Service & Impact

Over the past few years, the CROWN Act has made quiet and steady progress in tackling an enduring but widely unacknowledged form of racism. Beyond discrimination based on skin color, many Black women—and some men— continue to face prejudice and bias simply because of how they wear their hair. According...

Photos By Erik Paul Howard Featuring the likes of Queen Latifah, MC Lyte, Sha-Rock and others, the recent Netflix series Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop has been applauded as “a capable, invigorating tribute to female trailblazers” in the rap world (The Guardian). The four-part documentary has been...

Kailee Scales is probably best known as the first managing director of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, but that high-profile role is only part of her longtime involvement in matters of social justice. Through almost two decades leading efforts to effect meaningful change, she has challenged the status...

When addressing issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), institutions will often talk about “making room at the table” without realizing that the phrase is not just a metaphor but a practical, everyday barrier for some people. As Fast Company put it, “disability is the missing piece in the...

Looking back and looking ahead, what has changed for the better and what still needs to change for the better? Participants in the ChangeMakers initiative at the Student Innovation Center at Iowa State University, led by program director Karen Piconi Kerns, discussed these important questions in a special WayMaker...