Catalyst Grant Program

We Are Microsoft Catalyst Grant Program Awardees!

The Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative and the Urban Institute has selected the SCWLF as one of 30 organizations across the country to participate in the Catalyst Grant Program. This program intends to help organizations like ours use data and technology to inform and improve practice within our communities to make the justice system more equitable. The organizations chosen will launch projects using data and technology to advance local justice reform and decrease racial and ethnic disparities in policing, diversion and alternatives to incarceration, and prosecution.

THE “MORE THAN 1%” INITIATIVE

Using grant funding and resources, partnered with Microsoft, the Urban Institute, and Boston University Law, our “More Than 1%” Initiative will foster understanding of the importance of diversity in prosecution in the local Greater Boston community. Our work will focus on data collection by polling undergraduate and law students in local Boston area colleges, law schools, and community organizations on their perceptions of the role of prosecutors in the justice system. We seek to understand why there are so few Black women prosecutors and illustrate the misconceptions about prosecutors in the area. Funding will also support education and outreach, using technology and social media to evaluate and disseminate the outcomes of our polling, as well as the importance of diversity and inclusion in prosecutorial offices, in a multimedia campaign.

MORE ABOUT THE CATALYST GRANT

From the Urban Institute Website

The Urban Institute and the Microsoft Justice Reform Initiative are collaborating on the Catalyst Grant Program to help organizations use data and technology to advance racial equity in the criminal legal system. Local projects focus on the system’s front end, including prevention, policing, and prosecution.

The Catalyst Grant Program supports local organizations across the country in using data and technology to inform and improve policies and practices that advance racial equity in prevention, policing, and prosecution. Each organization receives funds to cover project costs, project
implementation assistance from Urban, peer learning opportunities, and access to Microsoft technology and related support.

>> Read more here.

The Sarita and Claire Wright Lucas Foundation is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to pursue research that can help transform the justice system and make it more equitable for all.

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