Rachel Hardeman and Simone Hardeman-Jones are identical twins who share more than DNA. They also share a commitment to addressing racial inequities.
Rachel Hardeman is a professor at the University of Minnesota whose research is used nationally to show how racism affects health. Her work illuminates the disparities between the experiences of Black mothers during pregnancy and childbirth and their white peers. This year, she was named one of TIME’s 2024 most influential people in the world.
Simone Hardeman-Jones has spent most of her career in education policy, including four years at the federal level working in former President Barack Obama’s administration. Now she heads GreenLight Fund Twin Cities, which is changing how philanthropy can better listen to communities to identify unsolved problems and introduce solutions.
MPR News host Angela Davis talks with the two sisters about their work and how they support each other as part of our MPR News Power Pairs series.
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