The Baker Center

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The Baker Center is now part of the Baker Trust for Transformational Learning, housed within the Red House under the leadership of Vice Provost for Education Randall Bass.

The Red House fosters educational innovation and university-wide collaboration across Georgetown University. Through the Baker Trust, we aim to create a new paradigm of learning in which the development of the mindsets and capacities to navigate the 21st century are at the heart of every student’s education.

The Baker Trust was made possible by the generosity and vision of Georgetown graduates Patricia and Jon Baker (C’64), who wished to expand and scale the work of both the Red House and the Baker Center, which began its work in 2015 with an initial gift from the Bakers. The Baker Trust launched in 2019.

Current Programs

The Georgetown Baker Negotiation Network (GBNN) is an interdisciplinary platform for Georgetown students to develop diverse skill sets in negotiation and conflict resolution and build relationships with practitioners experienced in policy, advocacy, business and diplomacy. GBNN’s clinics, interactive dinners and bridge-building initiatives serve students in 14 degree programs. GBNN is part of the Baker Trust for Transformational Learning.

Hoyas & Highlanders brings together Georgetown and Radford University students for an immersive, week-long program that delves into issues and perceptions central to urban and rural development while fostering their interpersonal, dialogue and conflict resolution skills. Hoyas & Highlanders continues as an initiative of the Baker Trust for Transformational Learning in partnership with the Capitol Applied Learning Lab.

The Policy Innovation Lab convenes students, community members, local government officials and other partners to address pressing issues at the forefront of policy discussion and debate in the Washington, DC, area. The Policy Innovation Lab is a venture of the McCourt School of Public Policy, with support from the Baker Trust for Transformational Learning.

Past Baker Center Initiatives

The 2018 American Institutional Confidence Poll delved into Americans’ views of democracy, trust in institutions, and the degree of polarization in the United States. Cosponsored by the Baker Center and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Georgetown political scientist Jonathan M. Ladd continues this research.

The Baker Innovation Grant granted promising Georgetown graduate students $20,000 each, alongside expert advice, mentorship and training, to identify and implement their own innovative solutions to pressing social, political and policy challenges.

Baker Future Fellows worked with partner organization New America Foundation to work on cutting-edge programs related to policy issues — such as the future of work — that they first learned about through their coursework.

Baker Forums in 2016, 2017 and 2018 brought together diverse leaders from across government, business and society to grapple with the implications of economic insecurity, artificial intelligence and emerging digital technologies.