News & Events

Beerbohm appointed director of Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics
Eminent political theorist Eric Beerbohm, Professor of Government and Faculty Affiliate in the Department of Philosophy, has been appointed as the next Director of Harvard’s Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics. The Justice, Health & Democracy Impact Initiative is part of the EL Safra Center.

Covid Crisis Group Releases Report
JHD’s rapid response team have co-written a report with other members of the non-partisan Covid Crisis Group titled, Lessons from the Covid War: An Investigative Report. In this unflinching look at the scale and efficacy of America’s Covid response efforts, the authors sift through mountains of information to assess what worked, what didn’t, and what must be done to prepare for an inevitable future global pandemic.

New publications from the GETTING-Plurality network
JHD’s GETTING-Plurality research network, part of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, has released two new white papers to coincide with the launch of the network and its new website.

Announcing New Research Network on the Governance of Emerging Technologies through Plurality
The Harvard Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics is proud to announce the launch of the Governance of Emerging Technology and Technology Innovations for Next-Generation Governance through Plurality (GETTING-Plurality) research network. This network will bring together researchers and academics of various disciplines across Harvard University to advance the understanding of how to shape, guide, govern, and deploy technological development in support of democracy, collective intelligence, and other public goods.

Educating About Enslavement
In a Black History Month interview with WBUR’s OnPoint program JHD Director Danielle Allen discusses how educators should be teaching the history of Black enslavement in America’s classrooms. Joining her in the conversation are Guest Host, Kimberly Atkins Stohr, and David Blight, Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance and Abolition at Yale University.

New Renovating Democracy Washington Post Series
Danielle Allen, Director of the Justice, Health & Democracy Impact Initiative and the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics has launched a new series in her Washington Post column focused on “Renovating Democracy”. In her first column for 2023, Allen shares the personal origins of her work to combat what she calls “The Great Pulling Apart” that polarizes Americans and threatens the fabric of our democracy, and lays the groundwork for a year-long conversation on renovating governance to meet the challenges of the moment.

Madison AERP program shares first annual report
The City of Madison’s Community Alternative Response Emergency Services (CARES) program is one of the partner cities currently piloting an alternative response program and sharing data and insights with JHD AERP Principal Investigator Danielle Allen and Program Leads, David Knight and Benjamin Barsky. This week, the City of Madison shared its CARES annual report and held a press conference documenting the program’s impact in its first year a

New article from Genetics, Ethics & Society impact team
The American Journal of Human Genetics has published an article by Justice, Health & Democracy Impact Initiative (JHD) researchers Anna Lewis, Maddie Mauro, and Director, Danielle Allen, among others. The article offers a scoping review of 121 published articles on the use of population descriptors including race, ethnicity, and ancestry in biomedicine.

Reassessing the Constitution
Justice, Health, & Democracy Impact Initiative Director, Danielle Allen, is the first of five Harvard scholars to discuss what they would change about the U.S. Constitution in a new series of articles in The Harvard Gazette. Her solution: expand the House in order to better balance the Electoral College.

Reimagining the Economy Project Launch Event
The Reimagining the Economy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School invites you to the project’s launch event on October 5, 2022, from 3:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. at the Nye Conference Center, Taubman Building.

Consultation held on National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct
The Justice, Health & Democracy Impact Initiative recently joined with the Berkman Klein Center, the Global Network Initiative, and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy to host a Consultation on Ethical and Rights-Respecting Technology for the National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct. This event yielded key recommendations to the Biden administration’s ongoing work to improve the U.S. National Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct.

Now hiring: Project Manager
The Justice Health and Democracy (JHD) Impact Initiative at Harvard University’s Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics (ELSCE) seeks an experienced, flexible and versatile Project Manager to support its team and mission.