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
.