ODI leads initiatives to assess and sustain Brown’s commitment to a strong and supportive campus climate, while also maintaining pioneering academic collaborations and partnerships to cultivate talent and expand leadership in higher education for students and scholars from a broad range of backgrounds.
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Initiatives
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion leads a range of initiatives and partnerships that strengthen and expand a diverse and inclusive campus and build pipelines of diverse talent across higher education.
Initiatives
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion leads a range of initiatives and partnerships that strengthen and expand a diverse and inclusive campus and build pipelines of diverse talent across higher education.
The Brown-Tougaloo Partnership is a pioneering partnership between Brown University and Tougaloo College, a historically Black college in Mississippi, that was established during the Civil Rights Movement and serves as an enduring national model for academic and cultural exchange.
Housed at Brown, the consortium of institutions in the Leadership Alliance expands research pathways and workforce opportunities to promote cultural diversity in the workforce nationwide.
Administrative Fellows Program
The Administrative Fellows Program is a dynamic, 9-month leadership development program for Brown University staff members designed to advance leadership skills in higher education and build skills to foster diverse and inclusive working and learning environments at Brown. Through experiential learning, cultural exploration, community engagement opportunities, and professional networking and mentorship, the Administrative Fellows are supported to develop their leadership identity and serve as stewards for an inclusive and diverse University community.
The annual application process for the Administrative Fellows Program opens in the summer, and information is provided in communications to the campus and on this page when the application process opens.
Brown University HBCU Collaborative
Building on the historic Brown-Tougaloo Partnership, Brown is working to expand innovative, scholarly collaborations with historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that will encourage collaborative research, promote faculty development, enable student connections, and empower new discoveries.
Campus Climate Survey
Campus-wide climate surveys are essential for shaping the best living, learning and working environments at Brown. In fall 2025, Brown is conducting a campus climate survey for all students, with a follow-up faculty and staff survey to be administered in spring 2026.
Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP)
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion is responsible for working with campus partners to ensure ongoing implementation of the DIAP, Brown's comprehensive strategic plan that drives efforts across campus to create and sustain a diverse and inclusive community necessary for the advancement of knowledge, learning and discovery.
Funding
The Office of Diversity and Inclusion manages two funding programs for initiatives aligned with the University’s commitment to diversity and inclusion as essential for academic excellence. The Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan (DIAP) Fund assists departments, centers and institutes as they work to prioritize actions in six areas that further Brown’s mission: People, Academic Excellence, Curriculum, Community, Knowledge, and Accountability. The separate Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion Fund is for projects that contribute to creating an inclusive environment for undergraduate, graduate, and/or medical students at Brown through recruitment initiatives, creative programming and opportunities.
Presidential Postdoctoral Research Associate Program
The Presidential Postdoctoral Research Associate Program is a two-year program at Brown that supports innovative, early-career Ph.D. graduates who are advancing diverse perspectives and scholarship in a range of fields and research areas, including the humanities, social sciences, physical sciences, and engineering. This program is administered by ODI in partnership with the Office of the Provost.
Eligibility and Structure
This year and next, we are only accepting applications from Brown Ph.D. recipients. The program is open only to those who have received their Ph.D. from Brown recently, with degrees awarded after May 1, 2024 or by May 31, 2026. The degree must be conferred by May, 2026, without exception. Appointments will begin on July 1, 2025. Applicants should select one academic unit to affiliate with, and that unit must have an undergraduate concentration, as this fellowship is designed in part to support undergraduate instruction.
The annual application process for the Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship is now open and accepting applications. Please apply here.