As someone who studies public policy, my work is motivated by a desire for a world where policing as we know it today is no longer necessary and where all communities have what they need to thrive. As a result, I am passionate but an often-controversial concept: abolition. Stick with me now—when I talk about abolition, I don't just mean the kind of abolition being talked about in relation to police. However, I do want to directly…

Tedros Habib and Domingo Williams are Master of Public Affairs students at the Goldman School. They are also active-duty police officers. Below, they share their reflections on how policing is changing, what brought them to the Goldman School, and what policy changes they would most like to see in their field. Can you tell us more about your work and what your day-to-day looks like? Tedros Habib: I'm currently a police sergeant in the sexual assault investigations unit of…

Two-term Michigan governor and Goldman School of Public Policy faculty member Jennifer Granholm has been confirmed as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. Granholm is an expert in politics and clean energy policy who teaches classes on clean energy, policy innovation, and communication. She is also a senior research fellow at the Berkeley Energy and Climate Institute and the Berkeley Center for Information Technology Research in the Interests of Society (CITRIS). If confirmed, Granholm will oversee 17 national laboratories,…

When Professor Hsiang and his research team at the Global Policy Lab (GPL) set out to convert vast archives of historical aerial photographs into rich data on the location of people and resources over the 20th century, they quickly realized the significance of their work, not only for studying how climate change generates mass migration across the globe but also for closing the huge gaps in census and survey data collected prior to the 1970s, especially in low-income countries. …

While I consider my “policy passion” to be California housing policy, I have begun to realize that my focus over the past year on homeownership may not be so much an issue of housing or shelter as much as it is an issue of wealth inequality and racial equity.  Homeownership has long been part of the classic “American Dream,” especially for the vast majority of Americans who strive to leave their children some…

On July 13th, 2013, the United States was forced to grapple with what many would call one of the most high-profile trials of the decade. In particular this trial, in which it was decided that George Zimmerman would be found not guilty of killing unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, reaffirmed to many Black Americans that regardless of criminal record or intention, simply one’s Blackness can easily lead to their own demise.  Even before hearing of the many deaths…

Ciarra Jones has always been interested in what it means to belong and the things that impact our ability to experience that belonging.  As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley majoring in American studies, Ciarra focussed on the African-American sense of self. At the same time, she was navigating her own experiences as a Black woman and an LGBTQ Christian. “I became fascinated by what it means to spiritually belong and why the church struggles with making space for…

  During the pandemic, 1 in 3 children worldwide are losing the equivalent of a year of schooling, due to a lack of internet access. Though telecommunications companies have been connecting us for the last 25 years, 3.7 billion people remain offline. In the US, over 42 million people do not have access to broadband. Once considered a luxury, internet access is now recognized as a human right and part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 9.c. On January 28th 2021, the student group…

Week 1: Black Health and Wellness  This event brings together health policy experts and practitioners for an in-depth discussion on how the response to COVID-19 has impacted Black communities and how to shift policy to bring health equity to our healthcare system. Week 2: Economic Policy This panel discussion will dive into the economic policies and practices that impact the livelihoods of Black people and Black communities across the US. Week 3: Black Politics and Policy This panel discussion will focus on…

In 1998, the Ecuadorian financial crisis caused severe inflation, bank closures, and a sovereign debt crisis. This caused unrest in the streets and led to a coup d’état, further destabilizing the small Andean country. A few years later, my family and I became a few of the many who participated in the great exodus to the US, Chile, and Spain. Financial instability spread throughout the Latin American region. Along with Ecuador, Mexico also experienced an economic…