The Center for Black Excellence and Culture announced Thursday it was awarded a two-year, $247,000 grant from the New York-based Dana Foundation.
The funds will be used for a civic science initiative. The project will be a joint effort between The Center and the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
The project will research how Madison’s Black residents define well–being, healing and brain health.
“The Center was built to be a living platform for Black leadership, healing and innovation,” Alex Gee, president and CEO of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture, said in a statement. “We aren’t resting on the laurels of a beautiful new building.
“We are immediately leveraging this space to tackle systemic health and research disparities. This grant allows us to cultivate a community-centered research system where our neighbors are not the subjects of science, but the co-researchers driving the agenda.”
The project will last for 18 months, with the final goal being to develop a specialized toolkit for civic science engagement.
“This project centers the lived experience of Black residents of Madison in shaping a new research agenda around well–being, healing and brain health within the Black community,” Richard J. Davidson, founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds, said in a statement.
