The aim of this grant is to uncover information about the shifting dynamics of gender and race in 21st century America and use the research to spark a new and more nuanced discourse around human flourishing. The goal of our project is to identify whether and how social inclusion - focusing on diversity and gender equality - in our communities, workplaces and society is beneficial for human flourishing. Our goal is to commission bold, new and innovative research that will have a tangible and immediate impact on society. The focus of our dissemination plan is to focus on providing the rising generation with a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of human flourishing. The research will focus on how social inclusion enhances human flouring and its specific connection to diversity and gender equality.
We are seeking to analyze social inclusion and provide clear evidence on its ability to enhance human flourishing in the most polarizing and divided time in our nation's recent history. Our research will be radically unique and innovative: We aim to create a new partnership with The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) [www.csis.org] to build a new research consortium on this issue. Once the research is complete, we will work with the NGO, Represent [https://www.represent.global], to ensure that the research will have a clear and pressing impact on the urgent and evolving discourse around these critical issues.
The Covid-19 Pandemic may require initial research discussions of the consortium to be virtual; however, the aim (once the research is completed) would be to have live roundtables of final research papers and consortium recommendations. Lead researchers will be interviewed and professional short documentary films about the research (as well as the geo-political context prompting the research) will be created as part of Phase I. The challenge then is how best to ensure that the research has tangible impact and informs the evolving narrative around human flourishing in an effective and measurable way.
The partnership with the NGO, Represent, was crafted in large part to address this roadblock and ensure that the research has a tangible and truly widespread impact. Represent has particular expertise in reaching out to youth communities around the globe - both virtually and in person - and we will work closely with Represent in Phase II to spark a new dialogue and series of activities around this critical issue. Additionally, once the research is complete (in Phase I), we will work with CSIS and other leading think tanks to push out the recommendations to governments and multilateral institutions at senior levels. The aim in both phases is not only to build scholarship around this issue and fill a glaring research gap but also to create a new discourse linking social inclusion to human flourishing through a series of curated and deliberate partnerships with universities, think tanks, and NGOs.
We will establish a high-level consortium of top thinkers and scholars. We are also looking beyond the academic community through our Phase II partnership with Represent, to ignite a new and much more constructive and nuanced conversation around social inclusion and human flourishing. We will establish objective metrics to determine the quality and impact of the research findings (through an expert peer review process); and determine (at intervals) the number of institutions and people reached. Based on the metrics, we will decide how best to partner - through universities; think tanks; and Represent - with other well-established organizations.
The initial phase of our grant will focus on research. We will work with the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to pull together a consortium of top academics and scholars to perform research on the subject. The consortium of scholars will each provide innovative research on either the impact of diversity or gender equality on human flourishing using an agreed on set of metrics. The collective consortium will also articulate tangible policy recommendations for governments and multilateral institutions on how to integrate the findings of their research into practical policy.
Phase II of the grant will focus on using the key findings from the research in Phase I to engage youth populations in an effort to inform and create a new and rising generation of leaders. We will partner with the New York and Berlin-based NGO "Represent", which was founded by Kweku Mandela. Through Represent, we aim to establish a series of partnerships with other organizations and companies to disseminate the research findings in creative and artistic ways and spark a new dialogue around the links between social inclusion and human flourishing.
Core team:
Sohini Chatterjee provides strategic advice to foundations, think tanks, and governments. She is an Associate Professor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University where she focuses on social inclusion and international human rights.
https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/sohini-chatterjee
Shelby Wilder is an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker. She has spent her career focusing on environmental and human rights issues, while striving to cover alarming yet unpublicized topics across the globe.
https://shelbywilder.com/
Michael Orso is the Executive Director and Co-founder of the non-profit organization REPRESENT: Global. In his role as executive director, he has led the organization in the creation and execution of a variety of youth and culture focused campaigns with the goal of making pressing societal issues relevant to young people.
https://www.represent.global/
Expert Advisors to This Project:
Kweku Mandela is a renowned youth activist and leader and Co-Founder of Represent. A grandson of Nelson Mandela, Kweku has spearheaded numerous campaigns and initiatives to further human livelihood around the world. https://www.represent.global/
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/topics/kweku-mandela/
Mark Lagon is an American political scientist and practitioner. He is Distinguished Professor at Georgetown University. His areas of expertise include human rights, global health, human trafficking, and global institutions and governance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_P._Lagon
Caren Grown is an internationally recognized expert on gender issues in development. Caren specializes in development economics and gender issues, and is the co-director of the Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/people/c/caren-grown
https://www.american.edu/cas/faculty/cgrown.cfm
Sarah Mendelson is an American diplomat and served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Sarah is a Distinguished Professor of public policy and head of Heinz College in Washington, DC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_E._Mendelson
https://www.heinz.cmu.edu/faculty-research/profiles/mendelson-sarah
These research ideas were submitted in response to Templeton World Charity Foundation’s global call for Grand Challenges in Human Flourishing, which ran from September through November 2020.
Opinions expressed on this page, or any media linked to it, do not necessarily reflect the views of Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. Templeton World Charity Foundation, Inc. does not control the content of external links.
