About Us │ The AIR Opportunity Fund
Our Landmark Commitment
Creating Connections features stories, data, and project highlights from our efforts to build bridges toward a more equitable world, where all communities and people can thrive. View the report.
In 2021, the American Institutes for Research® (AIR) launched the AIR Equity Initiative, a five-year, $100M+ investment in research and technical assistance aimed at addressing the root causes of systemic inequities and expanding opportunities for people and communities.
Building on this strong foundation in 2024, AIR doubled its commitment to mitigating the harmful effects of segregation, evolving the initiative into the AIR Opportunity Fund. This 10-year, $225 million investment focuses on creating more equitable pathways to opportunity, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Using a place-based approach, we support inclusive, community-driven research and technical assistance projects that are co-created with local partners, resulting in sustainable progress.
From the outset, our work has targeted key areas where equity is needed most, and where research can make the greatest difference: education, healthcare, safer neighborhoods, and pathways to economic mobility. Through both research and action, we are committed to dismantling the barriers that prevent people from thriving in the communities we serve.
Who We Are
The AIR Opportunity Fund is led by a team of behavioral and social science experts, including Rashawn Ray, AIR vice president and executive director of the Fund. This team is supported by the AIR Board of Directors, AIR Scholars, Pipeline Partnership Program Fellows, and dedicated staff across AIR who make our work possible.
Our grantees include universities, nonprofits, community-based organizations, and alliances in areas like education and justice. Together, they work to advance equity and opportunity through research and practical solutions. We are a nonpartisan organization, open to collaborating with all who share our vision of using evidence to build a world where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Project Highlights
Below is a sample of current projects across our program areas—improving educational experiences, strengthening evidence-based workforce training, enhancing public safety, and fostering community wellness. For a list of all funded work, view our project library.
Bridges Collaborative Continuous Improvement Study
The Bridges Collaborative provides a unique opportunity to explore desegregation and integration efforts in diverse contexts and address some of the gaps in the research. Through this work, we sought both to address gaps in the research and to serve the needs and interests of Bridges Collaborative members.
Health Equity for Afghan Refugees (HEAR): Generating and Using Evidence to Align MultiSector Organizations with the Priorities of Afghan Refugees
Refugee resettlement can be a challenging process for people traumatized by decades of war and socioeconomic instability. With the HEAR project, AIR and its partners will use innovative qualitative research and capacity-building approaches to facilitate collaboration among multisector organizations toward advancing health equity for Afghan refugees.
Piloting Intelligent Tutoring Systems to Enhance Sectoral Training Programs: Early Findings and Lessons Learned
Based on decades of research on expert human tutoring and artificial intelligence (AI) in computer-based training systems, AIR, Per Scholas, and University of Memphis are exploring intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) as a mechanism for helping sectoral training programs improve outcomes for learners.
The Zambia eSchool 360 Evaluation Project
Impact Network’s eSchool 360 program is a multifaceted program comprising an e-learning technology component, ongoing teacher training and professional development, and community ownership among students in community schools in rural Zambia. AIR will design and implement a two-stage mixed-methods evaluation to measure the effect of Impact Network’s eSchool 360 program on learning outcomes among students in community schools in rural Zambia as well as the cost-effectiveness of any measured impacts.
Implementation Study Findings: Neighborhood Opportunity and Accountability Board Program
The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform’s (NICJR) Neighborhood Opportunity and Accountability Board (NOAB) presents a culturally and developmentally responsive point-of-arrest restorative diversion program that seeks to reimagine the partnership between the justice system—including police—and the communities in Oakland, California. AIR is partnering with NICJR to conduct a formative mixed method 4-year evaluation of NOAB’s program implementation and outcomes and a quasi-experimental study of program impacts.
Role of Medicaid Policy on Reducing Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality and Other Maternal Health Outcomes
Medicaid plays a key role in providing maternity-related services for birthing people, paying for slightly less than half of all births nationwide and nearly two-thirds of births to Black, Native, and Hispanic parents. AIR is investing in the field of maternal health equity through a mixed-methods study that aims to identify if states that implemented Medicaid policies covering prenatal and postpartum home visiting services or freestanding birth centers were able to reduce racial disparities in health outcomes among Black, Native, and Hispanic Medicaid populations.
Testing an Agriculture Intervention’s Effect on Maternal and Infant Health in Tanzania
Vitamin A deficiency is a significant public health issue, especially in Africa and South-East Asia. In addition to visual impairment, the lack of vitamin A in children significantly increases the risk of severe illness and even death from common infections such as diarrhea and measles. AIR is working with the International Potato Center to improve vitamin A intakes by children aged 0 to 59 months and their mothers in the Shinyanga region in Tanzania.
