Bio / Additional Background

Dominique Apollon is an experienced, committed and empathetic racial and social equity professional who has been writing, researching and consulting on issues of racial and social justice for three decades. From 2008 to 2022, Dom led the Research Department at Race Forward from its Oakland (California) office, becoming one of the longest-serving members of the Management Team in the organization’s 40-year history. 

While at Race Forward, the public opinion and racial narrative expert was the principal investigator/author for reports on varied topics — from the racial attitudes of young people to media narratives on racism to employment discrimination, workforce development narratives and child care policy — and supervised staff and teams that produced or administered broadly accessible racial equity readiness assessments and tools for organizations, businesses and governments engaged in racial equity work. 

Dom also played leadership roles on numerous committees and initiatives at the pioneering national racial justice organization, including stewardship of the impact planning and evaluation program, administration and analysis of various employee satisfaction surveys, data and policy consulting for annual compensation review committees, and as a conduit for the caregivers caucus during the global pandemic.  

Prior to his time at Race Forward, Dom served as an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science teaching civil rights and liberties courses among other justice-centered topics at the California State University campus in Bakersfield, a rural community in the state’s central valley. In 2003, he completed his PhD in Political Science at Stanford University under the mentorship of Professor Lucius Barker, researching and writing about environmental justice issues in California, the state Dom has called home since 1996. 

While currently residing in the north Lake Tahoe region, Dom is the son of Haitian immigrants who settled and raised their family near Baltimore, MD. In his spare time, he enjoys coaching youth soccer and writing pop/rock/theater music via acoustic guitar, an instrument to which he was happily introduced late in life.