Vivian’s Voice
Someone asked me recently what I will miss the most about my time at the Foundation. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, I will miss the relationships and communities we have built together.
Funders shape what research is conducted on which questions. Funders can also support the infrastructure that is vital to engagement between policymakers and researchers. And while the grants funders make are public knowledge and have received attention in the literature, we know far less about how and why funders decide on what to support.
It’s one thing to know how research is used in policy and practice—to understand the conditions that enable thoughtful deliberation and sense-making of the evidence and the infrastructure that supports those conditions. It’s another thing altogether to create those conditions and the supporting infrastructure so that research routinely serves the public interest. I recently took […]
The Foundation hopes to support more solution-oriented research that not only richly theorizes anti-Asian racism but also identifies ways to counter racism, xenophobia, and other forms of oppression.
At our recent William T. Grant Scholars retreat, I had the opportunity to share my reflections with early- and mid-career academics about ways they might meet this social and political moment. In this post I expand on three recommendations: 1) act now but plan for the long game, 2) build your relationships with change partners and your understanding of change processes, and 3) know yourself and care for yourself.
Vivian’s Voice: From the sideline to the frontline—How social science can meet the current moment
In light of the lessons learned over the past decade, as well as those we’re learning in real time as the crisis unfolds, I recently wrote a post for Transforming Evidence reflecting on ways the research community can be of service as decision makers seek to chart the proper course in an unsettled environment.
I share my reflections on the past decade of work in this area, as well as my current thinking, with the hope that we, along with fellow travelers on a similar journey, can find ways to forge a more productive path forward together. In the meantime, I welcome your feedback to improve our thinking and work, and I look forward to continuing to share what we are learning across sectors and countries.