Armed with a $247,000 grant from the Dana Foundation, the Center for Black Excellence and Culture and UW–Madison’s Center for Healthy Minds on Monday launched the Black Wellbeing Civic Science Initiative.
Civic Science Fellow Easton James Davis will lead the initiative, which marks a new phase of a partnership between the two organizations.
The initiative will place Black residents at the heart of the research process. The work will examine how Black cultural strengths can inform approaches to community well-being.
Davis said in a press release that he’s excited to begin the research by listening to how Black residents describe healing, belonging and the conditions that help them flourish.
“My hope is to bring community wisdom and scientific inquiry into a shared process where residents help shape the questions and the meaning of what we learn,” Davis said. “Together, we can develop knowledge and practices that honor Black experiences and support well-being in everyday life.”
Rev. Alex Gee Jr., founder and CEO of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture, said Black communities hold generations of knowledge about “resilience, healing, connection, and what it takes to flourish.”
“This partnership recognizes that wisdom as essential to scientific discovery,” Gee said. “With Dr. Davis helping lead this work, we have an opportunity to build something with our community that reflects our experiences, honors our strengths, and produces knowledge we can put to use.”
Richard J. Davidson, founder and director of the Center for Healthy Minds, said the science of well-being becomes stronger “when the people it seeks to serve help shape its questions and interpret its findings.”
“Our collaboration with The Center for Black Excellence and Culture creates an opportunity for reciprocal learning: scientific knowledge can inform community priorities, while Black community wisdom can deepen and improve the science itself,” Davidson said.
The research fellowship runs through March 2028.
CBEC and CHM are planning a welcome gathering to introduce Davis. Attendance and registration details will be announced shortly.
