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    FEATURE
    The Vision of the Othering & Belonging Institute

    The Othering & Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley brings together researchers, organizers, stakeholders, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society in order to create transformative change.

    Denise Herd speaks at conference event
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    FEATURE
    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.

    john powell is seen from the side and his head turned at 3/4 profile toward the camera smiling. He wears a black suit with white pinstripes.
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    FEATURE
    Podcast: Who Belongs?

    Launched in Fall 2018 as the Institute's official podcast, Who Belongs? is an ongoing series that demonstrates our commitment to public dialogue.

    Elsadig, a Sudanese man, speaks during a podcast recording session.
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A collage of images of conferences, people laughing, portraits, and so on, all set in circles

Areas of Work

Topics

Collage of square photos framed in white
Arts and Cultural Strategy
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 & Belonging
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
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.
Democracy
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
Illustration with line-drawings of several entangled bodies. Images of landscapes, plants, and animals are revealed where they overlap.
LGBTQ
Close-up illustration of a large hand writes with a pencil; four small figures including one person in a wheelchair hold the hand up
Narrative Power
Illustration of two fists gripping prison bars; the fists and bars are isolated and set on a dark orange grainy background.
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
An illustration featuring tens of people ascending an escalator at four different levels. The escalator zig-zags left and right, alternating at each level. The illustration is on a bright yellow background and blue foreground.
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
A map of the world composed of small red tiles of varying shades; some points are darker and others lighter, akin to a heatmap.
Equity Metrics
Civil Engagement
Faculty Clusters
Civil Engagement
Food Systems, Race, and Corporate Power
An illustration of a multi-generational, multi-racial family. Some folks have their raised fists.
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
A closeup photograph of a Black protestor raising their fist, surrounded by many other protestors
Network for Transformative Change
Othering & Belonging Forum
Othering & Belonging Forum
Civil Engagement
Radical Imagination for Racial Justice
john powell gesticulates during a speech
Strategic Communications
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OBI staff smiling, laughing, and posing in silly ways
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