Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, formerly known as the Ash Institute, was established in 2003 and is part of the

Harvard Kennedy School The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, in the United States. The Center’s mission is to advance public discussion and public policy research on key issues of democratic governance worldwide, as well as recognize and promote innovations in government that are improving the lives of citizens. The center consists of three major programs: the Program on Democratic Governance, the Innovations in Government Program; and the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia.

History

In April 2001, the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

announced a $50 million endowment to the

. This endowment was the largest single endowment ever made by the Ford Foundation at that time.

Susan Berresford Susan Vail Berresford (born 1943) is an American foundation executive. She was the president of the Ford Foundation from 1996-2007. Since November 2008 she has worked as a philanthropy consultant out of the offices of The New York Community Trust. ...

, then president of the Ford Foundation, explained that the endowment would enable much-needed recognition of numerous innovative government programs in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and worldwide. The grant enabled Harvard Kennedy School to launch the Innovations in American Government Awards in 1985 which recognizes and supports state, local, tribal, and territorial government initiatives. Many past award winners have been replicated around the country including: * CitiStat: As a 2004 Innovations in American Government Award winner, CitiStat was launched in 1999 as a tool for improving the performance of Baltimore’s city government practices. The tool has quickly become an industry standard for driving down costs and improving citizen engagement initiatives: more than 11 U.S. cities have adopted the CitiStat model including SomerStat of

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

; ProvStat of

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

; and PerformanceStat,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. * Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative: Created by the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...

in 1995, the initiative has allocated more than $500 million to leverage a total of $9.6 billion in cleanup funds, resulting in the assessment of more than 10,000 sites and the comprehensive development of nearly 200 sites that were previously condemned and vacant due to dangerous contamination. The program was a 2000 Innovations in American Government Award winner. * Competition and Costing: While Mayor of Indianapolis in the mid-1990s,

Stephen Goldsmith Stephen "Steve" Goldsmith (born December 12, 1946) is an American politician and writer who was the 46th mayor of Indianapolis. He also served as the deputy mayor of New York City for operations from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Republican P ...

spearheaded a program to privatize city services through managed competition, improving efficiencies and cutting unnecessary costs. “As a result of the recognition we received from the Innovations Award, we had more than 3,000 officials from around the country and beyond coming to see how we did it,” said Goldsmith. Mayor Goldsmith went on to serve as the director of the Innovations in Government Program, overseeing the Innovations Awards program. He later served as deputy mayor of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Roy and Lila Ash

In 2003, Harvard Kennedy School received a substantial gift from benefactors Roy and Lila Ash. Designed to enhance the Innovations in American Government Awards Program by emphasizing the connection between innovation and democratic governance, the gift created the Ash Center.

Roy Ash Roy Lawrence Ash (October 20, 1918December 14, 2011) was the co-founder and president of the American company Litton Industries and director of the Office of Management and Budget from February 2, 1973 until February 3, 1975, during the administra ...

’s own experience in the public and private sector made him aptly positioned to set the vision for the new Ash Center. Ash served as a

cabinet member This is a list of the offices of heads of state, heads of government, cabinet, and legislature, of sovereign states. Date of Origin refers to most recent fundamental change in form of government, for example independence, change from absolute ...

in two U.S. government administrations and is the founder of the modern

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

. “We have to consider the concept of democracy fragile and in need of real and constant hands-on care,” said Roy Ash. “The purpose of the Institute ow Ash Centeris to encourage thoughtful and focused attention to the nature, principles, functioning, and continued innovation and adaptations essential to a living and effective democracy."

Endeavors

The Ash Center offers grant funding and internship opportunities for students in the Harvard community. Support for field research in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

, as well as other regions are also offered. Its Ford Foundation Mason Fellowship and Roy and Lila Ash Fellowship provide financial support to students studying at the

The Study of Democratic Governance

In November 2008,

announced a new initiative with the Ford Foundation to link innovative governance to the world’s major social challenges. The Program on Democratic Governance includes research on democratic participation,

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

, and

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

in the developed and developing world. The Center now hosts the Seminar Series, bringing distinguished speakers to Harvard Kennedy School throughout the academic year to address critical challenges facing democratic governance. Its Democracy Fellowships program provides financial support for

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

and

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to p ...

students to pursue research related to democratic governance.

Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia

Under the leadership of Ash Center Director Anthony Saich, Asia Programs, a school-wide initiative integrating Asia-related activities, joined the Ash Center in July 2008. The permanently endowed Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia consisting of Asia Programs was established on January 1, 2010, through support from the Rajawali Foundation in

. The new Institute is designed to bring together academics and practitioners from around the world to enhance research, teaching, and training on

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...

and governance issues of critical importance in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. The gift also established the HKS Indonesia Program, which promotes research, education, and capacity building in support of democratic governance and institutional development in

. Both the Institute for Asia and the HKS Indonesia Program are housed within the Ash Center. Other Institute for Asia programs include its China Public Policy Program, Vietnam Program, and HKS Singapore Program. The Institute also supports Rajawali Fellows, a host of academics and public practitioners with independent research projects relevant to

. Its annual China Goes Global Conference examines the impact of the internationalization of Chinese firms.

Innovations in Government Program

In addition to the Innovations in American Government Awards Program, the Innovations in Government Program includes five additional projects that work together to produce a cohesive marketplace for best practices and successful innovations in the public sector. These include the following projects: the Liaison Group for Innovations in Governance and Public Action; the Project on Municipal Innovation; the Forum on Networked Governance; the Social Innovation Project; Better, Faster, Cheaper—Smart Ideas for Government; and the Program on Crisis Leadership.

Data-Smart City Solutions

The Data-Smart City Solutions initiative at the Ash Center is supported by

Bloomberg Philanthropies Bloomberg Philanthropies is a philanthropic organization that encompasses all of the charitable giving of founder Michael R. Bloomberg. Headquartered in New York City, Bloomberg Philanthropies focuses its resources on five areas: the environmen ...

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation Harvard Kennedy School 2003 establishments in Massachusetts