@ Our Centers
James Bell to UI&U Graduates: Use Your Education to Create a Global Society
Commencement speaker James Bell knows the quest for social justice has no boundaries.
For more than 30 years, Bell, founder and executive director of The Haywood Burns Institute, the San Francisco-based organization that works to reduce the overrepresentation of youth of color in the juvenile system, has been carrying his message and mission to every corner of the globe, as a human rights advocate for incarcerated youth of color on every continent.
His efforts include assisting the African National Congress in the administration of the juvenile system in South Africa; working with Palestinians and Israelis on alternatives to juvenile incarceration; and training government officials and activists on the human rights of Cambodia, Kenya, Brazil, and France. He has also worked closely on restorative justice policy with officials in New Zealand and Australia. His message is simple: “We cannot arrest our way out of social problems,” says Bell. “We must change the way we look at public institutions.”
In his work at The Burns Institute, Bell and his staff have learned from their extensive experience working with many diverse communities, that jurisdictions need the focus and strategies that The Burns Institute provides in order to measurably reduce disproportionality. “Without The Burns Institute, work jurisdictions often lose momentum because of changes in stakeholders, inconsistent approaches, and short attention spans,” said Bell.
In addition to working intensively with local jurisdictions to reduce the overrepresentation of youth of color in their juvenile systems through a data-driven, consensus-based process, the organization evaluates a county’s “readiness” to address racial disparities, as well as numerous consulting services. The Burns Institute also established the Community Justice Network for Youth, a national network of 140 organizations in 21 states whose mission is to promote the availability of effective interventions for youth in poor communities.
Raised in the South, Bell earned his Juris Doctor degree from Hastings College of Law. Like the quest for social justice, he believes education should know no boundaries, and says Union Institute & University graduates today have the opportunity to transform their education-without-walls into a life-without-walls. “As adult learners,” said Bell, “you must consider your UI&U roots and use them to create a truly global world. Imagine your future, and live in a way that makes it happen.”