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🔬 Research, Advocacy & Policy Reform
The Grief Equity Lab is our research and advocacy arm, dedicated to transforming how systems understand and respond to grief in historically excluded communities. Through rigorous research, policy analysis, and strategic advocacy, we challenge inequitable practices and champion reforms that center the needs of marginalized populations.
We document the disproportionate impact of loss, violence, and systemic trauma on communities of color, low-income families, and other marginalized groups. Our work exposes gaps in bereavement support, healthcare access, criminal justice responses, and social services—then advocates for evidence-based solutions that promote healing and justice.
The Lab partners with universities, policymakers, community organizations, and directly impacted individuals to ensure research is grounded in lived experience and leads to tangible change. We believe that grief equity—the right to grieve with dignity and access to adequate support—is a justice issue.
Research Reports Published
Policy Campaigns
Policies Influenced
Conduct research that exposes how marginalized communities experience disproportionate loss and have less access to bereavement support and resources.
Use research findings to inform policy campaigns, legislative advocacy, and community organizing for reforms in healthcare, criminal justice, education, and social services.
Ensure that research and advocacy are led by and accountable to the communities most affected by grief inequity, elevating lived experience as expertise.
Document how communities of color and low-income populations experience higher rates of violent loss, health crises, and premature death—and the compounding impacts of this exposure.
Examine barriers to bereavement counseling, mental health services, and palliative care in underserved communities, advocating for policy changes that expand access.
Advocate for trauma-informed responses to crime, alternatives to incarceration for grieving individuals, and support for families impacted by incarceration and violence.
Push for bereavement leave policies, trauma-informed education practices, and workplace accommodations that recognize the impact of grief on daily functioning.
"Communities of color bear a disproportionate burden of grief from gun violence, health disparities, and systemic injustice—yet have far less access to culturally competent bereavement support. Research-driven advocacy that centers these experiences is essential for creating equitable systems that honor all losses and support all grievers."
— Grief Justice & Public Health Research
Get updates about Grief Equity Lab and other programs that transform lives.
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