The Population Council believes in the power of diverse perspectives, championing all voices, treating one another with dignity and respect, and building trust and belonging in the scientific process and within the Council.

In 2020, we embarked on our “Agenda for Change,” a commitment to:

  • embrace antiracist principles and actions;
  • build a strong culture grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI);
  • continue efforts to shift our center of gravity to the places we seek to have the most impact and become even more globally collaborative and inclusive; and
  • ensure our evidence and analysis continue to influence those who have the power and resources to improve the lives of underserved populations around the world.

Our collective actions include:

  • A revised statement on Trustees’ commitment to Board diversity, which includes targets for age, gender, and geographic representation and strengthens accountability. 
  • Acommitment to DEI in our two scholarly journals, Population and Development Review (PDR) and Studies in Family Planning (SFP), including actions to tackle biases that perpetuate injustices in scholarship. 
  • A 2023-2030 Strategic Plan, the development of which was overseen by a representative group of staff, and includes refined vision, mission, and values that reflect who we are today and who we will be moving forward. 

For more on our Agenda for Change: