October 4, 2019Event Recap

What Works Bootcamp: Advancing Economic Mobility

State/ 2019/

On October 4, 2019, the National Governors Association and Results for America hosted a full-day training opportunity for senior gubernatorial staff from selected states. Following on the first What Works Bootcamp in August 2019, the second edition also took place in Washington, DC and allowed state leaders to learn more about how they can build their capacity to use data and evidence to improve outcomes for their states’ residents.

The sessions were oriented around three central goals to help staff from governors offices to:

1) Learn about ways to implement new tools to improve government’s results 

2) Shape the future of evidence-based policy by helping to develop materials for the field

3) Learn about innovative ideas to make the future of public policy

The day began with an event to launch of the 2019 State Standard of Excellence. Following this event, staff from governors offices participated in a meet and greet session with members of Results for America’s State Standard of Excellence Advisory Committee.

What Works Bootcamp participants took part in the following sessions: 

  • Hot Topics: The session featured flash talks about how behavioral science, human-centered design, and rapid cycle evaluation will shape the future of public policy. David Yokum (Director, The Policy Lab at Brown University), Virginia Hamilton (Senior Advisor for Design Thinking and Innovation, American Institutes for Research), and Vincent Quan (Associate Director of Policy, J-PAL North America) presented on these hot topics. 
  • A Chat with David Yokum: An interactive interview with David Yokum discussed building government’s capacity for evidence-based policymaking, partnering with outside evaluators, outcome budgeting, and other tips for using evidence and data to improve economic mobility. 
  • Using Evidence in Grant Programs: This session explored examples of using evidence in grant programs from the newly released 2019 State Standard of Excellence to help state governments improve the impact of their spending through a peer consultancy model. 
  • Building a Data and Evidence Road Map: Led by David Padrino (former Colorado Chief Performance Officer), participants started to design a roadmap designed to help state governments improve their results by using evidence and data.

What Works Bootcamp participants included the following state government leaders: 

  • California: Michael Wilkening, Special Advisor on Innovation & Digital Services, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom
  • Colorado: Hana Sayeed, Operations Manager, Office Governor Jared Polis; Heather Velasquez, Deputy Director of Operations and Cabinet Affairs, Office Governor Jared Polis
  • Maryland: Mike Morello, Director, Governor’s Office of Performance Improvement; Patrick Lally, Director, Governor’s Coordin
    ating Offices
  • Minnesota: Pete Bernardy, Enterprise Director for Results Management
  • North Carolina: Kristin Walker, Deputy Director, North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management; Joshua Davis, CFO, North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
  • Rhode Island: Jonathan Womer, Director, Rhode Island Office of Management & Budget; Joseph Codega, Chief Economic and Policy Analyst, Rhode Island Office of Management & Budget
  • Washington: Inger Brinck, Director, Results Washington, Office of Governor Jay Inslee
  • Utah: Rachel Stone, Chief Data Officer,  Governor’s Office of Management and Budget

Staff from the Results for America and the National Governors Association included: Jed Herrmann, Vice President, State and Federal Policy Implementation, Results for America; Josh Inaba, Manager, State and Federal Policy, Results for America; Alexandra Cawthorne Gaines, Program Director, Economic Opportunity Division, National Governors Association; Michael Bonino-Britsch Policy Analyst Economic Opportunity; National Governors Association.

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