Rising Tides Research Institute (RTRI) is an action-oriented research department that conducts projects which contribute to progressive and radical public policies that address the enduring systems of inequalities that have impacted POC, Black people in particular, with a focus on key stakeholders in the arts: artists, business owners, and nonprofit organizations. Additionally, RTRI strategically uses research to support the development of relevant, partner-facing programming capable of adapting to change.

Led by research scientists trained on issues of embodiment, economics, civil discourse, the arts and public health, Rising Tides Research Institute executes action-based research through a lens of racial equity. Rising Tides researchers use traditional methods such as surveys and textual analysis, but also incorporate a significant amount of ethnographic data collection and analysis, community dialogues, and new technologies in motion trafficking.