about

The InterRelations Collaborative, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational organization founded in 1991 with a United Way of New York City start-up grant to address the crisis in intergroup relations.

For several decades, major migrations to the United States have added not only numbers but dramatically increased the diversity of urban populations in large metropolitan areas such as New York City. Increasing immigration, however, has occurred during a time of declining urban resources (resulting from policies of federal disinvestment of cities and dismantling of urban programs instituted in the 1960s) prompting diverse groups to view each other as economic competitors affecting the ways in which they interact with each other.

To develop IRC's intergroup relations-building model, the Collaborative conducted exploratory research in the nation’s “gateway cities” (New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco) to identify "working" models of intergroup cooperation.

IRC found in spite of a climate ripe for intergroup conflict, there were many visionary individuals and organizations carrying forward unified efforts in many spheres of urban life. Fundamental to the success of these collaborative efforts was the political awareness that it is more productive for diverse groups to work together to improve conditions for all groups in cities than for them to work apart.

Research models demonstrating the requisites for establishing favorable intergroup relations (e.g. equal status contact, positive cross-cultural communication, pursuit of superordinate goals, ongoing cooperative efforts) were incorporated in IRC's relations-building programs and introduced at colleges and universities with diversifying student populations in the U.S. Northeast as well as for students at public schools and community organizations in demographically changing neighborhoods in New York City.

IRC's research findings were cited in the New York State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Report, Resolving Intergroup Conflicts in New York City.

The research was also reviewed in Sage Race Relations Abstracts: "IRC's research has captured powerfully and effectively, the essence, the myriad problems and complexity of examining political and social relations in the USA, but is also aware of the significant political and cultural potential of the particular quality of these relations to change the very direction of public policy, urban and national politics in the USA."

In 2000, IRC was brought in to Sunset Park, Brooklyn by Sunset United, a collaborative of local community organizations established by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez's office, to build cross-cultural understanding following a series of incidents occurring there. After year-long implementation of its educational programs, IRC was honored to receive a Community Vision Award reading: "In recognition of your commitment to building bridges among our youth, celebrating the beauty of our diversity, and promoting a vision of peace and justice."

Following tragic events on September 11, 2001, IRC brought together young people from immigrant and multi-ethnic communities across New York City -- in response to a rise in ethnic intolerance -- to participate in programs using the power of art to build a spirit of unity and intergroup understanding.

The InterRelations Collaborative has delivered testimony at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights' New York City Hearings on Recommendations for Alleviating Intergroup Tensions in American Communities. IRC also participated on the Violence Reduction and Prevention Initiatives Panel at the New York State Human Rights Division's Conference on Intergroup Relations.

The Collaborative is an organizational member of the Network of Alliances for Bridging Race and Ethnicity established by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, DC. IRC also participated as a networking group in "Walking The Walk," a National Network on Race, Class, Culture and Language sponsored by California Tomorrow.