Six years ago, Harold and Carol Kohn approached the Ford School with a vision to honor their family. Their goal was to build a vibrant research community dedicated to promoting social equity and inclusion. Today, the Kohn Collaborative for Social Policy is poised to influence social policy and tackle structural inequality across the nation.
At the center of the Collaborative are five endowed professorships specializing in social justice, health and aging, early childhood education, disability rights, and economic policy. Their collective focus is on translating research into actionable policy. Four of these professorships are filled, with the final appointment forthcoming.
“We wanted to create the Collaborative because we truly believe the synergy between different fields and among researchers and students can make a real difference,” Harold Kohn said. “It’s a clear example of one plus one becoming greater than two. We believe the country’s potential is dependent on this, especially in today’s competitive global society. We’re incredibly excited to see what happens next!”
“The Kohn’s generosity is proving to be transformative” said Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes. “Through the Kohn Collaborative, we’ve built on a longstanding core strength. Our deepened expertise and commitment to social policy gives us tremendous momentum as we seek to improve equity across the United States.”
Two new professors join the Collaborative this fall. Sociologist Pamela Herd has been appointed as the Carol Kakalec Kohn Professor of Social Policy; her research addresses inequality specifically related to health and aging. “We have, in many ways, a set of robust social welfare policies meant to reduce poverty and inequality, but the way they are implemented undermine key goals,” she explained. “My research is focused on how to fix that problem specifically.”
Also, this spring educational policy expert Christina Weiland has been named the Karl and Martha Kohn Professor of Social Policy. “I’m interested in large-scale efforts to implement the best science we have in early childhood education, particularly for families with lower incomes,” she said. “It can be really practical stuff, like how do you train hundreds of teachers in the teaching strategies that give children the strongest start? At the end of the day, the goal is to deliver a strong experience for kids.”
Labor and disability rights attorney Samuel R. Bagenstos, who joined the Collaborative in 2022, serves as the Arlene Susan Kohn Professor of Social Policy. Bagenstos has spent the past four years working in the Biden Administration, first as the general counsel for the Office of Management and Budget and then as the general counsel in the Department of Health and Human Services. Bagenstos believes his time working in government provides a real-world perspective of how to implement policy that deeply informs his research and teaching.
Poverty researcher Luke Shaefer, the first Kohn Professor, was appointed as the Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy in 2020. Shaefer played a key role in developing what became the expanded child tax credit, which led to a historic drop in child poverty in the U.S. in 2021. He also developed Rx Kids, a program that gives cash payments to new mothers in Michigan.
“The thing we all have in common is the use of rigorous research for policy change ultimately to improve the human condition and understanding of the world,” Shaefer said. “Each one of the Kohn professors has a record of impact in the real world. Working together gives us all this incredible energy and momentum at the Ford School.”
Working with nationally renowned experts focused on social equity from a variety of perspectives is essential for addressing a complex problem such as inequality, Bagenstos said.
“The Collaborative provides us the opportunity to explore our individual pieces and show how these things connect,” he said. “It will also give students the perspective to see connections and make headway on serious issues.”
In fact, collaboration across disciplines is essential for addressing problems in the real world, Herd said. “There isn’t really a way to conduct effective research focused around inequality without having multiple perspectives and different kinds of expertise,” she said. “I am so genuinely appreciative that the Kohns choose to focus on inequality in this way. It’s what drew me to the Ford School because it’s really about these fundamental values.”
Beyond the endowed professors, the Kohn Collaborative is building a community of scholars and practitioners focused on social inequality. The Collaborative supports exemplary graduate students underrepresented in the public policy field with full-tuition fellowships. Further augmenting these efforts, the Collaborative has established an endowed infrastructure fund that will be used to foster new initiatives.
This year, the Collaborative further expanded, announcing a major social policy impact prize for an individual or organization in the U.S. that advances equity and inclusion.
“Our goal is to impact the national public policy community,” Carol Kohn said. “We see this as a prestigious award given by a prestigious university. It’s something the policy community can aspire to achieve, and it rewards the use of knowledge that can move us all forward.”
Taken together, the momentum of the Collaborative is making important strides.
“The vision Hal and Carol had years ago is coming true in a really vibrant way,” Shaefer said. “It’s incredibly exciting to see it grow like this.”
Written by Sheri Hall
