Every policy is a design choice. I ask who benefits, who is left out, and how evidence can help policymakers design alternatives that improve everyone's well-being.
Rekha Balu is vice president of the Center on Equity and Community Impact at the Urban Institute, creating systems change approaches to improve fairness in public policy outcomes. The center works with Urban experts and national leaders in AI, education, tax, housing, and more, and links innovative methods of the Community Engagement Resource Center, Racial Equity Analytics Lab, and Disability Equity Policy Initiative teams.
Balu joined Urban from MDRC, where she directed the Center for Applied Behavioral Science and led education policy evaluations. She also served as a fellow at the US Office of Evaluation Sciences for several years. Balu brings more than two decades of experience building indicators and evidence on what works in social policy, including designing interventions, testing them in large-scale field experiments, developing new performance measures, and advising organizational and philanthropic leaders on measuring meaningful progress.
A former journalist, legislative analyst, and policy advocate, Balu translates ideas and research into action for multiple audiences. She holds an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University, a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a master’s degree in economics from Stanford University. She earned her doctorate in the economics of education from Stanford University.
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