Recent News | Institute Community & Equity Office

Fatima Cody Stanford, a study co-author and MD, oversaw the development of Covid-19 messages shown to Black and Latinx study participants.

Study: Covid-19 communications featuring racially diverse physicians can improve health outcomes for communities of color

Improved public health messaging to Black, Latinx, and other communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic can increase Covid-19 knowledge and information-seeking.

J-PAL North America MIT News Office February 22, 2021

Blanche Staton, senior associate dean for graduate education in the Office of Graduate Education

3 Questions: Ian Waitz and Blanche Staton on MIT’s continuing commitment to graduate students

Despite the pandemic, the Office of the Vice Chancellor has continued to make progress on efforts to enhance the MIT graduate student experience.

Elizabeth Durant MIT News Office February 19, 2021

Image: Clockwise from top left: Trina Reynolds-Tyler, Alex Y. Ding, Asha Ransby-Sporn, and Nino Brown.

Students, activists, police share views about campus safety

Forum features a range of experiences and perspectives about law enforcement and equity.

Peter Dizikes MIT News Office February 17, 2021

Ijeoma Oluo: “What we are fighting for is Black joy”

Keynote speaker at MIT’s annual MLK Celebration says fighting white supremacy requires far more than just reducing its harm.

David L. Chandler MIT News Office February 11, 2021

Orisa Coombs, a senior in mechanical engineering, hopes to reduce inequality on a local and global scale.

Reducing inequality across the globe and on campus

Through research and student leadership, senior Orisa Coombs is tackling problems including water scarcity, food insecurity, and racial injustice.

Mary Beth Gallagher MIT News Office February 7, 2021

Bryan Stevenson to deliver MIT’s 2021 Commencement address

Public interest lawyer and social justice activist will address the Class of 2021 on June 4.

MIT News Office February 4, 2021

As the U.S. speeds up distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, the question of equity keeps surfacing.

Building equity into vaccine distribution

MIT economist works to show how therapies can be allocated fairly; states are now applying the method in their efforts.

Peter Dizikes MIT News Office February 4, 2021

Building an Online Home for Black History

What do boxer Joe Frazier’s birth, the admission of the first African American student to the University of Tennessee, and the devastating earthquake that shook Haiti in 2010 have in common?

Ken Shulman Slice of MIT February 1, 2021

Craft Your Brand Strategy to Ensure Racial Justice

Consumers and employees are increasingly aware of brands’ positions on equality and fairness. Brand managers should consider these four steps in developing a strategy that embraces racial justice.

Dipanjan Chatterjee and Nick Monroe MIT Sloan Management Review January 28, 2021

Why energy justice is a rising priority for policymakers

Communities of color bear the brunt of energy-related social, economic, and health burdens. U.S. DOE's Shalanda Baker explains how energy justice can help.

Kara Baskin MIT Sloan January 27, 2021

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