Political Studies
The Joint Center Commends House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for Appointing Jeyben Castro as Deputy Director of the U.S. House Office of Diversity & Inclusion
WASHINGTON — The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies commends U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy for appointing Jeyben Castro as Deputy Director of the U.S. House Office of Diversity & Inclusion. Along with Kemba Hendrix, Castro will lead the office’s development of a House diversity plan to include policies to direct and guide…
Joint Center Presents on Using Congressional Staff Diversity as a Measure on Congress’s Performance
At a Bipartisan Policy Center event, Joint Center Senior Fellow of Diversity and Inclusion Dr. LaShonda Brenson discussed how congressional staff diversity is a key measure in understanding Congress’s performance. Watch the conversation below.
Politico Covers Joint Center Report Card on the Racial Diversity of Top Staff in Senate Committee Offices
Only 30 percent of Senate committee chairs and ranking members currently employ at least one person of color among their top committee staff. WASHINGTON – The Joint Center launched its interactive report card (exclusively covered in Politico) allowing users to learn how U.S. Senate full committee chairs and ranking members are faring when it comes to hiring diverse top…
Report Card of Racial Diversity Among Senate Committee Top Staff
This report card examines racial diversity among top staff in U.S. Senate full committee offices in the 117th Congress. We define “top staff” as the following job titles: staff director, deputy staff director, chief counsel, general counsel, and policy director (125 top staff positions). For details on our grading system, see the methodology and background…
Joint Center Signs Letter Urging the House of Representatives to Restore Funding
The Joint Center signed onto a letter to House Committee on Appropriations leadership urging “the House of Representatives to restore funding levels for Members Representational Allowances (MRA) and House committees to their FY 2010 levels, as adjusted for inflation” to “help address high turnover among congressional staff by addressing the twin issues of low pay…
Joint Center Joins Panel on Brown v. Board of Education and Georgia’s Voting Law
Joint Center President Spencer Overton joined a conversation with University of Kentucky Education and Civil Rights Initiative Executive Director Dr. Gregory Vincent to discuss how Brown v. Board of Education relates to Georgia’s voting law. The conversation was held at the University of Kentucky College of Education’s Education & Civil Rights for the New Decade…
100-Day Report on Black Appointments in Biden Administration
Today, the Biden Administration reported on its progress over the first 100 days, and announced that of “the approximately 1,500 agency appointees hired by President Biden so far… 18% identify as Black or African American.” It did not disclose the percentage of leadership positions held by African Americans, such as nominations for Senate-confirmed positions, or…
Joint Center Joints Panel at AARP Illinois’s Disrupt Disparities Summit
On April 27, Joint Center Technology Policy Director Dr. Dominique Harrison joined a panel at AARP Illinois’s Disrupt Disparities Summit: Advancing Racial Equity in Aging to discuss why aging adults need high-speed internet and technology tools. Learn more about the event, and watch Dominique’s panel (Day 2, APRIL 27) at the 1:50:18 mark, here.
Joint Center Joins 2021 ABFE Conference Panel on Police Reform and Political Engagement
The Joint Center organized one-on-one conversations (moderated by Joint Center President Spencer Overton) with two key Black leaders, Congressional Black Caucus Chair Joyce Beatty (D-OH) and Black Voters Matter Fund Co-Founder LaTosha Brown. The two conversations were a part of a session entitled Push Structural Change: What’s Next for Political Engagement, and focused on policy and systemic…
Big Tech CEOs Must Do More than Admit Misinformation is Harmful to Communities of Color
As Congress reckons with misinformation plaguing online platforms, Black communities continue to face discrimination, anti-Blackness, and material harm facilitated by agitators on social media platforms. We know that tech can exacerbate and facilitate harm towards Black communities. We don’t know to what extent the government needs to regulate Big Tech to prevent harm and bias.…
Joint Center and 24 Tech Policy and Civil Rights Groups Call on the FTC to Quickly Confirm Commissioners Who Will Advance Equity and Racial Justice
The Joint Center joined a coalition of 24 tech policy and civil rights groups calling on the Federal Trade Commission to quickly nominate and confirm commissioners who will advance equity and racial justice. The FTC should commit the agency to addressing data abuses that disproportionately affect marginalized communities. Read the letter here.