john (who spells his name in lowercase) is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, where he holds the Robert D. Haas Chancellor’s Chair in Equity and Inclusion and is a Professor of Law, Ethnic Studies, and African American Studies.
john was previously the Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University where he also held the Gregory H. Williams Chair in Civil Rights & Civil Liberties at the Moritz College of Law. john was founding director of the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota, and he served as National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was instrumental in developing educational adequacy theory.
john is well-known for the development of an opportunity-based model that connects affordable housing to education, health, health care, and employment and for his work developing the frameworks of targeted universalism and othering and belonging to effect equity-based interventions.
Belonging without Othering, released in April 2024, was named an Amazon Editor Pick for Best Book of the Year. Co-authored by john a. powell and Stephen Menendian.
john appears frequently in the media. Recent appearances include NPR and WYNC's On The Media in an episode about free speech and the Constitution, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver about housing segregation, and CBS Evening News to discuss targeted universalism.
john is a prolific and highly-sought after public speaker. Recent talks include talks at City Arts & Lectures with Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson, a discussion of the book Caste with acclaimed author Isabel Wilkerson, and a talk with U.S. poet laureate Tracy K. Smith; a conversation with democracy protection with musician John Legend; keynote talks for the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, the Gates Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the InterFaith Leadership Council, the Permanente Medical Group, and many more.
john a. powell & the late bell hooks at the inaugural Othering & Belonging Conference in 2015 —see full talk here. Photo by Nicholas Bruno.
john serves on the board of several organizations including More in Common, the New Pluralists, and the Institute for New Economic Thinking. He is one of the co-founders of the Poverty & Race Research Action Council. He has worked in India and Brazil, and lived and worked in Africa as a consultant to the governments of Mozambique and South Africa.
He has taught at numerous law schools including Harvard and Columbia University.
His most recent books are Belonging without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the World (co-authored with Stephen Menendian); and The Power of Bridging (with Rachelle Galloway-Popotas), and Racing to Justice (now in its second edition).