By Jillian Olinger and Christy Rogers

By Sharon Davies, Published in Liberal Education, There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.—Ernest Hemingway

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Understanding the Psychological and Structural Barriers People of Color Face in the Criminal Justice System By Kelly Capatosto, Research Associate   At the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, our mission is to ensure that all people and communities have the opportunity to succeed. As part of this mission, our Institute recognizes two barriers to opportunity that people of color may face while interacting with various systems or institutions. These two barriers are Race and Cognition and Structural Racialization.

The ability to exercise agency over where one lives is a hallmark of freedom. And yet, this privilege has not been equally afforded to all. Race has been—and continues to be—a potent force in the distribution of opportunity in American society. Despite decades of civil rights successes and fair housing activism, who gets access to housing and credit, on what terms, and where, remains driven by race. This is important to our shared future, because investments in homeownership are multiple and generational.

Mid-Ohio Foodbank (MOF) has been providing hunger relief to central Ohio families since 1980. They partner with over 650 agencies in a twenty-county service region in central and eastern Ohio to provide hunger relief to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans every year. MOF is committed to becoming a learning institution and to continually improving its service model. To that end, MOF is seeking to better understand and meet their clients where they are.

The Kirwan Institute has engaged with over 400 South Side residents concerning their views on the South Side and we have learned that resources for child development and access to resources for personal and community economic development are important factors for securing an equitable South Side. Fortunately, the same third places that can provide powerful opportunities for the development of bridging social capital can also provide the same opportunities for these other factors.

The Kirwan Institute is committed to promoting human dignity and justice.

In late June, The United Way of Central Ohio released its 2016 Champion of Children Report: Voices of Latino Boys, in partnership with The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and Community Research Partners.

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Download  An Intersectional Examination of Implicit Bias in Ohio School Discipline Disparities By Robin A. Wright Using publicly available data from the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) Interactive Local Report Card, this report builds on the 2014 analysis by examining discipline disparities at the intersection of both race and sex.

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Civic engagement is more than just a set of practices; it is also a set of conditions. The civic engagement environment is not only informed by what we practice, but by how we are positioned in our communities. This environment exists in the interconnection of our community and individual lives. How we practice civic engagement is tied to our access to resources and opportunities, which is dependent upon the (perceived and intended) motivations behind issue-specific public engagements.

The Kirwan Institute, in partnership with OSU Extension, Franklin County, United Way of Central Ohio, Columbus Public Health, PACT and Columbus Early Learning Centers, has been awarded the OSU Cares Seed Grant to support an upcoming project focused on Columbus’ Near East Side. The project will expand on United Way’s place-based leadership academy, piloted on the South Side last year which aimed to provide space for residents to build skills for impacting neighborhood revitalization.

Dr. Maurice Stevens, a Senior Faculty Research Advisor at The Kirwan Institute, has been awarded the 2016 Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award from The Ohio State University. The Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Awards recognize individuals or groups who have demonstrated a significant commitment to enhancing diversity at Ohio State and to exceeding expectations in implementing the Diversity Action Plan.

In partnership with the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, The Kirwan Institute facilitated implicit bias trainings for more than 700 people in the Kansas City, MO metropolitan area in late April.  In a series of eight events including workshops and presentations that spanned four days, Robin A. Wright, MPA and Maurice Stevens, Ph.D.

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