William Julius Wilson Institute

The William Julius Wilson Institute (WJW Institute), named for one of our nation’s most prolific African American scholars on poverty and inequality and led by Geoffrey Canada—HCZ founder and president—is a national resource for place-based, people-focused solutions that open pathways to social and economic mobility.

Housed at HCZ, the Wilson Institute works together with on-the-ground-collaborators and national partners to deliver comprehensive strategies, support services, and tools that systematically root out poverty and close opportunity gaps in neighborhoods across America. The WJW Institute acts as a central hub for place-based services and programs and for backbone organizations to access the supports they need to be successful.

During the height of COVID-19, HCZ successfully designed and implemented a five-phase emergency response and recovery plan in Harlem. The WJW Institute team is currently scaling the program with partners in six cities where Black people are disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 by:

• Outlining potential actions against each focus area
• Providing training and technical assistance
• Sharing public health campaign materials
• Virtually convening community leaders to problem solve and share proven practices
• Assisting in securing resources

Harlem Children’s Zone, together with three national partners (NAACP, StriveTogether and PolicyLink) and six highly respected community partners (Northside Achievement Zone, Oakland Promise, Thrive Chicago, BRICK Education Network, Purpose Built Communities and United Way for Southeastern Michigan) are driving awareness and public education about the importance of staying covered for each other. Because your mask protects your neighbors, and your neighbor’s mask protects you. And, by staying covered together, our community is stronger in fighting the virus.

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William Julius Wilson
Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor, Harvard University

William Julius Wilson is a sociologist and Harvard University professor who has authored seminal works on urban sociology, race, and class. His work has identified the importance of neighborhood effects and demonstrated how limited employment opportunities and weakened institutional resources exacerbate poverty in American cities.

His books include Power, Racism and Privilege (1973), The Declining Significance of Race (1978), The Truly Disadvantaged (1987), When Work Disappears (1996), The Bridge over the Racial Divide (1999), There Goes the Neighborhood (2006, co-author), Good Kids from Bad Neighborhoods (2006, co-author), and, most recently, More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (2009).