The Center for Black Excellence and Culture (The Center) announced Thursday that it has been awarded a two-year, $247,000 grant from the New York-based Dana Foundation to launch a groundbreaking civic science research initiative.
The grant comes less than a month after The Center’s historic grand opening on May 6 and it will fund a dedicated Civic Science Fellow to lead a collaborative project between The Center and the Center for Healthy Minds (CHM) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Operating out of The Center’s brand-new, state-of-the-art physical space, the Fellow will spearhead research into how Madison’s Black residents define wellbeing, healing, and brain health, translating cutting-edge neuroscience into culturally relevant, community-led practices.
“The Center was built to be a living platform for Black leadership, healing, and innovation,” said Dr. Alex Gee, president and CEO of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture, in a statement. “We aren’t resting on the laurels of a beautiful new building. We are immediately leveraging this space to tackle systemic health and research disparities. This grant allows us to cultivate a community-centered research system where our neighbors are not the subjects of science, but the co-researchers driving the agenda.”
The 18-month fellowship project will establish a national model for community-inspired research, according to a press release from The Center, and key initiatives will include trust-building and listening sessions in local spaces like churches and barbershops, qualitative interviews, and the co-design of a Black-led research framework.
