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Founded in 2018, the Black Futures Lab wasted no time launching the Black Census Project – the largest survey of Black people in America in 157 years.

Led by Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza, Black Futures Lab works with Black people to transform communities, build Black political power, and change how power operates on the local, state, and national levels.

Over 30,000 Black people from across the country participated in the Black Census Project, providing their views, political beliefs, concerns, and aspirations. The findings of the Black Census affirmed the diversity of issues that Black people across this country care about – from climate change to gender-based violence – and revealed tangible solutions to immediate challenges. Learnings from the survey also informed a comprehensive policy agenda to address the deep disparities impacting Black communities, and were used to develop and strengthen community organizers inside Black-led, grassroots organizations.

As Garza told Forbes in 2020, “Stories are important to tell: when we tell stories without nuance we make policy without nuance.” In that vein, Black Futures Lab is not just a storytelling endeavor, but a visionary power-building initiative.

Much of that power-building happens in the Black to the Future Public Policy Institute, an advocacy and leadership fellowship that trains people to write, win and implement new rules to improve Black lives.

“Last year, we helped our fellows pass a new law in California that changes sentencing guidelines for people who are survivors of intimate partner violence – that policy was first designed in our Institute,” Garza says.

With the four year anniversary of the Black Census Project approaching, the Black Futures Lab team plans on relaunching the effort, and hopes to reach 200,000 Black people nationwide. Such a far reaching effort would be unprecedented, and is sure to unlock even more political insights. As midterm elections loom this fall, Black Futures Lab remains committed to ensuring that Black communities are educated, motivated, and activated to participate in elections – now and into the future.