Project Library | The AIR Opportunity Fund
The AIR Opportunity Fund is addressing systemic inequalities in the U.S. and globally through our focus on four key areas—educational equity, public safety and policing, workforce development, and community health and well-being. Through our funding, we harness the power of research, evaluation, technical assistance, and partnerships to foster a more equitable society where all communities and people can thrive.
Through the Scholars and Leaders Awards, the AIR Opportunity Fund competitively awards grants while expanding the pipeline of project leadership at AIR. Topics supported by this grant competition are suggested by the grantees and vary in theme and scope.
Educational Equity
Addressing Inequity by Improving Evaluation Design: Benchmark Effect Sizes and Design Parameters for Planning Cluster Randomized Trials to Detect Moderator Effects
Project Lead: Qi Zhang
ASSETS: Advancing Equity in Arizona through a Linguistic, Artistic and Culturally Relevant Integration Strategy
Project Lead: M. Beatriz Arias, Local to Global Justice
Bridges Collaborative Capacity-Building Grant
Project Lead: Stefan Lallinger, The Century Foundation
Bridges Collaborative Continuous Improvement Study
Project Lead: Megan Sambolt
Campus Without Walls: An Innovative Approach to Implementing Massachusetts’ Equity Plan
Project Lead: Jingtong Pan and Catherine Bitter
Contemporary Approaches to Gifted and Talented Education: From Hindering to Fostering Educational Equity
Project Lead: Scott Peters, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
COVID-19 and Equity in Education (CEE) DataHub
Project Lead: Cong Ye and Trent Sharp
COVID-19 and Equity in Education (CEE) Initiative: Longitudinal Deep Dive
Project Lead: Michael Garet and Susan Therriault
COVID-19 and Equity in Education Community of Researchers
Project Lead: Sushmita Subedi
COVID-19 and Equity in Education Community of Researchers : Promoting Mental Health Resilience and Mitigating COVID-19 Stressors in Middle School
Project Lead: Maciel M. Hernandez, University of California–Davis
COVID-19 and Equity in Education Community of Researchers: A Research-Practice Partnership to Support Black Girls’ Holistic Well-Being in California
Project Lead: Faheemah N. Mustafaa, University of California–Davis
COVID-19 and Equity in Education Community of Researchers: Compounded Adversity and Resilience During Crises: Student Homelessness in the Context of COVID-19 and Natural Disasters
Project Lead: Alexandra Pavlakis, Meredith Richards, and J. Kessa Roberts, Southern Methodist University
COVID-19 and Equity in Education Community of Researchers: The Influence of COVID-19 on Racial Inequities in Academic Outcomes and Enrollment in California
Project Lead: Tiffany Jones, Colorado State University; Valerie Shapiro, UC Berkeley; and Sophia Hwang, New York University
Do Social and Emotional Learning, Programming, and Strategies Work for All Students? A Participatory Evidence Synthesis
Project Lead: Joshua R. Polanin and Sarah Peko-Spicer
Improving Attendance Policies Through the Equitable Attendance Policy Partnership (EAPP)
Project Lead: Kathy Terry and Jenny Scala
Improving Pandemic Recovery Efforts in Education Agencies
Project Lead: Dan Goldhaber and Elise Dizon-Ross
Indigenous Student Identification Project
Project Lead: Nara Nayar
Brown’s Promise Learning Labs
Project Lead: Amy Amerikaner, Brown's Promise
Integration and Immersion: The Potential of Two-Way Dual Language Immersion Programs to Foster Integration
Project Lead: Jennifer Ayscue, North Carolina State University
Leveraging Title II of ESSA and Redressing the Post-Brown Decimation of the Black Educator Workforce in the South to Support School Integration and Educator Diversity
Project Lead: Gina Chirichigno, National Coalition on School Diversity
MetaReviewer
Project Lead: Joshua R. Polanin and Megan Austin
National Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER)
Project Lead: Dan Goldhaber
National Survey of Public Education’s Response to COVID-19
Project Lead: Michael Garet
Promoting Equity Funding for Schools Facing Adverse Health Circumstances
Project Lead: Thomas Snyder and Lisa Yarnell
School Integration Approach(es) Beyond the White Gaze: Centering Black, Latin*, APIDA, and Indigenous Youth
Project Lead: Nathaniel D. Stewart, University of Minnesota
Public Safety and Policing
An Assessment of the Combined Effects of Police Training for Reducing Harm: Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement and Implicit Bias
Project Leads: Cassandra Ramdath, Center for Innovations in Community Safety, Georgetown University Law Center and Andrea M. Headley, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University
An Evaluation of the Center for Policing Equity’s Strategic Partnerships Program
Project Leads: Roger Jarjoura and Amanda Latimore
An Expansion of the Evaluation of Oakland and Richmond’s Neighborhood Opportunity and Accountability Board
Project Lead: Melissa Yisak and Candace Hester
Benchmark Analytics Data Model Work Group
Project Lead: Minh Huynh
Benchmark Analytics Data Response Work Group
Project Lead: Candace Hester
Benchmark Analytics Data Unpack Work Group
Project Lead: Mary Ann Fox
Center for Policing Equity
Project Lead: Dirk Butler, Center for Policing Equity
Equity Measurements for Accountability to All People in Policy Solutions
Project Lead: Amanda Latimore
High-Quality Evaluations and Evidence-Informed Technical Assistance of the Institute for American Policing Reform’s Community Engagement and Education Pillar
Project Lead: Anne Diffenderffer and Candace Hester
Institute for American Policing Reform (IAPR) Capacity Building Grant
Project Lead: Nicholas Sensley, Institute for American Policing Reform
Workforce Development
Advancing AIR’s Opportunity Fund in Africa: P3 Global Expansion
Project Lead: Ashu Handa and David Seidenfeld
American Youth Policy Forum
Project Lead: Serena Holthe
Integration of Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) into Best-in-Class Sectoral Training Programs
Project Lead: Samia Amin
Northeastern-Boston Youth Employment Study
Project Lead: Alicia Modestino, Northeastern University
Pipeline Partnership Program
Project Lead: Karen Francis and Jillian Reynolds
PROMISE Center and Inaugural Projects
Project Lead: Elizabeth Rutschow and Harry Holzer
Workforce Matters
Project Lead: Loh-Sze Leung, Workforce Matters
Community Health and Well-being
Aspen Global Health Corps Fellows
Project Lead: Heather Anderson, Aspen Institutes Global Health Corps
Aspen Healthy Community Fellows
Project Lead: Lola Adedokun, Aspen Global Innovators Group
Global Commission on Evidence Use
Project Lead: Jenn Thornhill Verma
Massachusetts Tackling Addiction Determinants of Health through Research (MATADOHR)
Project Lead: Amanda Latimore
The Impact of Health Professional Shortage Areas Designations on Primary Care Utilization and Outcomes Among Medicare Beneficiaries
Project Lead: Angshuman Gooptu and Dajun Lin
The Role of Medicaid Policy on Reducing Racial Disparities in Maternal Mortality and Other Maternal Health Outcomes
Project Lead: Daniela Zapata and Sarah Pedersen
Understanding and Responding to Inequities in Access to, Utilization, and Quality of Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services
Project Lead: Aditi Pathak and Kelsey Walter
Scholars and Leaders
Amplifying Women’s Voices to Change Gender Norms: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Project Lead: Garima Siwach
Bridge Programs’ Promise for Ensuring Equity in Access to Opportunity
Project Lead: Neha Nanda
Building Capacity for Equitable Juvenile Diversion Practices
Project Lead: Namita Tanya Padgaonkar
CARES: Exploring the Impact of ¡Éxito! on Increasing the Diversity of Equity-Focused Doctoral Education
Project Lead: Graciela Castillo
Elevating Youth Voices to Understand the Gaps in Coordination Between School Services and Community-Based Organizations
Project Lead: Jameela Conway-Turner
Equity and Cash Transfers in Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia
Project Lead: Santiago Munevar Salazar
Evaluating the Effects of a Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management Intervention in India
Project Lead: Averi Chakrabarti
Evaluation of Oakland and Richmond’s Neighborhood Opportunity and Accountability Board
Project Lead: Melissa Yisak and Candace Hester
Finding Robust Equity Solutions: Documenting and Addressing the Advanced Course Access Inequity Issue
Project Lead: Angelica Herrera and Shuqiong (Linda) Lin
Generating and Reporting Staff Ratings of Quality Working Conditions in K–12 Schools
Project Lead: Benjamin West
Health Equity for Afghan Refugees (HEAR): Generating and Using Evidence to Align Multi-Sector Organizations with the Priorities of Afghan Refugees
Project Lead: Maliha Ali and Trenita Childers
Impacts of Inequities in Access to Language of Education on Educational Achievement: Evidence from India
Project Lead: Uttara Balakrishnan
Justice Equity Fellowship
Project Lead: Charrise Hollingsworth
Using Pedagogical Alignment to Enhance Educators’ Adoption of Culturally Responsive Practices
Project Lead: Laura Brady
Virtual Reality Immersion for Indigenous Language Teaching and Learning
Project Lead: Marissa Spang
