The Foundation developed the Rapid Response Research awards to foster agile uses of research to respond to the needs of young people growing up in an uncertain and turbulent social climate. In 2020, the Foundation devoted nearly the entire budget of this grant program toward work that is specifically designed to reduce inequality and improve the youth outcomes amid the changing social contexts in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Collaboration between universities and community agencies is essential for developing and testing practical responses to persistent racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequalities that afflict our nation. Here, Adam Gamoran expands on how the Foundation’s Institutional Challenge Grant can help support such collaboration and allow universities to fulfill their potential for leadership towards social justice.

We are proud to announce six new research grants, including five to support studies on reducing inequality in youth outcomes and one to support a study on improving the use of research evidence.

By Adam Gamoran

As the President of a Foundation whose research grantees are almost uniformly also funded by the federal government, I am appalled by the recent OMB directive and presidential executive order prohibiting anti-racist training for federal agencies, contractors, and grantees. In a new post for the NYU Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools, I’ve issued a statement on these actions.