The federal executive orders around DEI have touched us all. Some have stopped programs. Some have lost funding. Many are continuing business as usual. We are continually receiving questions like “Should I change my organization’s name?” or “How do I continue to serve my clients without drawing attention?”
To that end, we reached out to Stephen Menendian, the Assistant Director and Director of Research at the Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley.
Stephen will give some overall framework and talk about how California has been serving diverse populations even with Proposition 209, our anti-affirmative action ballot initiative pass more than 20 years ago. Mostly, though, he will be answering your questions – so we’re asking you to submit them in advance.
About Stephen Menendian
Stephen’s primary areas of expertise are structural racism, civil rights, fair housing, belonging, affirmative action, targeted universalism, and educational equity, and his research focuses on the production of inequality between social groups, how institutions and communities can foster belonging (moving beyond “diversity, equity, and inclusion”), and theoptimal designofequitable race-conscious policies as permitted by law, including California’s anti-affirmative action ballot initiative, Proposition 209.
Stephen is the author of many scholarly publications and journal articles, including the landmark booksStructural Racism: The Dynamics of Opportunity and Race in AmericaandBelonging Without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the World(with john a. powell) from Stanford University Press.