Book of Ideas

The urgency to advance racial equity is evident in the protests that are gripping the nation, the more strident rhetoric of policymakers, and the flood of reform-oriented bills proposed in legislatures and municipalities across the country.

Leaders are in need of not only ideas, but data and research to support those ideas. They want to know the “how” behind an idea – Does this idea have any chance of success? Where does a community start? Has this been done before? Who do we need to partner with?

What follows is a collection of Big Ideas. These are big ideas in the policy areas of criminal justice reform, wealth generation, health equity, jobs creation and wage growth, civic participation, and education. These are ideas that we believe have the capacity to create the greatest amount of change for most people. In some cases, they are old ideas that deserve our newly focused attention now more than ever. In other cases, they are new ideas that push the envelope on what’s possible in America. 

But they all have one goal – move the nation closer to living up to its most cherished ideals of equality and opportunity for all.