Introduction
  • Introduction
  • Research to Impact: 2024 Highlights
  • Spotlight: State Prison Reform
  • Spotlight: Responsibly Leveraging AI
  • Spotlight: Upward Mobility
  • Spotlight: Climate Recovery and Resilience
  • Collaborate with Us
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    Publication 2024 Impact Report
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    Powering Smarter Policies for Brighter Futures

    The Urban Institute was founded on one simple belief: smart policies can transform lives. As national, state, and local decisionmakers face rising costs, workforce challenges, and shifting economic conditions, many rely on Urban for trusted, data-driven strategies that help communities thrive.

    In 2024, Urban’s research helped ensure that changemakers had the data and evidence to shape solutions that work, from driving real change for those living and working in state prisons to delivering actionable insights that helped local and state officials prioritize recovery efforts after Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

    "I want what we do to work. And so that's why I'm focused on what groups like Urban can demonstrate will work. I like to see the data, and I like to see that if you spend the money, that it's going to actually have the desired impacts."

    Robert Stewart, investor and chairman of Gordon Road Capital

    With Urban’s trusted insights in hand, leaders can take ideas from inception to implementation. Policymakers and advocates relied on our deep expertise to unlock Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds for newborns and promote regulatory changes to support the Head Start workforce. Businesses and educators used our first-of-its-kind National Apprenticeship Resource Hub to create apprenticeship programs across sectors and states. And Urban’s research on how to leverage artificial intelligence effectively and responsibly offers strategies for housing, health care, and the child welfare system.

    By the Numbers: A Year of Research, Reach, and Results
    Icon of a web browser window with a globe and a chat bubble representing media coverage.
    50,833 Media mentions 
    Icon of stacked documents or reports symbolizing published research.
    451 Research publications
    Icon of a person in a suit standing at a podium, representing government or policy engagement.
    346 Engagements with federal, state, and local policymakers
    Icon of a calendar with marked days, symbolizing scheduled events or convenings.
    95 Public and private, external events and convenings
    Icon of a government building with a dome and pillars, representing state and local government partnerships.
    49 State and local government collaborations
    Icon of a single-page document or letter, representing testimony or public comment submission.
    42 Testimonies and public comment letters
    Illustrations by Christina Baird/ Urban Institute; Shutterstock
    “Few people really understand how policies are developed and supported, and Urban gets all that really well. Urban is one of those institutions in our country that can work with government at all levels, with the public sector, with the private sector, and with the foundation world. And in many ways, help to shape the thinking of leaders.”

    Freeman Hrabowski, president emeritus of University of Maryland, Baltimore County

    At every level of government and in communities across the country, Urban’s work enables decisionmakers to operate more efficiently and deliver better outcomes for the people they serve. Our research shaped a new federal rule removing medical debt from credit reports, informed a new child care subsidy enrollment process that could benefit 800,000 families, and offered evidence-based recommendations on tax reforms and student debt relief.

    “Today, the Urban Institute is built to equip changemakers like you with the evidence and solutions you need to help every person and every community thrive. Together, we will drive impact around the country, making change in service of a brighter future.”

    Sarah Rosen Wartell, Urban Institute president

    Local governments and nonprofits rely on Urban’s insights to know if their programs are making a difference. By evaluating the success of pilot projects, Urban helps build the case for critical reforms that support families and communities.

    In 2024, that work included evaluations of Austin’s guaranteed income pilot program, Denver’s trailblazing supportive housing program, and Philadelphia’s initiative to improve residents’ access to the public benefits for which they are eligible. Through our Upward Mobility Initiative, Urban experts are guiding local leaders with data, training, and coaching as they work to advance upward mobility from poverty.

    “Urban is able to connect data and information—massive quantities of it—and translate it in a way that leads to something that a policymaker can absorb, so that if something should require change, they base it upon data and facts.”

    Shekar Narasimhan, managing partner at Beekman Advisors
    Every dollar invested in Urban’s research lays the foundation for meaningful and measurable change. 
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