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Our Partners

Our partners are critical to our research into demonstrating that gender equity and diversity greatly improve work practice and overall organizational effectiveness.

The aim of the African Universities Gender Research Network (AUGERN) network is to create and maintain a network of women leaders in African Universities through annual meetings focusing on Gender Mainstreaming Implementers, site interventions, workshops, inter-university support, and regular formal communication with other members of the network.

Our Network partners are:

The AUGERN Program is funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Promoting and Supporting the Careers of Women of Color in Academic Medicine

Through a multi-year grant from the National Institutes of Health, CGO, as a subcontractor of Harvard Medical School, conducted an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional, mixed-methods study, Factors that Promote and Support the Careers of Women of Color in Academic Medicine, that sought to clarify the characteristics and interrelationships of institutional, individual and sociocultural factors that influence the entry, progression, persistence and advancement of women of color (WOC) (African American, Hispanic, Native American/Alaskan Native, and Asian American) faculty in academic medicine.

The overall research question and hypothesis was addressed through four aims:

  1. To characterize academic medical institutions in terms of institutional structure, mission, promotion and tenure policies and faculty supports, especially for WOC
  2. To characterize individual, institutional and sociocultural factors that influence the entry, progression and persistence of WOC in academic medical careers
  3. To determine the career trajectories, including the performance of WOC in academic medical careers
  4. To elucidate the interplay between individual, institutional, and sociocultural factors as they relate to career outcomes.

Diversifying the Leadership of Women's Research Centers was a two-year Ford Foundation-funded project. CGO used the Grant for Diversity and Inclusion for the implementation of two diversity leadership strategies: the creation and institutionalization of a Steering Committee of women of color and the creation of the New Generation of Scholars Program for young women of color.

At present, there are five women of color CGO affiliates, but only one of these women is based at Simmons. The women of color steering committee developed a two-year plan for determining the direction of research, publications, outside speakers and opportunities for affiliate speaking engagements in the areas of gender and diversity at CGO. For the New Scholars Program, three women from the designated groups who are conducting cutting-edge research were selected to receive editorial, publication and dissemination support.

CGO continues to work with Oxfam America on the Oxfam Gender Mainstreaming Learning and Accountability Initiative (GMLAI). CGO completed work on the second grant from Oxfam in 2013, and began work on the third grant in 2014, which will entail a follow-up staff capacity survey, training, and hosting an international symposium on intersectionality for Oxfam Affiliates in March 2015.

In 2012, CGO/Simmons served as the research partner for The Boston Club's first Census of Women Directors and Chief Executive Officers of the 150 largest Massachusetts Nonprofit Organizations. 

Simmons collected and analyzed the data for the report, which was published in May 2013. It was the first time a census of women directors and CEOs of the largest organizations in the nonprofit sector was compiled. CGO has now begun work on the second census, which will be published in 2015.