Local Government Leaders From 15 Cities and Counties Selected for Year-long Fellowship to Advance Use of Data and Evidence to Improve Outcomes for Residents
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Results for America (RFA) today announced the appointment of 15 local government leaders to the second cohort of the Local Government Fellowship. With the support and guidance of RFA, these Fellows will lead their governments toward advanced stages of data-driven and evidence-based policymaking in order to address major policy challenges in their communities. The cities and counties represented in the Fellowship collectively represent more than 28 million people and $148 billion in local government spending.
Managed by Results for America, the Local Government Fellowship will help the Fellows tackle policy challenges for their cities and counties in areas such as crime, education, health, poverty and energy, through establishing and implementing:
- A 2-to 3-year policy roadmap to improve outcomes on a specific policy challenge; and
- A partnership with an external research or academic institution to evaluate a major government-funded policy or program investment to inform policy decisions.
The 15 Local Government Fellows are:
- Anjali Chainani, Director of Policy, City of Philadelphia;
- Carrie S. Cihak, Chief of Policy, King County (WA);
- David Gottesman, CountyStat Manager, Montgomery County (MD);
- Kate Joncas, Deputy Mayor of Operations, City of Seattle;
- Matthew Klein, Executive Director, Center for Economic Opportunity and Senior Advisor for Service Innovation in the Mayor’s Office of Operations, City of New York;
- Andrew Kleine, Budget Director, City of Baltimore;
- Matt Malament, Director of Budget, Innovation and Performance, City of Atlanta;
- Mark McDaniel, Assistant City Manager, City of Dallas;
- Elizabeth Mitchell, Senior Policy Advisor, Salt Lake County (UT);
- Gilbert Montano, Chief of Staff, City of Albuquerque;
- Jennifer Reed, Chief Performance Officer, Washington DC;
- Theresa Reno-Weber, Chief of Performance and Technology, City of Louisville;
- Miguel Sangalang, Executive Officer, Budget & Innovation, City of Los Angeles;
- Steven E. Shaw, Deputy Chief of Staff, Cook County (IL); and
- Oliver Wise, Director of the Office of Performance and Accountability, City of New Orleans.
“Local governments are making important strides toward investing precious taxpayer dollars in what works. Through this Fellowship, Results for America seeks to accelerate this work for 15 local governments by focusing on policy wins and evaluation partnerships that will improve outcomes for residents by making data and evidence primary factors in policy decisions,” said Michele Jolin, Co-founder and CEO of Results for America.“ I commend these 15 local government leaders for their commitment to improving results by investing in evidence-based solutions and welcome them to this prestigious fellowship program.”
The Fellows announced today will participate in four separate two-day strategic thinking convenings that will serve as an opportunity to report on progress, learn new strategies and skills, build a network of peers and gain exposure to national experts. In addition, Fellows will participate in monthly progress calls. RFA will publish 15 case studies highlighting the progress of these local governments as well as a final paper on lessons learned through the Local Government Fellowship, to be released at a public event in 2018.
Each of the participating cities and counties in the inaugural cohort of the Fellowship, which launched in September 2014, made important progress in building and using evidence in policies and programs. The findings and results from the first cohort of the Fellowship can be found in this March 2016 Results for America Invest in What Works Policy Series report. The Local Government Fellowship program is supported by a grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
About Results for America
Results for America is improving outcomes for young people, their families and communities by shifting public resources toward practices, policies, and programs that use evidence and data to improve quality and get better results. In a climate of constrained resources and mounting demands, we know that public funds must increasingly be invested in “what works.”
In November, 2014, Results for America published Moneyball for Government, the national bestselling book that brings together a group of bipartisan leaders and makes the case for government at all levels to inform public policy and funding decisions by using the best possible data, evidence and evaluation about what works. In January, 2016, RFA published the second edition of Moneyball for Government featuring a new bipartisan chapter about the importance of using data and evidence to drive U.S. foreign assistance.
In addition to the Local Government Fellowship, RFA is the campaign manager for Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities (WWC). Launched in April 2015, What Works Cities is a national initiative to help 100 mid-sized American cities enhance their use of data and evidence to improve services, inform local decision-making and engage residents. For more information about this and other initiatives of Results for America, click here.