OPINION COMMENTARY:

If you get pulled over, chances are you won't recall your rights due to the stress of dealing with the police. Anthony J. Mohr proposes a way to provide a rapid review of the dos and don'ts during traffic stops, potentially saving lives.

The agreement between the Colombian government and the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) exemplifies purposeful, multi-year negotiations where incremental alignment led to peace. Former High Commissioner of Peace during the Santos Presidency, Sergio Jaramillo, shares the highs and lows, along with important lessons from the negotiation process that ultimately ended the armed conflict.

Parking your car has significant social implications that few of us consider. Henry Grabar discusses his latest book, Paved Paradise, where he describes the societal and economic impact of our parking policies, which encompass fines, valets, garages, permits, and more.

Did you know that there exist inexpensive generic drugs and supplements that might be effective as novel treatments for many diseases? Yet, pharmaceutical companies lack financial incentives to develop them. Could the creation of a federal agency designed to fund and oversee such efforts lead to new affordable treatments for unmet medical needs?

Chris Lewis, CEO of Public Knowledge, answers questions from 2019 ALI Fellow Lisa Macpherson about the current public fascination with generative artificial intelligence, the policy solutions we really need for AI, and the regulation for digital technology that’s way overdue.

A conversation with Brian Trelstad, newly appointed Faculty Chair of Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. A Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School, Trelstad discusses his vision, priorities, challenges and goals as he takes over as the third Faculty Chair of the first interdisciplinary academic fellowship program created for experienced third stage leaders to help them address society’s pressing challenges through social impact strategies and projects.

Small organizations can often provide the most effective approaches to helping youth who face serious barriers to employment. Andrew McKnight, Executive Director of The Challenge Program and CP Furniture, describes the advantages of being nimble and innovative, along with the realities and challenges of being a small nonprofit working with this population of youth.

The scaling of innovations in development often involves system transformation. Siddhant Gokhale and Michael Walton delve into how using an Adaptive Evaluation framework offers practitioners essential tools to drive impactful change through informed actions.

Hurricane Ian wreaked historic devastation in Southwest Florida one year ago, highlighting the threat of violent storms amplified by climate change, but the solar-powered community Babcock Ranch was unscathed due to comprehensive sustainability and resilience planning. David Cifrino and Luis Perez tell the story of Babcock Ranch, including in the words of its visionary founder, Sydney Kitson.

There is significant concern about threats to democracy and the potential for an increasing move toward authoritarianism around the world. Archon Fung, Director of Harvard’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation, is optimistic about the future of democracy and believes there is much individual citizens can do to assure that democracy remains healthy and vital.

Former college president Brian Rosenberg explores the pressing need for change in higher education and why the industry is resistant to even discussing the crisis it faces. He paints a stark picture of an industry at a crossroads, highlighting the urgent need for innovation, adaptation, and a reevaluation of structures and practices to continue fulfilling its essential societal role.

Despite promises of efficiency leading to more focus on relationships between and among teachers and students, AI is on track to dramatically worsen student isolation – unless schools reconfigure their organizational models and metrics to elevate, rather than diminish, human relationships.

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Achieving racial equity has gone beyond a moral imperative to become an economic imperative for this nation. Peter Williams explains how the Supreme Court’s decisions on affirmative action and student loan debt makes the problem worse.

OPINION COMMENTARY:

To combat the homeless crisis in America, bureaucratic obstacles that hinder those in need must be overcome. Harvard ALI Fellows Melinda Giovengo and Betsy Schwartz critically examine HUD's Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act and showcase how the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston, Texas has successfully implemented a multi-stakeholder approach.

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When the doors of college were reserved for whites only, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) gave African Americans the education they deserved and the strength to rise above bigotry. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decisions that throttle affirmative action, 2021 Harvard ALI Fellow Terry Edmonds reminds us of the role HBCUs played in the past and the expanded role they may play now.

Mental health disorders are costly to society and devasting to the individuals who suffer. By demonstrating that mental disorders are metabolic disorders, Dr. Chris Palmer offers new solutions and hope to address the mental health epidemic.

The Big Myth, by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway, makes a compelling and well documented case that under the guise of protecting individual freedom, corporations and influential individuals organized to resist efforts to regulate industry. Oreskes and Conway peel away the cloak to expose concerted efforts across broad spectrums of society to propagandize against government efforts to protect the common good, to a point where any government intervention into the marketplace is labeled anti-capitalist. The book is not an assault on capitalism, but an assault on the myth that equates capitalism with freedom.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. The decision has had a devastating impact on women's health in the U.S. Cecile Richards, a national leader for women’s rights and social and economic justice and former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund for 12 years, reflects on the decision, its impact, and an urgent path forward.

In the Bay Area, many transformational business innovations have started in a garage. By converting often under-utilized garages into upscale living units, Rebecca Möller, founder of SYMBiHOM, takes the challenge of garage innovation quite literally and seeks to provide new affordable housing at a transformational scale.

OPINION COMMENTARY:

One of the biggest barriers to closing the achievement gap is access to tutoring and academic support. Stephanie Sylvestre, a technology executive, explains how generative artificial intelligence (AI), with robust safeguards, user involvement and education, can help bridge gaps in student performance, boost comprehension, and improve emotional well-being.