BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:icalendar-ruby CALSCALE:GREGORIAN X-WR-CALNAME:From Evidence to Power: Community Partnerships and Systems Cha nge X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada) BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20261008T002143Z UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_52549995006246 DTSTART:20260421T160000Z DTEND:20260421T213000Z DESCRIPTION:From Evidence to Power:\n\nCommunity Partnerships and Systems C hange\n\nTuesday\, April 21\, 2026\, 12:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET\n\nCheck-i n and lunch begin at 11:30 a.m.\n\nReception to follow\n\nHybrid Event\n\n Attend in person or virtually\n\nGeorge Washington University\n\nThe State Room on the 7th Floor\n\n1957 E Street NW\n\nWashington\, DC 20052\n\nWha t becomes possible when communities don’t just inform research but shape it?\n\nThis convening—hosted by the Urban Institute\, the Robert Wood J ohnson Foundation’s Policies for Action (P4A) program\, the Institute fo r Socioeconomic Opportunity at The George Washington University (GW) and t he Center for Community Resilience at GW’s Milken Institute School of Pu blic Health—brings together national leaders and practitioners\, communi ty and research partners\, policymakers\, funders\, journalists\, and stor ytellers to explore that question.\n\nDrawing on P4A projects that center community partnerships\, the program examines what it takes—structurally and relationally—to move evidence toward power. The focus is practical: how communities set research priorities\, guide methods\, interpret findi ngs\, and determine how evidence moves into policy and practice. Creative work will be integrated throughout the program\, drawing directly from the communities and projects featured in the panels. This may include oral hi stories\, visual art\, zines\, film\, and other creative work. Community v oices will be present in every session as framers and knowledge producers\ , not as guests.\n\nThe program will feature four panels\, each exploring a different dimension of community-driven research and systems change:\n\n Keynote:\n\nDayna Bowen Matthew\, Dean\, George Washington University Scho ol of Law\; Founder\, Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity\, George Was hington UniversityPanel 1: Reparations: Memory\, Harm\, and the Politics o f Evidence\n\nHow have communities defined harms\, articulated remedies\, and attempted to influence institutional design in reparative policy proce sses? This panel examines how community-led research has shaped—or sough t to shape—reparations policy and what it means for public testimony to function as planning data.\n\nSpeakers:\n\nChasity Leake\, CEO\, Authentic HealingMarisa Raya\, Researcher\, PhD Candidate\, and Teaching Assistant\ , University of California\, DavisPurva Trivedi\, Policy Analyst\, Institu te for Socioeconomic OpportunityRonnie Webb Jr.\, Community Engagement Man ager\, Center for Community Resilience\, Milken Institute School of Public Health\, George Washington University (moderator)Panel 2: Land: Ownership \, Justice\, and Community-Defined Remedy\n\nLand is a site of power—mat erially\, historically\, and symbolically. This panel brings Indigenous so vereignty and Black land loss into the same frame\, asking what community- led evidence reveals about structural disparities and what remedies commun ities themselves propose.\n\nSpeakers:\n\nLisa Bates\, Professor\, Portlan d State UniversityDarlene Franco (Wukchumni ancestral homelands/Tulare Cou nty)\, Member\, California Land Equity Task ForceE. Ethelbert Miller\, Afr ican American Poet\, Teacher\, and Literary ActivistEmily Wright (Cherokee )\, Senior Research Fellow\, Urban Institute (moderator)Panel 3: Community : Keeping it Real: Community Power\, Constraints\, and the\nWork of Doing This Well\n\nThis closing panel creates space for honesty about what makes community-driven policy work both powerful and hard. We'll explore what d istinguishes real community participation from performative engagement\, w here community evidence has actually shifted policy and practice\, and wha t it takes—structurally\, relationally\, financially—to sustain this w ork.\n\nSpeakers:\n\nBishop Ennis Tait\, Site Director\, Healing Cities\; Senior Pastor\, New Beginnings Church of the Living GodMisty Flowers (Isan ti Dakota/Tlingit)\, Co-Principal Investigator\, Honoring Indigenous Famil iesScotty Johnson\, Councilmember\, Cincinnati\, OhioErin Saul\, Executive Director\, GreenLight CincinnatiRobert Thomas\, Cofounder\, Outspoken Und aunted Revolutionaries of AshevilleLaura Huerta Migus\, Director\, Fellows hip Alumni Engagement and National Activation and Impact\, Ascend at the A spen Institute (moderator)Closing remarks:\n\nWendy Ellis\, Inaugural Dire ctor\, Institute for Socioeconomic Opportunity\, Assistant Professor\, Sch ool of Public Health\, and Founding Director\, Center for Community Resili ence\, George Washington UniversityPlease join us for a reception from 5:0 0 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.\n\nWe strive to host inclusive\, accessible events tha t enable all individuals to engage fully. Please email amber.holland@gwu.e du if you require any accommodations or have any questions about this even t. GEO:38.896202;-77.044303 LOCATION:1957 E Street NW\, Washington\, DC 20052\, State Room on the 7th Floor SUMMARY:From Evidence to Power: Community Partnerships and Systems Change URL;VALUE=URI:https://calendar.gwu.edu/event/from-evidence-to-power-communi ty-partnerships-and-systems-change CATEGORIES:Academic CATEGORIES:Arts & Culture CATEGORIES:Career & Professional Development CATEGORIES:Community Service CATEGORIES:Diversity CATEGORIES:Lectures & Speakers CATEGORIES:Research CATEGORIES:Free Food CATEGORIES:Politics & Policy CATEGORIES:Health & Wellness CATEGORIES:Conference END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR