-AGYEMAN for a discussion of her anthology The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System. She will be joined in conversation by FRANKLIN LEONARD, founder and CEO of Black List.

Charis welcomes Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman in conversation with Cliff Albright for a discussion of The Black Agenda: Bold Solutions for a Broken System. Edited...

Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman is an award-winning researcher, entrepreneur, and author hailing from Ghana and Maryland. Currently, she is a graduate student at Harvard Kennedy School studying public policy. She is the co-founder of The Sadie Collective, the only non-profit organization addressing the underrepresentation of Black women in economics, finance, and policy, as well as the co-founder of the viral and award-winning digital campaign #BlackBirdersWeek. Her advocacy, research, and commentary lie at the intersection of social justice and quantitative analysis and are featured widely by media outlets such as Bloomberg, NPR, Teen Vogue, Slate, and The New York Times. To date, she is the youngest recipient for a CEDAW Women's Rights Award by the UN Convention on the Elimination all forms of Discrimination Against Women.

April Reign is a lawyer, a sought-after advocate, consultant, writer, speaker and interviewer regarding issues of diversity and inclusion, and on the representation of all marginalized communities in the arts, tech and entertainment. Her work includes constant dialogue with media as well as collaborations with Procter & Gamble, Twitter, Google NextGen, AARP, HBO and more. She is the the creator of the viral hashtag-turned-movement, #OscarsSoWhite and has been challenging the lack of representation of marginalized communities in Hollywood and beyond since 2015. She has now partnered with Overture Global, a New York-based media company, to launch Ensemble, a digital content studio to accelerate opportunities around content and development in front of and behind the camera for people of color. Reign is also part of the founding cohort for She Will Rise, a grassroots campaign to support the nomination and confirmation of the first Black Woman to the U.S. Supreme Court.