The Partners
The Racial and Ethnic Minority Disparities Database of Rhode Island is a collaboration between the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America (CSREA) at Brown University, the Rhode Island Foundation, and a Community Advisory Board.
The CSREA was founded in 1988 but it did not receive its first full-time director until President Ruth Simmons hired Professor Evelyn Hu-DeHart in Fall 2002. Under Professor Hu-DeHart, conferences and lectures continued, but the focus has been on incubating collaborative university-community projects, such as English for Action (EFA) and its spin-off program, Espanol para Accion; Immigrants for Action (IFA); and the Transcultural Community Health Initiative (TCHI), under the leadership of Dr. Dannie Ritchie, M.D; and the Racial and Ethnic Minority Disparities Project, led by professor Veronica A. Ouma of Ethnic Studies at Brown and professor Jose Itzigsohn of Brown's Sociology Department. Student research assistants for the Disparities Project are: Shanna Bowie, Dania Davy, Medha Devanagondi, Maya Nayak, Basirat Ottun, and Shannon Ware. All these initiatives have received funding from the Rhode Island Foundation and all continue to work closely with Rhode Island Foundation program officers. The Center hopes to increase its research and activist ties with community institutions. The Center is located at 150 Power St. in Providence . For more information on the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University , visit www.brown.edu/race .
The Rhode Island Foundation is the only community foundation in the ocean state. It serves as the state's Center for Philanthropy. It seeks to facilitate dialogue, whether among donors and grantees or government officials and the private sector. The Foundation collaborates with other area, regional and national foundations to solve local problems, conducting basic research on topics where information is not readily available. It identifies key challenges, whether in education, health care, safety, the arts, or any other social activities. This database is consistent with the Rhode Island Foundation's recently adopted "Attaining Vibrant Communities: A Partnership with Rhode
Island." Vibrant communities are diverse and inclusive places where people are supported and encouraged to realize their personal and collective potential through the collaboration with nonprofit organizations, policymakers, local and national government, and funding partners. This database project is facilitated by Karen Voci, Senior Vice President for Program and T. Neil Severance , Program Associate. The Rhode Island Foundation is located at One Union Station in the heart of downtown Providence , Rhode Island 's capital city. For more information on the Rhode Island Foundation, visit www.rifoundation.org .
The Community Advisory Board consists of members from public and private institutions. They include Yvon Chancy, President of the Haitian Resource Center; Catherine Walsh, Deputy Director, and Raymonde Charles, Program Associate, of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT; Miriam Inocencio, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island; Ana Novais Chief, Office of Minority Health and Samara Viner Brown, Chief, Office of Data and Evaluation both from the Department of Health; Maricruz Ponce de Leon, Homeownership Investment Specialist of the Olneyville Housing Corporation; and Sara Mersha , Executive Director of Direct Action for Rights and Equality (D.A.R.E.); Lloyd Monroe, Executive Director, Rhode Island Select Committee on Race and Community and Police Relations and Treasurer of the Haitian Resource Center; and Ray Rickman, Diversity Specialist at Lifespan.