On the Evidence

In the same way a doctor uses data to diagnose and treat a patient, states’ public health agencies use data to measure and address health in their communities. In the United States, states have the autonomy to decide their own data policies, which influences the amount, quality, and timeliness of public health data they produce. On the heels of the worst global pandemic in a century—and at a time when technology is significantly changing the way that information flows to public health agencies—a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts offers a first-of-its-kind glimpse into the patchwork of state data policies and practices that together form our modern system for the nation’s public health data. The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features a discussion about the report’s implications with Lilly Kan of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Annie Fine of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, Mary Beth Kurilo of the American Immunization Registry Association, and Monica Huang of Mathematica. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/modernizing-state-public-health-data-policies-and-practices Read a blog by The Pew Charitable Trusts' Margaret Arneson and Kathy Talkington about key takeaways from the report: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/12/12/states-must-modernize-public-health-data-reporting-new-report-finds-promising-practices Read the full report from the Pew Charitable Trusts, which was supported with research by Mathematica: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2024/12/state-public-health-data-reporting-policies-and-practices-vary-widely Read a LinkedIn article from Kathy Talkington of The Pew Charitable Trusts discussing key takeaways from the report: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/public-health-data-reporting-strengths-shortcomings-kathy-talkington-gcdne/?trackingId=qNW27JNuSXq2Uf67iWKD9g%3D%3D Take an online quiz to test how much you know about public health data reporting: https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/12/12/how-much-do-you-know-about-public-health-data-reporting

On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Lauren Supplee, the deputy assistant secretary for planning, research, and evaluation at the Administration for Children and Families, sat down for a wide-ranging conversation about the use of evidence in social policy. Supplee reflected on this year’s White House blueprint on social and behavioral science in government, which included Head Start as an example of a government program for children and families that benefited from decades of social policy research overseen by the Administration for Children and Families. On the episode, Supplee also discussed the role of research in informing improvements to Head Start over time, how the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act is changing the use of evidence in the federal government, and insights from Supplee’s blog series on boosting the use of research evidence. Find a full transcript of the conversation here: https://mathematica.org/blogs/opres-lauren-supplee-on-boosting-the-use-of-social-policy-research Read the White House Office of Science and Technology blog announcing its Blueprint for the Use of Social and Behavioral Science to Advance Evidence-Based Policymaking: https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2024/05/15/applying-social-and-behavioral-science-to-federal-policies-and-programs-to-deliver-better-outcomes/ Read Lauren Supplee’s blog about measuring whether and how evidence is used: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/blog/2024/01/how-do-we-measure-whether-and-how-evidence-used Read Supplee’s blog about cultivating more “knowledge brokers” in social policy research who translate complex data into action-ready insights: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/blog/2024/07/can-we-all-develop-superpowers-knowledge-brokers Read Supplee’s blog about establishing systems to support the use of evidence: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/blog/2024/04/evidence-action-how-do-we-establish-systems-support-evidence-use Read a blog by Colleen Rathgeb, the former director of policy at the Office of Head Start and current associate deputy assistant secretary for the Office of Early Childhood Development, about research showing the need for full-day, year-round Head Start programs: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/archive/blog/2015/02/presidents-fy-2016-budget-head-start Explore the ELOF 2 Go mobile app, the free online tool Supplee references that supports teachers who want to access and learn more about the Head Start Early Learning Outcomes Framework (ELOF): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ohs.elof2go&hl=en_US&pli=1 Watch the video series referenced by Supplee that shares the perspectives and experiences of those who are involved in obtaining and using data from the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/opre/training-technical-assistance/overview-aian-faces-video-series

The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Jeffery Marino, the director of California’s Office of Data and Innovation (ODI). For the podcast, Mathematica’s President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker spoke with Marino about ODI’s CalAcademy for training state employees in areas such as plain language and human-centered design, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s executive order on generative artificial intelligence, facilitating interagency data sharing agreements, and data-driven storytelling about government’s impact in people’s lives. They also discussed Marino’s career trajectory: he majored in English literature in college, became a data journalist, and now leads ODI, a department within California’s Government Operations Agency encouraging collaboration across state agencies to improve digital services for all Californians. Find the full transcript of the interview: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/embedding-data-and-innovation-across-california-state-government Learn more about ODI’s CalAcademy: https://innovation.ca.gov/who-we-are/calacademy/ Read California Governor Newsom’s executive order on generative AI: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/AI-EO-No.12-_-GGN-Signed.pdf Listen to an On the Evidence interview with Jennifer Pahlka, author of Recoding America: Why Government is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better, which is referenced in the discussion between Decker and Marino: https://mathematica.org/blogs/jennifer-pahlka-on-government-in-the-digital-age Explore a playlist of interviews between Mathematica’s Paul Decker and fellow leaders of evidence-driven organizations: https://soundcloud.com/ontheevidence/sets/evidence-leadership?si=ea534d2c041c44e99c289a8d4dffa664&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features an interview with Katherine Michelmore, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the 24th recipient of the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize. Michelmore’s research has focused on temporary expansions of tax credits during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is part of a growing body of evidence informing state and federal policy proposals to make permanent some or all of those changes. On the episode, Michelmore talks about her experiences interacting with the media and policymakers about the subject of her research, using a novel source of data from a private mobile app to study the impacts of an expanded Child Tax Credit on households, and questions she would like to pursue in the future related to tax credits that support working parents and their children. Find the full transcript at mathematica.org/blogs/kershaw-award-winner-katherine-michelmore-on-how-expanded-tax-credits-benefited-family-well-being Check out the Spotify playlist with interviews with the 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 winners of the Kershaw Award: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Qz9HKUOxBhj33neIpPEUd?si=9oBu3VV2QJig8nUgKVVUKg&nd=1&dlsi=c61b4fd6357f426d Going to the 2024 APPAM Fall Research Conference? On the Evidence will be there, too. Find us at the Mathematica booth. Send us a message at jwogan@mathematica-mpr.com to let us know you're coming. Read a working paper co-authored by Michelmore on the effects of the temporary expansion of the CTC on the economic well-being of families, including a reduction in food insecurity: https://www.nber.org/papers/w30533 Read an article co-authored by Michelmore on the effects of the temporary expansion of the CTC on housing affordability and the living arrangements of families: https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/61/4/1069/389197/The-Effects-of-the-2021-Child-Tax-Credit-on Read an article co-authored by Michelmore on the effects of the temporary expansion of the CTC on short- and long-term child development, including the likely improvement of children’s health: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00027162241264412 Read a working paper co-authored by Michelmore on the effects of the temporary expansion of the childless EITC: https://www.nber.org/papers/w32571

In honor of Employee Ownership Month in October, Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features a special episode with Paul Decker, Mathematica’s president and chief executive officer, and Jim Bonham, the president and chief executive officer of The ESOP Association. On the episode, Decker and Bonham discuss the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) as an evidence-based tool that benefits employees, consumers, and communities across the nation. An ESOP is a retirement vehicle for employees that many companies use to increase employee engagement and retain talent over time. As Decker and Bonham discuss on the episode, an ESOP can be more than a nice perk companies offer their employees. Business leaders and policymakers across the political spectrum have applauded the potential of ESOPs to strengthen the middle class and keep jobs in local communities. Research even shows ESOPs help reduce gender and racial wealth gaps. On the episode, Decker and Bonham discuss the benefits of ESOPs and challenges facing ESOPs going forward. A full transcript of the episode is available at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/supporting-workers-and-strengthening-communities-through-employee-ownership Read the study from Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing within the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University that found ESOPs help narrow gender and racial wealth gaps: https://smlr.rutgers.edu/sites/smlr/files/Documents/News/rutgerskelloggreport_april2019.pdf Read an article in The Star-Ledger about the benefits of employee stock ownership plans for reducing wealth inequality and ensuring the longevity of a business, which describes Mathematica’s experience with becoming an ESOP and quotes Paul Decker: https://www.nj.com/opinion/2024/09/nj-business-owners-need-a-succession-plan-and-workers-need-savings-we-can-solve-both-problems-opinion.html Learn more about Mathematica’s history as an employee-owned company: https://mathematica.org/blogs/employee-ownership-is-at-the-heart-of-mathematica

A new episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast explores recent research that experimented with a new approach to equitable data collection that also equips individuals and their organizations with new skills and resources. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation contracted with Mathematica and its partner UBUNTU Research and Evaluation to learn how grassroots organizations in the housing justice movement had used grant funds for community power building. Through a fellowship program established by Mathematica and UBUNTU, researchers provided training in evaluation to fellows selected from staff at grassroots organizations while learning from those staff about the impact of the foundation’s investment. The research also provided early evidence that the foundation’s investment helped local grassroots organizations become more effective in achieving their affordable housing goals. On the episode, researchers and program fellows discuss the impact of the foundation’s investment and how the fellowship model helped strengthen organizations’ internal capacity to learn from campaigns and make evidence-informed changes. Find a full transcript of the episode at mathematica.org/blogs/how-evaluation-can-support-housing-justice-and-community-change Learn more about the housing justice and community power building evaluation conducted by Mathematica and UBUNTU on behalf of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: https://www.ubunturesearch.com/hjet Explore the interactive graphic that illustrates a new framework for community power building in the housing justice movement: https://mathematica.org/features/the-house-that-justice-built Learn more about the recent (open source) book Drew Koleros edited on updating theories of change for the field of evaluation, which includes sections that are relevant for evaluating community power building: https://www.routledge.com/Theories-of-Change-in-Reality-Strengths-Limitations-and-Future-Directions/Koleros-Adrien-Tyrrell/p/book/9781032669588?srsltid=AfmBOooKlrBZhZa5lb2HnU1K2Nw-IjWyQQ660RW0qfWxzw9P3FUTYpMU

The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast focuses on the potential for health data interoperability to improve people’s health and well-being. Improved data interoperability is part of a broader push in the public and private sectors to use digital technology to make greater volumes of data available faster, at lower cost, and in higher-quality formats. These advances would make data easier to access, especially when needed to prevent or address urgent problems. In health care, the digital transformation in data could keep people healthier by improving the speed and quality of care patients receive. The episode features a discussion that originally aired as a webinar hosted by Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab, which examined strategies and tools for achieving greater data interoperability. During the webinar, Mathematica’s Steve Linthicum moderated a conversation between Dr. Abel Kho of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at Northwestern University, Steven Gruner of HealthWare Systems, and Nicholai Mitchko of InterSystems. A full transcript of the episode is available at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/how-health-data-interoperability-can-improve-patient-care Learn more about Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab: https://www.mathematica.org/sites/health-data-innovation-lab Watch the previous webinar hosted by Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab on data governance: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/event-takeaways-using-data-governance-to-improve-health-outcomes Watch the previous webinar hosted by Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab on artificial intelligence: https://www.mathematica.org/news/health-ai-event-recap-its-all-about-the-data

Cecilia Rouse is the former dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the current president of the Brookings Institution. For the first two years of the Biden administration, she was the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers—the first Black American to chair the council in its 75-year history. In August, she joined Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast for a conversation with Mathematica’s President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker about leadership, the use of evidence in public policy, and the role of research organizations in improving public well-being. During the interview, Rouse talks about what she learned from her government posts about the role of research in informing policy decisions, how she thinks about the role of academic institutions in conducting policy research and training future public servants, how economics and related professions are doing at diversifying their workforces, and what she has learned about leadership. A full transcript of the episode is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/cecilia-rouse-on-the-use-of-evidence-in-public-policy Listen to Rouse’s January 2024 interview with the Brookings Institution’s podcast, The Current, which posted shortly after she became the Brookings president: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/meet-cecilia-rouse-new-brookings-president/ Listen to Paul Decker’s previous interviews about leadership and evidence-based decision making: https://staginginter.mathematica.net/search#q=paul%20decker&sort=relevancy&f:BlogSeries=%5BOn%20The%20Evidence%2DPodcast%5D&f:BlogSeries:operator=and

Thirty years ago, President Bill Clinton signed bipartisan legislation creating what is now known as AmeriCorps, a federal agency for national service and volunteerism. Since then, the agency estimates that more than 1.3 million AmeriCorps members and hundreds of thousands more AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers have provided billions of hours of service across each of the 50 states and U.S. territories. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of AmeriCorps, On the Evidence hosted a discussion about the role of data and research in helping AmeriCorps and its grantees deliver on their respective missions. The episode features Dr. Mary Hyde of AmeriCorps, Scott Richman of Mathematica, and Stephanie Garippa and Diana Gioia of Maggie’s Place, an AmeriCorps grantee. On the episode, they discuss the important but complex task of measuring the impact of AmeriCorps, given that it seeks to not only spur higher levels of civic engagement and national service, but to simultaneously help its service members, partnering organizations, the communities in which both operate, and society as a whole. They talk about the kinds of evidence that AmeriCorps and grantees like Maggie’s Place collect, how that evidence is used to drive impact, and how the role of evidence in guiding AmeriCorps’ work has evolved over time. Read the 2023 AmeriCorps State of the Evidence Report: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/americorps-2023-state-of-the-evidence-report Find the full transcript for the episode at https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/how-americorps-uses-data-to-support-communities-through-national-service-and-volunteerism

Twenty years ago, the U.S. Congress created a new federal agency that represented a bold experiment in international aid. That agency, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), strove to reduce global poverty through grant-making to low- and lower-middle-income countries that demonstrated a commitment to good governance, economic freedom, and investing in their citizens. Part of what made MCC distinct in the international development space was its evidence-based approach, which focused on evaluating impacts and fostering a culture of learning and accountability to improve the effectiveness of aid. For this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, and in recognition of the agency’s 20th anniversary, Alicia Phillips Mandaville of MCC joins Jeff Bernson of Mathematica to discuss the agency’s past, present, and future. Among other topics, Phillips Mandaville and Bernson discuss how MCC approaches country ownership and locally led development, how the agency’s evidence-based approach to learning has evolved over time, and what MCC has learned about how to reduce poverty in developing countries. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/twenty-years-of-insights-from-the-millennium-challenge-corporation-on-reducing-poverty. Visit MCC’s 20th anniversary page, which reflects further on the agency’s impacts over two decades: https://www.mcc.gov/about/priority/20th-anniversary/

Our guest for this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast is Dr. Aaron Carroll, a pediatrician, health researcher, and science communicator who recently assumed the post of president and chief executive officer at AcademyHealth, the leading national organization for convening and sharing information across health services researchers, policymakers, and health care practitioners. On the Evidence spoke with Carroll ahead of his organization’s Health Datapalooza conference in mid-September. This year, the event is focused on data-driven solutions that address critical public health challenges. The conference’s theme reflects a collaboration between AcademyHealth and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to facilitate greater coordination and learning across health care and public health data systems. Mathematica is a member organization of AcademyHealth and a sponsor of the 2024 Health Datapalooza. In the episode, Carroll discusses what he has learned about effective science communication from blogging for The Incidental Economist, hosting the Healthcare Triage podcast, authoring several books, publishing research in peer-review journals, and contributing regularly to The New York Times. The interview covers a range of other topics as well, including the implications of climate change and artificial intelligence on health care and health services research; the need for greater interoperability among health and social services data systems; and the value of solutions for addressing the social determinants of health. Visit our website for a transcript of this episode: https://mathematica.org/blogs/aaron-carroll-on-the-future-of-health-services-research Watch the Healthcare Triage series on health and climate change: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkfBg8ML-gInVPCl7zVMWvRX3SVwTRhgc Read Carroll’s guest essay in The New York Times about lessons from other countries that could improve health care in the U.S.: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/13/opinion/health-care-reform.html Learn more about Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate practice: https://www.mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action Read a blog series by Mathematica staff about improving the quality and usability of social determinants of health data: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/to-address-the-social-determinants-of-health-start-with-the-data Listen to a podcast about a federally-funded initiative to improve the collection of information from patients about their health-related social needs: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/lessons-from-a-national-health-initiative-that-helps-address-social-needs Learn more about Mathematica’s public health data modernization work, including recent projects for the Pew Charitable Trusts on public health data policies and practices in states, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on transforming public health data systems to advance equity, and operation of a Public Health Data Modernization Implementation Center for the CDC and Public Health Infrastructure Grant National Partners: https://www.mathematica.org/sp/public-health Learn more about Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab, which connects health care industry professionals with data scientists, social scientists, and technologists to address complex challenges within a health care organization or tackle broader issues related to fragmented care, social determinants of health, and health care inequality: https://staginginter.mathematica.net/sites/health-data-innovation-lab

In the United States, conversations about solutions to climate change often revolve around reducing fossil fuel emissions from human activities. But many believe regenerative agricultural practices and other nature-based solutions—which use soil and plants and try to either prevent or capture emissions—should complement policies and programs to reduce emissions from vehicles and power plants. As the nature-based climate solutions mature, public and private organizations that invest in them will need ways to measure their impact. In an interview with Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Dr. Jenny Soong, a soil biogeochemist within Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate practice, explains how better measurement, better data collection, and better web-based decision support tools could ensure the effective implementation of regenerative agriculture and other nature-based climate solutions. Find a full transcript of the episode at mathematica.org/ontheevidence. Learn more about Mathematica’s interdisciplinary climate practice: https://www.mathematica.org/sp/climate-change/climate-action

The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast coincides with June 19, which is celebrated by many around the United States as Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in this country. Recently, one way staff at Mathematica have honored this important moment in U.S. history is by joining together in person and virtually on June 18th to read aloud and discuss a speech by Frederick Douglass titled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Douglass gave the speech in front of a predominately white abolitionist audience about 11 years before President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring more than three million enslaved people living in the Confederate states to be free. The speech focuses on the contradiction of celebrating liberty at a time when millions remained in slavery. It both celebrates the ideals of the country’s founding and laments how the country has fallen short of those ideals. This episode of On the Evidence features an interview with Sheldon Bond, the deputy director of Mathematica’s labor and employment area, who also acts as a co-lead for the company’s Black Employee Resource Group. Mathematica’s Black and Disability employee resource groups work with the Princeton Public Library to organize the readings of Frederick Douglass’s speech. The episode also features clips from last year’s Juneteenth event, with passages read by Mathematica’s Rachel Miller, Sarah Lieff, Gloria Jackson, Stacie Feldman, Rachael Jackson, A’lantra Wright, Kirsten Miller, Boyd Gilman, and Dawnavan Davis. A full transcript from the episode is available here: mathematica.org/blogs/on-juneteenth-reflecting-on-our-collective-equity-journey Read Sheldon Bond’s My Mathematica blog about how, as a natural introvert, he has learned to communicate, connect, and build relationships in the context of a growing company with an increasingly hybrid work culture: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/my-mathematica-sheldon-bond

Within the past few years, organizations that help improve public well-being by providing data-driven insights have witnessed significant changes. From a digital transformation hastened by big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to the globalization of evidence-based solutions for problems that transcend borders, changes in technology, society, and culture are challenging leaders to rethink how their organizations operate. On the latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, NORC at the University of Chicago President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Gaylin joined Mathematica President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker for a wide-ranging discussion about leadership, AI, globalization, the COVID-19 pandemic, and advocating for the use of high-quality evidence without straying into activism. Find a full transcript at mathematica.org/blogs/norc-and-mathematica-ceos-on-the-future-of-data-and-evidence Read an article by Dan Gaylin on LinkedIn where he explains his philosophy around the importance of sharing research findings: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-silence-significance-case-sharing-your-research-dan-gaylin-d1cve/?trackingId=Mm6Fa4kN4WbH29J%2FQArQrg%3D%3D Learn more about NORC’s AmeriSpeak Panel: https://amerispeak.norc.org/ Learn more about NORC’s 2020 Election Research Project for Facebook: https://www.norc.org/research/projects/2020-election-research-project.html Learn more about NORC’s Advanced Data Solutions Center: https://www.norc.org/about/departments/advanced-data-solutions-center.html Watch Decker’s interview with Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, which includes a discussion about the declining response rates in federal surveys and what they might mean for informing policy decisions: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/mark-zandi-chief-economist-of-moodys-analytics-on-data-driven-decisions-in-public-policy Watch Decker’s interview with Max Stier, the president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/the-partnership-for-public-services-max-stier-on-using-data-to-improve-the-government

This episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features a discussion about how various parties within the health care ecosystem can responsibly use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve patient health. The conversation comes amid increasing interest in the applications of AI in daily life and one month after Mathematica announced the launch of its Health Data Innovation Lab, a digital operational hub for government agencies, foundations, medical centers, and other health organizations to collaborate with data scientists and health policy experts. The episode draws from a recent webinar moderated by Noland Joiner, the chief technology officer of health care at Mathematica, with Ngan MacDonald and Ellie Graeden as guests. MacDonald is the director of health data innovations at Mathematica and Graeden is a partner and chief data scientist at Luminos.Law. She is also an adjunct research professor at Georgetown University. A transcript of the episode is available here: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/improving-health-through-responsible-ai Learn more about Mathematica’s Health Data Innovation Lab: https://www.mathematica.org/sites/health-data-innovation-lab

The latest episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast features Max Stier, the president and chief executive officer of the Partnership for Public Service. Stier discusses the central role that data and research play in supporting his organization’s mission to make the federal government more effective. The episode comes during Public Service Recognition Week (May 5–11), which is also when the partnership announces finalists for its Service to America Medals. These annual awards celebrate extraordinary leadership by career federal employees. For the episode, Stier sits down with Mathematica President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Decker to talk about using data to improve government, enhancing data literacy among federal workers, measuring and rebuilding trust in government, the power of employee recognition, and more. A full transcript of the episode is available at mathematica.org/blogs/the-partnership-for-public-services-max-stier-on-using-data-to-improve-the-government See the list of 2024 finalists for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals: https://servicetoamericamedals.org/honorees/?_year=2024 Learn more about the Partnership’s Service to America Medals program: https://ourpublicservice.org/our-solutions/recognition/service-to-america-medals/ Learn more about the Partnership’s Best Places to Work in the Federal Government rankings: https://ourpublicservice.org/performance-measures/best-places-to-work-in-the-federal-government/ Explore data from the Partnership on Americans’ level of trust in the federal government: https://ourpublicservice.org/our-solutions/rebuilding-trust-in-government/dashboard/

In March, when the Biden administration released its budget request for fiscal year 2025, it not only offered a blueprint for the president’s policymaking agenda—it also provided the latest indication of how the White House and federal agencies are going beyond evidence generation to use evidence as a guide in making program investments that can improve Americans’ lives. For this episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast, Nichole Dunn, the vice president of federal policy at Results for America, joins the show to discuss evidence-based policy in the president’s budget as well as larger trends in federal and state funding of evidence-based initiatives and programs. On the episode, Dunn speaks with Mike Burns, senior director of communications and public affairs at Mathematica, about American Rescue Plan spending, the growth of evidence clearinghouses, the increasing level of federal investment in program evaluation, the implications of the presidential election for federal investment in evidence-based policy, the implementation of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, the recent formation of the bipartisan Congressional What Works Caucus, the Congressional Evidence-Based Policymaking Resolution, and the potential for evidence-based policy to bypass partisan gridlock in Washington. A full transcript of the conversation is available at mathematica.org/blogs/evidence-based-policy-in-president-bidens-2025-budget Read an op-ed by Michele Jolin, the chief executive officer and co-founder of Results for America, about how bipartisan elected leaders and career civil servants across the country who have been quietly transforming how governments invest taxpayer dollars to achieve better results: https://www.minnpost.com/community-voices/2024/03/from-minnesota-to-washington-d-c-a-better-way-to-deliver-results/ Read the research brief by Mathematica for Results for America, which shows how city governments with a history of prioritizing data-driven practices were more likely to use federal relief funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to deepen their commitment to results-driven governance—with the goal of improving outcomes for residents through effective programs: https://mathematica.org/publications/unlocking-the-power-of-city-data Watch a recording from the January 2024 virtual event hosted by Results for America to discuss the federal government’s progress in using evidence and data to get better results, which featured the release of a new report by Harvard University Professor Christina Ciocca Eller on federal evidence-based policymaking efforts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMYwG6P-1zI Read the 2023 Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence from Results for America, which showcases 194 efforts across 46 states to build and use evidence and data to improve residents’ lives: https://results4america.org/tools/2023-invest-in-what-works-state-standard-of-excellence/ Explore the ARP Data and Evidence Dashboard from Mathematica and Results for America, which highlights how state and local government leaders are investing one-time federal pandemic relief and economic recovery funds and using data and evidence to get better results: https://results4america.org/tools/arp-dashboard/

The latest episode of On the Evidence features Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. On the episode, Zandi speaks with Paul Decker, Mathematica’s president and chief executive officer, about comprehensive immigration reform, artificial intelligence, labor shortages, remote work, the merits of pursuing a nonacademic career in economic research, and how Zandi seeks to influence politically charged policy debates with data and credibility. Zandi is the author of two books related to the Great Recession and hosts the Inside Economics podcast. A video version of the episode as well as a full transcript is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/mark-zandi-chief-economist-of-moodys-analytics-on-data-driven-decisions-in-public-policy Listen to the Inside Economics podcast that Zandi hosts along with Cris deRitis and Marisa DiNatale for Moody’s Analytics: https://www.moodys.com/web/en/us/about/insights/podcasts/moodys-talks-inside-economics.html Read Paul Decker’s blog about how Mathematica used evidence to guide the company’s approach to reopening in-person offices after the COVID-19 pandemic: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/letting-evidence-guide-decisions-about-reopening-offices Read an op-ed co-authored by Paul Decker for the website RealClearPolicy, which proposes comprehensive immigration reform and other solutions to address current labor shortages: https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles/2023/04/25/without_immigration_reform_americas_labor_shortage_is_here_to_stay_895672.html

The latest episode of On the Evidence features an interview with Mathematica’s Ngan MacDonald about the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) for improving health care through data analytics. MacDonald recently joined Mathematica as the company’s director of health data innovations, where she leads a team of data scientists that help public and private health organizations use their data to deliver meaningful and effective insights. In addition to her role at Mathematica, MacDonald is also the chief of data operations for the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at Northwestern University. On the episode, MacDonald discusses the potential benefits of AI in health care, the equity implications of training AI on incomplete health care data, and what AI could mean for Mathematica’s work in data analytics. A full transcript of the interview is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/improving-health-equity-through-ai-and-data-innovation

A new episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast explores the idea that a more comprehensive approach to evaluation, including study of a program’s design and implementation, maximizes a program’s chances of success. The episode draws from a convening in January at Mathematica’s D.C. office at which experts from the federal government, philanthropy, academia, and research organizations discussed insights from the Oxford Handbook on Program Design and Implementation Evaluation, edited by Mathematica’s Anu Rangarajan. The episode features Rangarajan as well as seven other speakers who expand upon the idea that a more comprehensive approach to evaluation could provide more useful information about whether a program is working, and if not, how it could be tweaked to work. The following speakers also appear in the episode: - Michael Woolcock, lead social scientist, Development Research Group, World Bank - Paul Decker, president and chief executive officer, Mathematica - Emilie Bagby, director, international education, Mathematica - Alix Zwane, chief executive officer, Global Innovation Fund - Melissa Chiappetta, senior education advisor, Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency for International Development - Douglas J. Besharov, professor, University of Maryland School of Public Policy - Michelle Sager, managing director for strategic issues, U.S. Government Accountability Office A transcript of the episode is available at https://mathematica.org/blogs/improving-the-impact-of-social-programs-through-better-evaluation Learn more about Mathematica Global, the new name and identity of Mathematica’s international unit: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/mathematica-global-brings-hindsight-insight-and-foresight Watch the full video recording from the January convening about improving the impact of social programs through a comprehensive approach to design and evaluation: https://www.mathematica.org/events/improving-the-impact-of-social-programs-through-a-comprehensive-approach-to-design-and-evaluation Listen to a previous episode of Mathematica’s On the Evidence podcast that features two of the speakers from the January event, Emilie Bagby and Melissa Chiappetta, discussing how the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Rescue Committee are building on an evidence review from Mathematica to help local education leaders implement effective programs and policies in northern Central America that will reduce local violence and crime: https://www.mathematica.org/blogs/developing-education-programs-to-prevent-violence-and-crime-in-latin-america-and-the-caribbean