Joshua V. Barr presently serves as the Des Moines Civil and Human Rights Commission Director. As the director, hemincreased the number of complaints filed in the office by 170% and the number of probable cause discrimination cases by 500%. He spearheaded the Bridging the Gap initiative where the Commission conducted community dialogues
to address safety, justice and opportunity
concerns of the community.
Through that initiative the Commission has passed 9 and counting
policies and laws that address inclusi
on, equity, and socio
–
economic opportunity
.
In 2020, he was
listed as
#5 of the top 100 influencers in local government in the
US
.
In 2020, Joshua
also w
on the
2020 Governor’s Emmy® Award by the Upper Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of
Television A
rts & Sciences for the
documentary Breaking Bread, Building Bridges where he
matched
40 strangers together based on their differences to have dinners over the course of a few months
.
September 3, 2020
