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The George Washington University Institute for Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Equity (Equity Institute)
The Equity Institute leverages the resources of a premier research university and invests in transformative community partnerships with the goal of eradicating racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequity worldwide.

Our Motivation
- DC Labor Inequality
- DC Education Inequality
- DC Health Inequity
- Criminal Justice Inequity
- Housing Inequity Nationwide
- DC Wealth Inequality
- Inequity Nationwide
Our Initiatives

All-In Cincinnati
All-In Cincinnati has partnered with The George Washington University’s Equity Institute to integrate its community-driven policy work into national research. This collaboration builds on five years of local success in housing, health, education, and economic mobility, aiming to evaluate and scale the model nationwide.
Closing the Wealth Gap
The Equity Institute and the Center for Community Resilience have created an innovative framework, first piloted in Cincinnati, to close the wealth gap through targeted, place-based investments. The Opportunity Dashboard, a data-driven tool, helps partners track and simulate the impact of these investments aimed at driving economic and social mobility.


Summer Institute
The Equity Institute is launching a two-week Summer Institute at GW, in partnership with Harvard and Drexel, to train students in systems science methods. This program aims to build a pipeline of future researchers addressing disparities in health, wealth, and well-being.
Meet Our Director: Wendy Ellis
I am delighted to have the privilege to lead the George Washington University Institute for Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Equity. The Equity Institute will be a wonderful opportunity to raise the visibility and impact of the work I have been dedicated to for my entire professional career. I am proud to join the community of like-minded students, scholars, and leaders dedicated to eradicating the devastating effects of inequity world-wide.
The Change We Are Enacting
Increase Impactful Research
The EI creates infrastructure to support GWU researchers’ writing, teaching, publishing, and fundraising dedicated to eradicating racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequity.
Invest in Authentic Community Partnerships
The EI forms community based participatory research partnerships to invest new knowledge and other resources that help reduce inequity in Washington DC, the United States, and the world.
Disseminate Actionable Policy
The EI translates and disseminates its interdisciplinary research into actionable policy interventions that tangibly and measurably increase equity in marginalized communities.
Convene Decision-Makers
The EI gathers academic, community, private sector, and government leaders to design solutions that will increase racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic equity.
Equip Students to Serve
The EI trains students in best practices of community based participatory research to equip them to serve and lead with humility and integrity.
"The university’s decision to charter a new research institute dedicated to the principles of equality, fairness and freedom means everything. It means that at the dawn of our third century, GW has dedicated its resources to support faculty and students who seek to improve societies near and far, by contributing to the work of eradicating discrimination, bigotry, prejudice and inequality—to advancing the cause of justice, both here in the United States and around the world.”
Dayna Bowen Matthew
Dean and Harold H. Greene Professor of Law, GW Law; Founder, Institute for Racial, Ethnic and Socioeconomic Equity
“Concretely there are already hundreds of people not incarcerated as a result of the work EI has supported, and we expect that number to grow rapidly as we onboard new jurisdictions. This kind of work is incredibly energizing for students and faculty, and it shows how GW can take a leadership position in criminal justice reform and do the kind of work that no one else is doing.”
Don Braman
Associate Professor of Law, GW Law
For all Equity Institute inquiries, please email our Senior Communications Associate amber [dot] hollandgwu [dot] edu (Amber Holland).