Creating Justice: Developing Evidence-based Policy to Reduce Inequality

On Wednesday, April 15, 2026 at 6:30 pm, Bedrock, the Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL), and the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation will host Creating Justice: Developing Evidence-based Policy to Reduce Inequality, a panel discussion on Creating Justice In A Multiracial Democracy, a new update of the 1968 Kerner Commission, published by Columbia Teachers College Press with a Foreword by Governor Wes Moore.

The panel discussion will be opened by Alan Curtis, President of the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation in Washington, DC. The discussion will feature expert perspectives on the challenges of our current political moment, the need to cultivate a “new will” to confront the problems currently faced and “make good the promise of American democracy to all citizens”.

Joining the discussion will be Cynthia Miller-Idriss, Founding Director & Chief Vision Officer of PERIL, Laura Waxman, Director of Public Safety, US Conference of Mayors, Ray B. Shackelford, Vice President of Equitable Justice, National Urban League, Anjali Thakur-Mittal, Vice President of Membership & Engagement, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and Sim J. Singh Attariwala, Director, Anti-Hate Program at Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC.

The Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation is a non-governmental organization in the United States, established in 1981 to continue the work of two Presidential Commissions. These commissions were the bipartisan National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (commonly known as the Kerner Riot Commission; 1967-68), and the bipartisan National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (also known as the National Violence Commission; 1968-69). The Eisenhower Foundation carries forward the objectives and initiatives of these commissions in the private sector.

Bedrock is a partnership of 67 national organizations working to prevent hate-fueled and political violence. Bedrock partners work across differences to create a unified approach to address violence that targets marginalized communities, public officials, and more. Bedrock informs, convenes, and connects these partner organizations to facilitate collective action among otherwise narrow efforts, creating national unity and a shared approach to “what works.”

The Polarization & Extremism Research & Innovation Lab (PERIL) is an applied research lab within American University’s School of Public Affairs. PERIL uses a public health approach to design, test, and scale-up evidence-based tools to reduce the threat of polarization and extremism. As an alternative to security-based approaches that rely on surveillance, censorship, and incarceration, PERIL’s work takes a multidisciplinary and “pre-preventative” approach.