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    The Vision of the Othering & Belonging Institute

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    Meet the Institute’s Director

    john a. powell is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy.

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Areas of Work

Topics

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Arts and Cultural Strategy

Detail of collage with "WE" printed in large, bold, yellow text covering most of the image. Behind it, we see people at various protests in support of indigenous rights, women's rights, and so on. The dome of the US capitol is visible.

Authoritarianism & Democracy

Illustration of two hillsides — one tinted blue, one green — descend on a waterway from opposite sides. The hillsides are close but do not touch; instead, they are connected by a small bridge.

Bridging

Painting of indigenous people belonging to the Lummi Nation looking to the horizon. The figures at the foreground face away from the viewer, and we see colorful traditional garb. In the background is a dim, blue-grey body of water and a thin line of mountains far beyond.

Climate Justice

Two images collaged together; one in the top-left is a black-and-white close-up of a hand on the wheel of a wheelchair and with a "Black Lives Matter" sign tucked in the seat. In the bottom left is a green-tinted photograph of smiling youth at a camp for youth with disabilities; some in wheelchairs, others not. Small portions of top right and bottom left are empty

Disability

An artistic rendition of a graph depicting increasing economic inequality

Economic Inequality

Civil Engagement

Explore More...

Watercolor illustration with the earth at the center with various foods — chicken, corn, peppers, mangoes, and so on — revolving around it. We see mostly South America, Africa, and the Atlantic Ocean as well as partial views of Europe and North America.

Food Systems

Flattened stylized illustration of three people — one woman with black hair, another woman with a white hat and brown hair, and a Black man with cropped black hair — all wearing masks with smiles printed on them.

Health

The San Francisco  Bay is reimagined in a temporally collapsed manner; in the foreground, indigenous Ohlone people gather on marshland and in boats, smoke from fires rising above their village. In the background, we see the present-day skyline of San Francisco filled with skyscrapers and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Housing

A young woman wearing a hijab holds her phone to take a photo at a solidarity protest against Islamophobia

Islamophobia

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LGBTQ

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Narrative Strategy

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Policing

Flat stylized illustration of a crowd; we see a Black woman in a headdress and earrings, a white woman with her hair in two buns, a Brown woman with long brown hair, the chin of a brown man with a beard, and the head of a white man with blonde hair

Race

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Targeted Universalism

People targeted by facial recognition software

Technology & Belonging

Programs

Civil Engagement

Climate Crisis, Displacement, and the Right to Stay

Detail of a mural painted in Richmond, California. The visible portion of the mural shows a Black mother and her child; she extends her hand to show a poster reading "Exercise your rights" while the child raises their fist.

Community Power and Policy Partnerships

Three people in conversation at the Othering & Belonging Paris summit in January 2020

Democracy & Belonging Forum

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Equity Metrics

Civil Engagement

Faculty Clusters

Civil Engagement

Food Systems, Race, and Corporate Power

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Global Justice

Civil Engagement

Global Marginality, Inclusivity, and Legal Mechanisms

An isometric (top down, three dimensional) illustration of a city with abundant buildings and amenities — housing, parks, public transit, and so on.

Just Public Finance

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Network for Transformative Change

Othering & Belonging Forum

Othering & Belonging Forum

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Places of Belonging

Civil Engagement

Radical Imagination for Racial Justice

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About

  • Our Story
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  • The Problem of Othering
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People

  • Director john a. powell
  • Find an Expert
  • Staff
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Topic

  • Authoritarianism & Democracy
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  • Bridging
  • Climate Justice
  • Disability
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  • Health
  • Housing
  • Islamophobia
  • Just Public Finance
  • LGBTQ
  • Narrative Strategy
  • Policing
  • Race
  • Targeted Universalism
  • Explore More...

Program

  • Community Power and Policy Partnerships
  • Equity Metrics
  • Global Justice
  • Network for Transformative Change
  • O&B Conference
  • Democracy & Belonging Forum
  • Summer Fellowship
  • Places of Belonging
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Register for O&B 2026 today!

Join us in LOUISVILLE, KY on October 9-10, 2026 for our next Othering & Belonging Conference. Registration is now open!

Join over 1,000 changemakers for two dynamic days of relationship-building, strategy-strengthening, and highly interactive sessions designed to strengthen our collective work in building a bigger "we." Click here to learn more about O&B26.


Register Now

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