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 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
Justice
We facilitate a collaborative environment where community and cross-system stakeholders work through shared values and use data to transform systems.
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
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
Diallo Shabazz
Chair
Deliana Garcia
Secretary/Treasurer
Angela Glover Blackwell
William Arroyo
Harriet Beinfield
Dr. Melissa Merrick
Tanya Dawkins
Ben Joyce
Sylvia Garcia
Our Partners