Policy Watch: Session Two — Policy in Practice

History, Faith, and our Collective Power

Public policy is often discussed in headlines, debates, and election cycles — but its true impact is felt in our everyday lives. From education and healthcare to economic opportunity and public safety, policy decisions influence the systems that shape how our communities live, work, and thrive.

That is the focus of Session Two: Policy in Practice — a conversation designed to move beyond theory and examine how policy operates in real time.

Framed by the guiding question, “How do public policies create barriers — or opportunities — for Black communities?” this session invites participants to explore how laws and policy agendas translate into lived experiences. More importantly, it creates space to understand how communities can engage policy conversations in informed, strategic, and solution-driven ways.

Why This Conversation Matters Now

In today’s climate, policy discussions can feel polarizing, overwhelming, or inaccessible. Yet policy literacy remains one of the most powerful tools communities can possess.

Understanding how policies are developed, funded, and implemented allows individuals and organizations to:

• Advocate more effectively
• Engage elected officials with clarity
• Identify gaps in equity and access
• Support initiatives that align with community priorities

This session is grounded in the belief that informed communities are empowered communities. It also emphasizes that policy engagement is not about partisanship — it is about impact.

Bipartisan awareness and civic understanding ensure that communities are equipped to assess policies based on outcomes, not political labels.

Scholarship Meets Strategy

To explore this issue holistically, the session brings together two leaders whose work reflects different — but complementary — dimensions of policy influence.

One perspective examines the cultural, historical, and ideological forces that shape policy environments. The other focuses on how policies are operationalized through legislative processes, advocacy infrastructure, and community-driven research.

Together, these lenses offer participants a full view of the policy ecosystem — from the ideas that shape agendas to the systems that implement them.

Through dialogue and real-world examples, attendees will gain insight into how barriers are created, how opportunities are expanded, and how Black women leaders are working to ensure policy is equitable, responsive, and community-centered.

Moving From Awareness to Action

Policy in Practice is ultimately about connection — connecting knowledge to advocacy, research to legislation, and community voice to decision-making power.

By fostering bipartisan awareness, informed dialogue, and strategic engagement, this session equips participants not just to understand policy — but to navigate it, influence it, and use it as a tool for collective advancement.

Because when communities understand policy, they are better positioned to shape the future it creates.

Meet the Speakers

Dr. Joy R. Bostic

Dr. Joy R. Bostic is an Associate Professor in religious studies and Africana studies and Director of Africana studies at Case Western Reserve University.

Her scholarship explores the intersections of race, gender, religion, and culture, with a focus on how belief systems and social frameworks shape public life. She is the author of African American Female Mysticism: Nineteenth-Century Religious Activism and has contributed numerous scholarly works examining religion, ritual, and resistance in Black communities.

Dr. Bostic brings a critical cultural lens to policy conversations, helping audiences understand how history, identity, and moral frameworks influence policy priorities and community outcomes.

Shayla L. Davis

Shayla L. Davis is President and CEO of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus Foundation, where she leads efforts to advance equity through policy research, advocacy, and strategic partnerships across the state of Ohio.

With a background in public administration and elected leadership — having served as both a State Representative and City Councilwoman — Davis brings firsthand insight into how policies are developed, negotiated, and implemented. Her work focuses on dismantling systemic barriers and expanding opportunities for Black communities through data-driven policy solutions.

Under her leadership, the Foundation is working to establish itself as Ohio’s leading Black think tank, producing research and policy recommendations that amplify community voice and inform legislative action.