The Reach Alliance announces partnership with Howard University
A new partnership with one of the most prominent Historically Black Universities in the United States was announced at the 2024 Reach Conference by Marin MacLeod, Reach Alliance Executive Director. Howard is the ninth university partner for the Reach Alliance and the first from the U.S.
Founded at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, the Reach Alliance cultivates leadership for solving urgent challenges of hard-to-reach communities - those that are under-served or under-resourced for geographic, administrative, or social reasons. Working in interdisciplinary teams, Reach’s student researchers use rigorous research methods to identify innovative solutions to climate, public health, and economic problems, with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guiding framework. The students conducted their research in collaboration with local communities, with support from university faculty members. When the research is done, each team produces a case study report that is shared with policy makers and practitioners.
In less than 10 years, the Reach Alliance has grown to include universities in eight countries with partners in Australia, Canada, Ghana, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom, and United States and has launched over 90 case studies. Findings have been published in leading outlets including The Lancet, the Stanford Social Innovation Review and the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.
The partnership with Howard opens a channel for Howard students and faculty members to engage in Reach Alliance projects and case studies and will support the expansion of Reach project targets by building access to communities through new idea networks based in the United States.
Remarking on how the Reach Alliance has broadened since 2015, founder Prof. Joseph Wong said, “Howard university shares a commitment with the University of Toronto to inclusive excellence which is the key principle driving the work we do at the Reach Alliance.”
Prof. Amy Yeboah Quarkume, data scientist and Howard University’s Director of Graduate Studies for the master’s Program in Applied Data Science and Analytics is among the newest cohort of faculty mentors. She sees intrinsic value in joining the initiative.
“The Reach Alliance is truly a global partnership network, which allows us to think about how we tackle issues in D.C., where Howard is, but also in Guatemala and Ghana and other places. Seeing and hearing how others are grappling with the same problems makes one feel as though we can go far if we work together.”
Before the conference started, the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth renewed their longstanding partnership with the Reach Alliance through a $2M (USD) gift to support key investments in enhancing Reach’s impact strategy, as well as strengthen shared network resources. Adding to the current student leadership development program, the funding allows for more cross-university collaboration, expanded knowledge translation and communications capabilities.
The 2024 gathering also expanded on media engagement with Reach initiatives. Sponsor-in-kind Devex, a media platform that focuses on stories of interest to the global development community, followed the gathering with an intent to raise profile of the Reach’s Actionable Research Insights. “Devex covers stories that we care about, so it felt like a natural fit,” said Marin MacLeod, executive director of the Reach Alliance.
“As we approach 2030, with much progress yet to be made on the SDGs, the time is right to ask who is accountable, how are we holding them accountable and are those that are hardest to reach being accounted for,” she continued.
“The higher education sector, especially the Reach Alliance, has an important role to play in co-creating Actionable Research Insights, and partnering with practitioners and policy makers to see these findings implemented.”
The Devex participation also supports the flow of actionable information between communities and researchers throughout the world, noted by Howard’s Quarkume as a key strength of the Alliance.
“We must find common goals to deal with common issues in order to go back and share information that helps in more than one place. I’m excited to meet new people across the globe who are thinking, moving, trying to reach communities that have been made to wait.”
And, in the wake of a U.S. presidential election result that will impact the role that the U.S. government plays on the global stage, Prof. Quarkume shows resolve, not discouragement. “Political systems have changed, and issues may shift, but we still must find solutions. It will take us working across borders to solve some things.”
