Chapin Hall

The Doris Duke Fellowships for the Promotion of Child Well-Being were launched in 2010 by Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, with funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Inc. Over 10 years, the program engaged 120 fellows from diverse disciplines in a peer-learning network that fostered interdisciplinary thinking and collaboration while promoting actionable research.

In 2021, the Doris Duke Fellowships built on this foundation by transitioning and expanding into the Child Well-Being Research Network. The Network is focused on improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in the child well-being research field. Network activities include a mentoring program, writing retreats, learning and networking activities, support for strategic research translation and dissemination, and leadership development opportunities for network members. It engages researchers from diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and disciplines to advance the field of child well-being and child maltreatment prevention.

In addition to the Network, Chapin Hall administers Research to Action (R2A) Grants, a small grants program funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The grants are an opportunity for teams of researchers and their policy or practice partners to design and implement an applied research, translation, and dissemination project. Six teams of fellows and Network members chosen by a national Selection Committee will receive funding for 15-month projects. Projects must focus on a specific child well-being policy or practice question and expressly address principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.

An Equity Study was conducted during the transformation of the Doris Duke Fellowships into the Child Well-Being Research Network to assess how staff members, national advisory board members, academic and policy mentors, and Doris Duke Fellows experienced diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) during their participation in the Fellowships. Lee Ann Huang, a Chapin Hall researcher and director of the fellowships transition, and Dr. Jacquelynn Duron, a Doris Duke Fellow on the faculty at Rutgers University, led the study. Two other team members include Mickie Brown, graduate student at UIC School of Public Health, and Amber Joiner-Hill, Owner and Principle Consultant of Magnolia Detroit Consulting. Two Equity Study briefs have been released: The first focuses on recommendations for incorporating a strong foundation of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice into the new Child Well-Being Research Network, and the second focuses on study findings that highlight the important role social support and a sense of belonging play in the fellowships network. Research briefs are available below.

Huang, whose work focuses on child abuse and neglect prevention, is leading the transition project. She oversees the R2A Grants program and as a co-chair of the Network’s Executive Committee, partners with Doris Duke Fellows to strategically plan and lead the Network.

Other Chapin Hall staff working on the transitions project include:

• Leticia Brown, a project associate at Chapin Hall, collaborates on all aspects of the transitions project with a particular focus on the Network’s mentoring program and the R2A Grants training opportunities.
• Tiffany Burkhardt, a Chapin Hall researcher whose work focuses on programs that promote family and child well-being and prevent child maltreatment, is the evaluation director for the R2A Grants program.
• The annual network analysis is led by Colleen Schlecht, a Chapin Hall researcher whose work focuses on vulnerable child and youth populations.
• Raya Kenepp, a project associate in the Office of Director at Research at Chapin Hall, coordinates the project’s communication efforts.
• Deborah Daro, a senior research fellow at Chapin Hall, founded and led the Doris Duke Fellowships through its eight active cohorts. Daro is one of the nation’s leading experts in child abuse prevention policy, and she continues to advise the project team as it transitions to new initiatives.

To learn more about the latest developments in the expanding network, please fill out this form. For any other questions, please send us an email.

Social Support and Belonging Elevating Diversity, Equity, and InclusionAdvancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Mentoring