RJI Co-Director Joins Panel Discussion on Well-Being for Diverse Communities

(December 15, 2023) — Georgetown University Racial Justice Institute co-founder and co-director Derek Griffith, PhD, joined an expert panel to explore well-being in the community as part of the Brookings Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative.

The Dec. 15 virtual discussion brought together leaders to focus on the meaning of well-being, to share well-being work underway in the community and to explore strategies and policy approaches that are important to putting diverse communities on the path to well-being and equity.

Griffith says there’s no one definition of well-being, but in his work with African-American men as director of the Center for Men’s Health Equity, consistent themes emerge including successful aging, notions of manhood and how individuals define health.

“And the issues that cut across those are that the way they define wellbeing, or the concepts that seem to be consistent with that, are really the opportunity to embody the virtues, values, characteristics, and ideals that are important to them,” said Griffith, adding “it’s not just about wellbeing of themselves, but how they’re able to do things that have implications for others.”

At Georgetown, Griffith is also a professor of health management and policy at the School of Health and a professor of oncology at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Watch a recording of the hour-long presentation.