Burns Institute

Who We Are

We facilitate a collaborative environment where community and cross-system stakeholders work through shared values and use data to transform systems. 

About us

Who is W. Haywood Burns?

Our organization is named for the late W. Haywood Burns, a beacon of activism, humility, and dedication in the battle for human rights and justice. 
Our Story

We Work Together

Who We Are

The Haywood Burns Institute (BI) is a national nonprofit with an intergenerational, cross-cultural team of bold visionaries working to transform the administration of justice and other human services sectors. Always challenging racial hierarchy and the social control of communities of color by the justice sector and other public systems, BI employs strategies and tactics to establish a community-centered approach of justice administration anchored in structural well-being.

Structural Well-Being

This community-centered well-being paradigm is represented by a system of public policies, institutional and inclusive practices, cultural representations, and other norms that work to strengthen families, communities, and individual well-being.

Our Mission

Dismantling Structural Racism and Building Community-Centered Structural Well-Being
Justice

Justice

We facilitate a collaborative environment where community and cross-system stakeholders work through shared values and use data to transform systems.

Fairness

Fairness

We support community capacity-building and strengthening grassroots organizations to drive localized solutions, while also advocating for the reallocation of resources to support these efforts.

Equity

Equity

We believe true innovation comes from those closest to the issue, and we work to frame a narrative that authentically represents community voice.

Leadership

Meet our board

Our Partners

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