QSIDE stands proud in its goal to create a more just and equitable world, and remains committed to supporting others seeking to do the same.
Consider a Donation if You’re Able
There is much need in the world – always, but particularly right now. We realize that we are all being asked to support many organizations that are protecting vulnerable people and democracy. We encourage all members of our broader community to donate what they can – time, money, expertise – to those organizations most aligned with your values and most impactful to protecting those values.
Over the last six months we have been able to accomplish a lot of work we are proud of, but we’re facing a tough reality. As funding for organizations like ours continues to decline, we ask that you please consider donating, so that we can continue our important work during this critical time.
Learn to use Data4Justice in the Summer 2025 Accelerator!
QSIDE is pleased to announce the return of the Data4Justice Accelerator, a 10-week, fully-online professional development program aimed at equipping activists interested in data-driven social justice research with the technical skills to make it happen!
Participants will learn how to:
- find and collect data using AI, APIs, and data scraping techniques;
- clean and organize data in RStudio/R;
- analyze data using cutting edge data science methodologies, including leveraging AI and LLMs; and
- build data stories and visual dashboards to showcase results and inform policy and sway public opinion.
Tuition is $2500 for the general public, $1250 for current students. Need-based partial or full scholarships are available; contact Tyrone Bass for more information. Please share with your networks, and register today!
Data4Justice in Action
California Racial Justice Act
QSIDE has partnered with multiple legal entities and CBOs like the Center for Policing Equity in the State of California to use data science as a means of operationalizing the CA Racial Justice Act of 2020. This law has the potential to be a powerful tool in helping address systemic racial/ethnic bias in the criminal legal system ex post facto.
Abolishing the Death Penalty
QSIDE is working with our partner RBIJ to help quantify specific data from key states in order to enlist business-leaders in abolishing the death penalty. More to come on this important project!
DATA2LIFT True Cost of Incarceration
Emerging from conversations with community-based organizations and partnership with InsightWorks, QSIDE has developed a data tool to calculate the true cost of incarceration for individuals, local communities, and society writ large. This tool highlights the economic benefits of decarceration programs, and can provide economic estimates for potential funders and policy-makers. The tool is currently in beta. Please email us if you’re interested in learning more!
Opportunity Youth Dashboard
One challenge community-based organizations face is answering the basic question, “where are the opportunity youth?” Our data dashboard visualizes the estimated distribution of opportunity youth across the United States to help organizations target services in areas across the nation. Both the data tool and the underlying dataset are publicly available.
Community Safety & Wellbeing Dashboard
In collaboration with ACT NOW and partner sites nationwide, QSIDE has developed a new data tool and visualizer to offer a more comprehensive view of community health and wellbeing. The dashboard features 32 unique variables, identified by our community partners, including many that are often missing from traditional summary statistics. Explore this exciting new tool today!
Research
Race and Superfund Site Remediation
A QSIDE research team recently published a peer-reviewed article in PNAS Nexus which suggests hazardous waste areas prioritized for cleanup by the US government are more likely to remain unaddressed in Asian communities. Previous research has overlooked this issue by grouping minority populations or ignoring/erasing Asian communities entirely. Learn more about this groundbreaking research here.
Diversity, Identity, and Data
This article, published in The American Mathematical Monthly, quantifies intersectional diversity and demonstrates how quantitative methods can offer valuable insights into diversity, identity, and representation within groups. You can learn more about our methodology and results here.
Federalist Society’s Public Engagements
The Federalist Society is a leading conservative legal organization that advocates for the seating of federal and state court judges, including the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet despite its influence, data about their activities and membership remains scarce. We address this gap by systematically documenting 20,205 public events hosted by the Society from 1984 to 2024, with substantive coverage from 2007 onward. Find out more about the data on our QSIDE Datasets resource page.
Who’s Invisible in the Data?
In February of 2025, QSIDE published an editorial piece in Inside Higher Ed about the importance of data inclusion, and steps researchers can take to make more inclusive choices when collecting and analyzing data.
Understanding Policing and Protest
QSIDE Co-founder Chad Topaz, along with multiple members of the QSIDE community, recently co-authored a series of op-eds on what math and history can tell us about police response to protests. Read more below:
The Funding Landscape in Mathematics
QSIDE COO and co-founder Jude Higdon joined several other thought leaders in the math and social justice community on the Relatively Prime podcast to discuss the shifting landscape for funding in mathematics more broadly, as well as in the data science+social justice space.
Resources
Social Justice Advocate Manual for Survival (SJAMS)
Developed in partnership with the RIOS Institute, this resource guide supports both current and aspiring social justice activists by providing proactive strategies to counter the anti-DEI/anti-woke hostility often used to bully, intimidate, and discourage our work. You can read or download a PDF of the full manual here.
QSIDE Datasets Resource Page
One of the most common requests we receive is for access to the data collected and analyzed for QSIDE research. These datasets are now more accessible than ever, and can be found on our QSIDE Datasets resource page!
QSIDE Community
Pharmacy Refusals Lab
Born out of the 2024 Datathon4Justice, this research lab was formed by a diverse group of data scientists driven by a shared commitment to promoting equitable healthcare access. Working in their spare time, the group is on the verge of creating one of the first datasets specifically focused on pharmacy refusal, aiming to address a critical gap in current research. Many thanks to Lab co-director Amanda Landi and all the team members who are working diligently on this important project.
School Presence and Chronic Absenteeism
School presence and chronic absenteeism have been linked to widening educational and professional opportunity gaps for minoritized communities and opportunity youth. With our partners at Michigan State University and ACT NOW, we are creating usable data tools that will help local communities visualize and address challenges to this pressing issue and help support learners to address the root causes of disengagement from school and work.
Events and Opportunities
Data4Justice Accelerator
QSIDE is pleased to announce the return of the Data4Justice Accelerator, a 10-week, fully-online professional development program aimed at equipping activists interested in data-driven social justice research with the technical skills to make it happen! Register now!
RIOS Learning Communities
The Institute for a Racially Just, Inclusive, and Open STEM Education (RIOS) is hosting several virtual professional development series focused on learning, reflection, and community-building. Over the course of 2-3 months, participants will engage for approximately 10-20 hours, with each learning community led by an expert in the field. Click here to learn more.
The Mathematics of Opportunity: Beyond Limits Conference
Just Equations is hosting their seventh annual Mathematics of Opportunity Conference April 8th – 10th, 2025. This free, virtual conference gathers educators, leaders, advocates, and policymakers to explore the limitless possibilities for equity and innovation in math education. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity!
California Racial Justice Act Working Groups
The Center for Policing Equity recently launched three working groups focused on understanding how to best gather data, improve analysis, and educate key stakeholders about the implications of California’s Racial Justice Act, to address disparities in the criminal justice system and overturn racist convictions. The next meeting for the Data Working Group is April 4th at 9 AM PST / 12 PM EST. Email Max Jenkins for additional information.
How to Get Involved
If you would like to support more initiatives like those in this letter, we ask again that you please consider a tax-deductible charitable donation in any amount. Your contribution would go a long way in allowing us to keep pushing forward and making a difference where it matters most.
If you are interested in getting involved in any of the initiatives we have listed directly, or have questions about our work or resources, please contact Tyrone Bass, Director of Operations.
We appreciate your support and belief in our mission—it truly means the world to us.