Black Equity Coalition (BEC) Receives Grant from The de Beaumont Foundation

$1.1 million awarded for three years to BEC’s Data Justice Workgroup.

A $1.1 million grant from the de Beaumont Foundation is enabling the Black Equity Coalition’s Data Justice Workgroup to pursue data-driven initiatives with the City of Pittsburgh that advance racial justice and health equity among   the city’s Black communities,

“Throughout my career in public health, I have worked with data from systems that haven’t really been designed to work for people in under-resourced and under-represented communities,” said Tiffany L. Gary-Webb, PhD, MHS, Professor of Epidemiology. “I am very excited that this partnership with the City of Pittsburgh will build a community-centered approach to data governance that can better ensure investments in datasets and data systems will shift power to community members.”

Partners on the grant include: the POISE Foundation, the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health’s Center for Health Equity, the City of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab, The Forbes Funds, Gateway Medical Society, UrbanKind Institute, and the University of Pittsburgh Center for Social and Urban Research Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center.  Specifically, the grant seeks to help residents in Black communities who  have been harmed by residential segregation and strategic disinvestment within the City of Pittsburgh. They will gain tools to address social determinants of health and improve the quality of housing and the neighborhood-built environment.