Why evaluation policies are useful to results-focused federal agencies: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, HHS, and Molly Irwin, DOL – Episode #164

How results-driven contracting improved outcomes for Chicago’s most vulnerable: An interview with Lisa Morrison Butler, former Commissioner, Chicago Department of Family and Support Services – Episode #202: Too often, contracting is seen as a back-office function, even though many government programs are actually implemented with contracted service providers. In reality, contracting — and contracting reforms — can be a key driver of better results in huma... by Gov Innovator Podcast

12 min listen

Using mindfulness practices for greater self-awareness and self-improvement: Rabbi Marc Margolius, Senior Program Director, Institute for Jewish Spirituality – Episode 201: When we think about what skills leaders need to be successful — such as making good decisions, regulating their emotions and stress, and forming strong and healthy relationships with others — an important foundation for those skills is mindfulness. by Gov Innovator Podcast

13 min listen

Career reflections from an evidence leader: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Episode #200: To celebrate our 200th interview, we are joined by one of the most respected people within the evidence and evaluation field, Dr. Naomi Goldstein, to share reflections on her 21-year career at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U... by Gov Innovator Podcast

16 min listen

Colorado’s nation-leading practices in using evidence to guide budget decisions: An interview with Sara Dube, Director, Results First Initiative, The Pew Charitable Trusts – Episode #199: Colorado is a leader in the U.S. in terms of using evidence to guide state budget decisions, so that dollars flow to programs that are effective. It’s also a leader in terms of building evidence to better learn what works in key program areas. by Gov Innovator Podcast

11 min listen

How state tuition-free college programs are spanning political divides: An interview with Michelle Miller-Adams, Senior Researcher, Upjohn Institute – Episode #198: An important area of innovation within higher-education policy in recent years has been tuition-free college policies — also known as Promise Programs — designed to make college more affordable and accessible. by Gov Innovator Podcast

12 min listen

How Promise Programs are expanding college access, affordability, and degree attainment: An interview with Professor Elizabeth Bell, Florida State University – Episode #197: Tuition-free college policies have become a cornerstone of policymakers’ efforts to expand college access, affordability, and degree attainment. The movement began at the local level with initiatives such as the Kalamazoo Promise, by Gov Innovator Podcast

11 min listen

Insights about building credible evidence in social policy: An interview with David Anderson, Vice President of Evidence-Based Policy, Arnold Ventures – Episode #196: Arnold Ventures launched its evidence-based policy initiative in 2015 in large part to increase the number of social programs with strong evidence behind them. To do that, the team funds randomized controlled trials of programs in social policy whose p... by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

How Minnesota’s impact evaluation unit supports evidence-based budgeting: An interview with Weston Merrick, Minnesota Management and Budget – Episode #195: Minnesota has been identified by several good-government organizations as one of the leaders in the nation on evidence-based policymaking. The Pew Charitable Trusts, for example, has noted that “Using evidence-based policymaking has enabled Minnesota…t... by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

Insights on evidence use from Ohio’s Department of Education: An interview with Heather Boughton, Results for America – Episode #194: Ohio’s Department of Education is one of the leading state agencies in the U.S. in terms of its focus on helping and encouraging school leaders to use evidence-based educational strategies and supports. For the past almost four years, Dr. by Gov Innovator Podcast

11 min listen

Developing and using agency performance plans: An interview with Elizabeth Funsch, ArundelStat Manager, Anne Arundel County in Maryland – Episode #193: Anne Arundel County, Maryland, has a population of just under 600,000 and is south of Baltimore and East of Washington D.C., with the county seat being Annapolis. In 2018, under County Executive Steuart Pittman, by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

Three keys to a successful agency evaluation office: An interview with Susan Jenkins, Director of the Office of Performance and Evaluation, Administration for Community Living, HHS – Episode #192: What does it take to be a successful evaluation office within a public agency? Three things that are important are being trustworthy, being engaging, and being relentless, explains Dr. Susan Jenkins. Since 2016, Dr. by Gov Innovator Podcast

13 min listen

Lessons from New Hope for reducing poverty today: An interview with Kali Grant, Georgetown University, and Julie Kirksick, former New Hope Executive Director – Episode #191: The New Hope Project was an anti-poverty program in the 1990s in Milwaukee that offered a simple but powerful pledge: If participants were willing to work full-time, they would not be poor. The program used a wage subsidy, by Gov Innovator Podcast

9 min listen

Evidence-based budgeting in New Mexico: Part 2 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New Mexico – Episode #190: New Mexico state government is a leader in the use of evidence, lead by its Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) that has been a catalyst for evidence-based budgeting, including through its participation in the Pew MacArthur Results First Initiative. by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

Launching LegisSTAT in New Mexico: Part 1 interview with Charles Sallee, Deputy Director, Legislative Finance Committee, New Mexico – Episode #189: Last month, New Mexico’s Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) did something that that possibly no other legislative committee in the U.S. has done to date: It launched a “PerformanceStat” initiative. As listeners to this podcast will know, by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

Leading successful change initiatives: An interview with John Kotter, professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School and founder of Kotter International – Episode #188: John Kotter (@JohnPKotter) is one of the most respected thinkers on the topics of leadership and change. He is professor emeritus at the Harvard Business School, a widely-read author, and the founder of Kotter International, by Gov Innovator Podcast

9 min listen

Insights from Idaho’s Office of Performance Evaluations: An interview with Rakesh Mohan, Director – Episode #187: Idaho’s Office of Performance Evaluations (OPE) was created in 1994 and is a nonpartisan, independent office that serves the Idaho legislature by conducting evaluations of state agencies and programs, as well as studies of key policy issues. by Gov Innovator Podcast

11 min listen

Five questions public agencies should ask to put their logic models to work: An interview with Cynthia Phillips, former Acting Chief Evaluation Officer, National Science Foundation – Episode #186: A logic model is a detailed visual representation of an organization or program that expresses the organization’s theory of change. It’s useful for getting a clear and shared understanding of how an office, division, program or initiative works. by Gov Innovator Podcast

9 min listen

Three cognitive biases that can influence decision makers’ use of evidence about what works: An interview with Ariel Kalil, University of Chicago – Episode #185: What leads decision makers to decide to implement or scale up a program? Research evidence may be one factor, but, as we know, lots of other factors can play in as well. Three of those factors are what are called cognitive biases, by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

Insights from Tennessee’s Office of Evidence and Impact: An interview with Christin Lotz, Director – Episode #184: Tennessee’s Office of Evidence and Impact was created in 2019 by Governor Bill Lee. The office works with the Governor’s office and with Tennessee’s executive agencies to use data and evidence to help decision makers invest in programs that work for Te... by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

Boosting student achievement with high-dosage tutoring: An interview with Carly Robinson and Matthew Kraft, Brown University – Episode #183: A new policy brief examines the research evidence behind tutoring and what design principles for tutoring have shown to be important for boosting K-12 student achievement. The report is titled Accelerating Student Learning with High-Dosage Tutoring. by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

Launching a behavioral insights community of practice within a public agency: An interview with Melissa Leal, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment – Episode #182: Governments at all levels are increasingly using research findings from behavioral economics and other behavioral sciences to improve program and agency outcomes. These interventions and program changes draw on how people process information and make d... by Gov Innovator Podcast

9 min listen

How to communicate so that busy people respond and take action: An interview with Todd Rogers, behavioral scientist and professor, Harvard Kennedy School – Episode #181: What evidence-based strategies can you use to more effectively craft communications with practical purposes, so that busy people respond and take needed action? We get insights from Dr. Todd Rogers (@Todd_Rogers_), by Gov Innovator Podcast

9 min listen

How the California Policy Lab is helping state and local agencies tackle homelessness, poverty and other key policy challenges: An interview with Janey Rountree and Evan White, Executive Directors – Episode #180: The California Policy Lab (@CAPolicyLab) was launched in January 2017 with a mission to create partnerships between researchers at two of California’s leading universities — UCLA and UC Berkeley — and California’s state and local government agencies. by Gov Innovator Podcast

16 min listen

Lessons from HUD about building evidence on important social policy issues: An interview with Calvin Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research, Evaluation and Monitoring at HUD – Episode #179: How can public agencies build credible evidence about what works to help move the needle on important social policy challenges? It’s often a multi-step, iterative process. A good example is the efforts across the past two administrations by the U.S. by Gov Innovator Podcast

11 min listen

How federal agencies can use IPAs to bolster evidence capacity and help implement the Evidence Act: An interview with Dayanand Manoli, Professor, Georgetown University – Episode #178: The Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act (Evidence Act) was enacted in early 2019 and has led a wide range of federal agencies to take new steps in building and using evidence, including developing learning agendas. The Act, however, by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

The role of North Carolina’s Office of Strategic Partnerships: An interview with Jenni Owen, Director of Strategic Partnerships, North Carolina – Episode #177: North Carolina’s Office of Strategic Partnerships was launched at the end of 2018 under Governor Roy Cooper with a mission to enhance partnerships between state government and North Carolina’s research and philanthropic sectors. As its website notes, by Gov Innovator Podcast

11 min listen

Colorado’s performance management strategy under Gov. Hickenlooper: An interview with David Padrino, former Chief Performance Officer, Colorado – Episode #176: The State of Colorado under the previous Governor, John Hickenlooper, had a multifaceted performance-improvement strategy that included performance management, operational improvements and talent development, among other elements. by Gov Innovator Podcast

11 min listen

King County, Washington’s Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan: An interview with Arun Sambataro, King County – Episode #175: In King County, Washington, under Executive Dow Constantine and the County Council, equity and social justice has been an important focus of the county’s work. That includes the launch in 2015 of an Office of Equity and Social Justice and the creation ... by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

Investing in what works at the federal level: An interview with Jed Herrmann, Vice President for State and Federal Policy Implementation, Results for America – Episode #174: The nonprofit Results for America has been an important advocate of — and catalyst for — evidence-based policy and decision making over the last decade. It recently released two new resources: The 2020 Invest in What Works Federal Standard of Excellenc... by Gov Innovator Podcast

12 min listen

Insights from nearly a decade of CountyStat: An interview with Dave Gottesman, CountyStat Manager, Montgomery County, Maryland – Episode #173: Montgomery County, located just north of Washington D.C. is a leader in the use of performance management, including through its CountyStat initiative, drawing on the model of other PerformanceStat efforts. by Gov Innovator Podcast

10 min listen

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Why evaluation policies are useful to results-focused federal agencies: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, HHS, and Molly Irwin, DOL – Episode #164

Why evaluation policies are useful to results-focused federal agencies: An interview with Naomi Goldstein, HHS, and Molly Irwin, DOL – Episode #164

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