Recent News | Institute Community & Equity Office

The startup Paragon One uses a virtual platform to expand access to virtual internships for students of all backgrounds.

MIT alumni broaden access to student internships

Startup Paragon One’s virtual platform allows hundreds of students to equitably benefit from internship opportunities.

Zach Winn MIT News Office January 27, 2021

3 Questions: Moya Bailey on the intersection of racism and sexism

MLK Visiting Professor in Women’s and Gender Studies and scholar of critical race, feminist, and disability studies discusses misogynoir, social media, and her work at MIT this year.

Program in Women's and Gender Studies MIT News Office January 11, 2021

Basketball Court with Black Lives Matter written

How brands can advocate with authenticity in an issue-driven world

Structural investment combined with issue fluency is the hallmark of firms that are “living their values” instead of sinking into “brand purgatory.”

Dylan Walsh MIT Sloan December 23, 2020

During her research in Belize, Amy Moran-Thomas noted that some with diabetes, when talking of the diabetes epidemic, would invoke Hurricane Hattie (which ravaged their country in 1961) as a metaphor for slow health changes that can suddenly erupt into a full-blown crisis. "In many ways," she says, "the chronic wear on both the planet and on people is accumulating like a gathering storm."

On planetary change and human health

MIT anthropologist Amy Moran-Thomas reflects on the deep connection between planetary and human well-being.

School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences MIT News Office December 18, 2020

How to have productive conversations about race at work

Conversations about race and racism can be uncomfortable, but they’re necessary for an equitable and inclusive workplace.

Meredith Somers MIT Sloan December 16, 2020

At the heart of this work is the imperative to humanize the people involved directly in the conflict: to keep the perspective of human experience and suffering in the picture, rather than only the contentious questions. Almasri champions the view that that everyone deserves dignity and respect for their identity in the fight for equal rights.

For cultural and political conflicts, a humanizing imperative

Political science PhD candidate Nasir Almasri studies conflicts that emerge at the intersection of politics and religious traditions, with a focus on humanizing those involved.

School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences MIT News Office December 14, 2020

4 of 8 - They hail from academia, startups, large technology companies, venture capital and beyond

8 Leading Women In The Field Of AI

As entrepreneurs, academic researchers, industry executives, venture capitalists and more, these women are shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

Rob Toews Forbes December 13, 2020

Danielle Grey-Stewart, an MIT senior majoring in materials science and engineering, is a fierce believer that public service and engineering go hand in hand.

An engineering student expands her focus

For senior Danielle Grey-Stewart, a pivotal experience away from campus led to a new sense of purpose at MIT.

Hannah Meiseles MIT News Office December 11, 2020

MIT student Robert Koirala evaluated data about the efficacy of Ek Kadam Aur’s Train the Trainers program that helps adults provide additional academic mentorship to students.

MISTI shifts to fully remote global internships and cultural experiences amid pandemic

MIT students Robert Koirala and Grace Smith intern for a nonprofit promoting educational and health equity in India.

Alison Gold MIT News Office December 11, 2020

Valencia Joyner Koomson is interested in how we can make electrical systems into useful forms that improve people’s lives, from portable sensors and wearable devices that allow people to monitor their health outside the clinical setting, to miniaturized systems that measure communications between growing cells.

Q&A: Valencia Joyner Koomson ’98, MNG ’99 on new possibilities in microelectronic health systems

MLK Visiting Scholar focuses on microelectronics for cell analysis and biomedical applications.

Jane Halpern MIT News Office December 9, 2020

Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden, Dr. Shardé M. Davis, Dr. James Mickens

Straight talk about race in academia

MIT-hosted panel delves into ongoing challenges for Black scholars — and ways for everyone in university settings to start making a difference.

Peter Dizikes MIT News Office December 8, 2020

Ojibwe Elder Duke Redbird delivered the keynote address during the Indigenous Digital Delegation.

Indigenous knowledge and technology at MIT: “Is it wise?”

A week of workshops, lab visits, and pairings matched Indigenous delegates with relevant labs and researchers across MIT.

Open Documentary Lab MIT News Office December 3, 2020

The software and data quality engineering company Ultranauts has embraced a neurodiverse team to provide better services to clients. This image shows various illustrated portraits of Ultranauts team members

Leveraging the power of neurodiversity

The startup Ultranauts offers software and data quality engineering services with a team made up mostly of people on the autism spectrum.

Zach Winn MIT News Office December 1, 2020

MBA student Brittny Chong pitches her startup ONA at the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition in 2019. Photo: Courtesy Brittny Chong

A Passion for Positive Change

Brittny Chong seeks social action through immersive technologies and data analytics.

Christine Thielman MIT Spectrum November 24, 2020

This KPMG principal leads a team to accelerate women’s careers

“I never expected any breaks, so everything had to be earned.”

Meredith Somers MIT Sloan November 16, 2020

For MIT senior Mimi Wahid, exploring her identity through writing has increased her passion for environmental justice and clarified her desire to serve rural Southern communities like her hometown.

A storyteller dedicated to environmental justice

Exploring her identity through writing has clarified senior Mimi Wahid’s desire to serve rural Southern communities like her hometown.

Hannah Meiseles MIT News Office November 6, 2020

Thomas Searles, a condensed matter physicist and MLK Scholar at MIT, hopes to encourage more HBCU students to pursue graduate study at MIT. “If there’s anything that I can do to help with that ... I think that would be awesome.”

For Thomas Searles, a passion for people and science at HBCUs and MIT

Physicist and Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar is examining the optical properties of semimetals to understand how light interacts with quantum materials.

Alison Gold MIT News Office November 5, 2020

MIT celebrates Women's Entrepreneurship Month

Innovation and entrepreneurship organizations campus-wide celebrate MIT's female entrepreneurs in November.

David Sweeney MIT News Office November 5, 2020

Activist and scholar Angela Davis addresses racism in MIT webcast

Davis, in conversation with Senior Associate Dean Blanche Staton, fields questions from the MIT community about the current moment of racial reckoning.

Elizabeth Thompson MIT News Office October 30, 2020

Illustration of lightbulb, Credit: Mimi Phan / Shutterstock

For entrepreneurs of color, Boston lacks access and capital

From venture capital to city contracts, opportunity is limited for minority-owned enterprises in Boston.

Kara Baskin MIT Sloan October 26, 2020