Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation

The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) advances excellence and innovation in governance and public policy through research, education, and public discussion. Its projects that have particular connections to global health concerns include the Program on Crisis Leadership, a joint venture with the HKS Taubman Center for State and Local Government, which seeks to improve society’s capacity to deal with natural disasters, infrastructure, technology, and systems failure, emergent infectious disease, and terrorism. Another is the Vietnam Program Mekong Delta Project, a partnership with USAID, to strengthen public policy analysis capacity in the countries of the Lower Mekong Region, including Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam; a special emphasis is on protecting the region’s shared water resources. The Ash Center is also engaged in research, together with the Belfer Center and the HKS Sustainability Science Program, in the Asia Energy and Sustainability Initiative.