Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies works to improve the socioeconomic status and civic engagement of African Americans. It produces and disseminates original research and catalyzes action by policymakers to address systemic economic inequality, voting access, and a range of other political and economic issues affecting Black communities.

The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies was founded in 1970 to lend a hand to Black leaders as they traveled the uncharted road from civil rights activism to the political establishment. Its mission is to inform and illuminate the nation’s major public policy debates through research, analysis, and information dissemination in order to improve the socioeconomic status of Black communities in the United States, expand their effective participation in the political and public policy arenas, and promote communication and relationships across racial and ethnic lines to strengthen the nation’s pluralistic society.