Gov Innovator Podcast
140 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 18 ratingsInsights for Results-Focused Leaders
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Episodes
How Philadelphia became a leader in the use of data and evidence: An interview with Maia Jachimowicz, V.P. for Evidence-Based Policy, Results for America, and former policy director to Mayor Michael Nutter – Episode #109
February 15, 2016 07:10 - 12 minutes - 11.4 MBMichael Nutter served as Mayor of Philadelphia from 2008 to 2016. During his eight years in office, the city became a leader in the use of data, evidence and evaluation to improve outcomes for city residents. In 2014, Governing Magazine named the Mayor one of the Public Officials of the Year, noting, “Philadelphia isn’t an easy place to govern. But Mayor Michael […] The post How Philadelphia became a leader in the use of data and evidence: An interview with Maia Jachimowicz, V.P. for Eviden...
The first-year effects of Mexico’s soda tax: An interview with Barry Popkin, Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health – Episode #108
February 11, 2016 08:05 - 9 minutes - 8.78 MBCan a tax on sugary drinks reduce consumption and therefore fight obesity? The nation of Mexico, which has similarly high rates of obesity as the United States, is putting that question to the test. In 2013, Mexican lawmakers passed an excise tax on sugary drinks of 1 peso (about 8 cents) per liter, which is about a 10 […] The post The first-year effects of Mexico’s soda tax: An interview with Barry Popkin, Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health – Epi...
Using behavioral insights to design smarter school lunchrooms: An interview with David Just, Co-Director, Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs – Episode #107
February 04, 2016 19:13 - 11 minutes - 11 MBHow can schools use low-cost solutions to help children make healthier food choices? David Just is an expert on that topic. An economist by training, he is a professor at Cornell University and co-director, with Brian Wansink, of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (BEN Center). His research has included dozens of field and lab experiments that identify the subtle […] The post Using behavioral insights to design smarter school lunchrooms: An interview wit...
How Mexico took on the soda industry and won, passing a soda tax: An interview with Tina Rosenberg, New York Times and Solutions Journalism Network – Episode #106
February 02, 2016 07:08 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBMexico consumes a lot of soda and its soda industry (particularly Coca-Cola) is very powerful. Even so, in 2013, Mexico’s congress was able to successfully pass a nationwide one-peso-per-litre (about 10%) tax on sugary drinks, over the opposition of the soda industry. How did it happen? To gain insights, we’re joined by Tina Rosenberg (@tirosenberg), a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Her […] The post How Mexico took on the soda industry and won, passing a soda tax: An interview with Tina...
Calling on states to close their youth prisons: An interview with Patrick McCarthy, President, Annie E. Casey Foundation – Episode #105
January 14, 2016 08:34 - 12 minutes - 11.1 MBThe Annie E. Casey Foundation, through its juvenile justice initiative, has documented widespread maltreatment of youth in state-funded juvenile corrections facilities, including high rates of sexual victimization and the heavy-handed use of disciplinary isolation. The results include high levels of recidivism and annual costs that often exceed $100,000 per young person. The findings have led […] The post Calling on states to close their youth prisons: An interview with Patrick McCarthy, Pr...
Doubling community college graduation rates through CUNY’s ASAP program: An interview with Donna Linderman, Dean for Student Success Initiatives, City University of New York – Episode #104
January 08, 2016 07:47 - 9 minutes - 8.49 MBIncreasing the graduation rates at community colleges is an important national challenge. Nationally, less than 40 percent of community college students attain a degree or certificate — and students who come to campus underprepared for college-level work (those needing developmental or remedial classes) have graduation rates below 30 percent. The City University of New York (CUNY) launched […] The post Doubling community college graduation rates through CUNY’s ASAP program: An interview wit...
Colorado’s Family Planning Initiative: An interview with Larry Wolk, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment – Episode #103
December 30, 2015 07:12 - 9 minutes - 8.96 MBTo quote social policy expert Isabel Sawhill, “If we want to reduce poverty [in the U.S.], one of the simplest, fastest and cheapest things we could do would be to make sure that as few people as possible become parents before they actually want to.” An important state initiative to do that is Colorado’s Family Planning […] The post Colorado’s Family Planning Initiative: An interview with Larry Wolk, Executive Director, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment – Episode #103 app...
Using food banks to fight diabetes and promote health for vulnerable populations: An interview with Dr. Hilary Seligman, Professor, University of California, San Francisco – Episode #102
December 13, 2015 07:41 - 9 minutes - 8.84 MBCan food banks be used to address diet-sensitive disease in low-income communities? A new study of a pilot intervention suggests they can. Between 2012 and 2014, researchers enrolled almost 700 food pantry clients with diabetes in a six-month pilot intervention in three states. The intervention provided participants with diabetes-appropriate food, blood sugar monitoring, primary care referral, and self-management […] The post Using food banks to fight diabetes and promote health for vulnera...
Colorado’s lean initiative in state government: An interview with Henry Sobanet, Director of the Office of State Planning and Budgeting, State of Colorado – Episode #101
November 29, 2015 06:43 - 10.6 MBColorado is a leader among U.S. states in involving state employees in efforts to make state government agencies and programs more efficient and effective through a so-called lean approach. Lean techniques were developed in manufacturing settings, most famously at Toyota, and have since been applied to service settings, including government agencies. Under Governor John Hickenlooper, Colorado launched […] The post Colorado’s lean initiative in state government: An interview with Henry Soban...
A bold proposal to catalyze progress on key social policy challenges, the Ten Year Challenge: An interview with Jeffrey Liebman, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School – Episode #100
November 12, 2015 07:33 - 8.91 MBHow can the nation catalyze progress on key social policy challenges? A bold proposal, called the Ten Year Challenge, calls for selecting ten important social challenges and then having the federal government fund ten communities or states to address each challenge (so 100 experiments in total), while rigorously evaluating the results. The goal would be to generate a few […] The post A bold proposal to catalyze progress on key social policy challenges, the Ten Year Challenge: An interview w...
Reducing bullying in schools through a peer-based strategy: An interview with Betsy Levy Paluck, Professor, Princeton University – Episode #99
November 05, 2015 09:20 - 11.2 MBThere is growing awareness in the U.S. of the problem of bullying in middle and high school. Between a third and a fourth of all students say they have been bullied by other students, whether verbal, physical, and emotional. The potential consequences of bullying and harassment, including violence in schools, has highlighted the need for […] The post Reducing bullying in schools through a peer-based strategy: An interview with Betsy Levy Paluck, Professor, Princeton University – Episode #99...
Applying behavioral insights through the EAST (Easy, Attractive, Social, Timely) framework: An interview with Simon Ruda, UK Behavioral Insights Team – Episode #98
October 30, 2015 09:14 - 12.6 MBHow can public leaders, whether you’re running a large department or a small program, apply the insights of behavioral economics and other behavioral sciences to improve results? A simplified framework for the application of behavioral insights was developed by the U.K. Behavioral Insights Team (@B_I_Tweets) provides a useful way to start. The framework is called “EAST,” which stands for Easy, Attractive, […] The post Applying behavioral insights through the EAST (Easy, Attractive, Social, ...
How a small nonprofit in New Mexico achieves big good government wins: An interview with Fred Nathan, Executive Director, Think New Mexico – Episode #97
October 23, 2015 07:45 - 11.4 MBThis podcast usually focuses on results-focused government, but our topic today is running a results-focused state think tank — with insights about making change that can be relevant more broadly. If you’re not from New Mexico, you may not have heard of the nonpartisan nonprofit called Think New Mexico (@ThinkNewMexico). Its record of accomplishment, however, is worth paying attention no matter where you live. With only a […] The post How a small nonprofit in New Mexico achieves big good go...
Improving the outcomes of disadvantaged youth by teaching them to be less automatic: An interview with Jens Ludwig, Director, University of Chicago Crime Lab – Episode #96
October 11, 2015 15:16 - 12.4 MBHow can we help disadvantaged youth avoid negative outcomes such as delinquency and dropout? A recent NBER working paper presents findings from three randomized control trials that help low-income young people slow down and consider whether their quick, automatic responses are useful for a given situation. The paper is co-authored by Sara Heller, Anuj Shah, Jonathan Guryan, Jens […] The post Improving the outcomes of disadvantaged youth by teaching them to be less automatic: An interview wi...
Using behavioral insights to improve government performance: An interview with Maya Shankar, Chair, White House Social and Behavioral Science Team – Episode #95
October 04, 2015 15:19 - 9.58 MBOn September 15th, 2015, President Obama issued an Executive Order encouraging federal agencies to apply behavioral insights in their programs, policies, and operations. On the same day, the White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team (SBST) released its first annual report that details the results of 15 different collaborative projects with agencies to apply insights from behavioral economics and […] The post Using behavioral insights to improve government performance: An interview wit...
How to design performance measures to better measure impact: An interview with Peter Schochet, Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research – Episode #94
September 24, 2015 07:58 - 14.3 MBHow can public leaders and program managers track the performance of different sites within a program in a way that reflects impact — i.e., the value added of each site? The most rigorous approach is to run a rigorous program evaluation, such as a randomized controlled trial, by site, but that type of evaluation is not always feasible. Another approach (the […] The post How to design performance measures to better measure impact: An interview with Peter Schochet, Senior Fellow, Mathematica ...
Strengthening a culture of data-driven decision making: An interview with Carter Hewgley, Enterprise Analytics Division Director, FEMA – Episode #93
August 29, 2015 21:33 - 10.9 MBHow can public agencies strengthen a culture of data-driven decision making? We explore that question with Carter Hewgley, the Enterprise Analytics Division Director at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He has been leading data-driven initiatives at the local, state and federal levels for the past ten years. In 2011, he began leading FEMAStat, FEMA’s version […] The post Strengthening a culture of data-driven decision making: An interview with Carter Hewgley, Enterprise Analyt...
Connecting decision makers with high-quality research through the What Works Clearinghouse: An interview with Joy Lesnick of the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education – Episode #92
August 25, 2015 06:06 - 10.4 MBHow can public agencies help decision makers at the state and local levels to make evidence-based decisions? A useful strategy is to create a clearinghouse of credible research about what works. A leading example is the What Works Clearinghouse (@WhatWorksED), run by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) at the U.S. Department of Education. Launched in 2002, it reviews the research on the […] The post Connecting decision makers with high-quality research through the What Works Clearingh...
Setting HUD’s research agenda with input from the field through its Research Roadmap: An interview with Katherine O’Regan, Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Episode #91
May 21, 2015 07:37 - 10.4 MBThe U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) invests significant resources ($237 million since 2009) in research and evaluation to improve the evidence base for policymaking and the efficiency and effectiveness of existing policies. In 2008, however, a National Academy of Sciences report called HUD’s research-agenda setting process too insular and too short-term focused. As a result, the Department set […] The post Setting HUD’s research agenda with input from the field throug...
Exploring how outstanding public executives make tough decisions: An interview with Ronald Sanders, Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton – Episode #90
May 19, 2015 06:19 - 10.1 MBHow do outstanding senior government executives make tough decisions? Recent exploratory research suggests that these leaders need to be “ambidextrous,” meaning skilled at gathering input and conducting thorough analysis of complex decisions, while at the same time willing to make tough and courageous decisions. Moreover, these executives also appear to have a “bias for action,” meaning leaning towards decisiveness in […] The post Exploring how outstanding public executives make tough decis...
Using the Balanced Scorecard in the public sector: An interview with Kenneth Thompson, Professor, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University – Episode #89
May 13, 2015 07:22 - 9.41 MBThe Balanced Scorecard was introduced by Harvard Business School professor Robert Kaplan and management consultant David Norton in a 1992 Harvard Business Review article. It quickly became one of the most well-known approaches to performance management in the private sector. It was developed out of a concern that companies were placing too much emphasis on short-term financial […] The post Using the Balanced Scorecard in the public sector: An interview with Kenneth Thompson, Professor, Kell...
Implementing a turnaround strategy at DOL: An interview with Seth Harris, former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor – Episode #88
April 27, 2015 02:11 - 17.5 MBThe U.S. Department of Labor is a useful case study of a large public-sector organization that successfully strengthened a culture of results, data, learning and evidence. In doing so, it improved its performance on key outcomes. Moreover, by 2013, DOL had the highest score among cabinet agencies in terms of the use of performance information — and the […] The post Implementing a turnaround strategy at DOL: An interview with Seth Harris, former Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor – E...
Insights from the FTC about promoting employee engagement: An interview with David Robbins, Executive Director, Federal Trade Commission – Episode #87
April 19, 2015 22:18 - 8.61 MBHow can public agencies at the federal, state or local levels strengthen employee engagement? We get insights from the Federal Trade Commission. Since 2010, the FTC has been among the top three federal agencies in terms of employee engagement, according to the Employee Engagement Index, based on factors that facilitate employee engagement such as effective leadership and […] The post Insights from the FTC about promoting employee engagement: An interview with David Robbins, Executive Direct...
Using Pay for Success to fund early-childhood programs: An interview with Janis Dubno, Voices for Utah Children – Episode #86
April 15, 2015 05:10 - 9.69 MBHow can a Pay for Success approach — also known as a Social Impact Bond — be used to finance evidence-based early-childhood programs? And what lessons have been learned so far about doing that? To gain insights, we’re joined by Janis Dubno, a senior policy analyst at the nonprofit Voices for Utah Children. A former investment banker, […] The post Using Pay for Success to fund early-childhood programs: An interview with Janis Dubno, Voices for Utah Children – Episode #86 appeared first on Go...
Closing the social-class achievement gap for first-generation college students: An interview with Nicole Stephens, Professor, Northwestern University – Episode #85
April 01, 2015 05:42 - 11.5 MBCan a brief, hour-long intervention significantly improve outcomes for first-generation college students? Research by Nicole Stephens and her colleagues shows that it can. She is a social and cultural psychologist and a professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. As background, college students who do not have parents with four-year degrees — in other words, first-generation students […] The post Closing the social-class achievement gap for first-generation col...
Using analytics to tackle tough agency challenges: An interview with Dean Silverman, former head of the IRS Office of Compliance Analytics – Episode #84
March 26, 2015 07:08 - 11.4 MBHow can public agencies at the federal, state and local levels use analytics — including test and learn strategies — to tackle their toughest challenges? We get insights from Dean Silverman, the founder and former head of the IRS Office of Compliance Analytics (OCA), which launched in 2011. Reporting directly to the IRS commissioner, the OCA’s mission […] The post Using analytics to tackle tough agency challenges: An interview with Dean Silverman, former head of the IRS Office of Compliance...
The importance of administrative data for learning what works in public policy: An interview with Raj Chetty, Professor, Harvard University – Episode #83
March 18, 2015 07:17 - 6.45 MBWhy is administrative data, also known as big data, important for learning what works in public policy? And what steps can help the U.S. strengthen its data infrastructure for policy-relevant research? To gain insights, we’re joined by Raj Chetty for part 2 of our conversation. A Professor of Economics at Harvard University, his research combines empirical evidence (often using administrative […] The post The importance of administrative data for learning what works in public policy: An int...
Cost-benefit analysis 101 for policymakers & public managers: An interview with Henry Levin, Professor, Columbia University – Episode #82
March 13, 2015 08:27 - 12.1 MBKnowing “what works” in policy is important, but so is knowing what policy alternatives cost. For instance, do the benefits of a certain program or intervention outweigh its costs? Or among two interventions designed to achieve the same goal (say, improving children’s reading ability), does one produce a given level of improvement at lower cost? Questions like these […] The post Cost-benefit analysis 101 for policymakers & public managers: An interview with Henry Levin, Professor, Columbia ...
New York City’s VendorStat initiative for social services: An interview with Swati Desai, Senior Fellow, Rockefeller Institute of Government, State University of New York – Episode #81
March 08, 2015 03:40 - 10.5 MBHow can public agencies give contractors — such as social service providers — more flexibility to design their own strategies while also ensuring greater monitoring of, and accountability for, results? We examine New York City’s efforts to do just that in the area of welfare-to-work services through its VendorStat initiative. Starting in the 2000s, welfare-to-work services in the city were provided […] The post New York City’s VendorStat initiative for social services: An interview with Swa...
The nation’s first Pay for Success initiative for early education: An interview with Ben McAdams, Mayor, Salt Lake County – Episode #80
March 03, 2015 08:39 - 13.6 MBThe first Pay for Success initiative (aka Social Impact Bond) focused on early childhood education in the U.S. was launched in 2013 in Salt Lake County, Utah. The initiative involves a $7 million investment in private capital to fund the expansion of the early education for at-risk children. The goal is to increase school readiness and […] The post The nation’s first Pay for Success initiative for early education: An interview with Ben McAdams, Mayor, Salt Lake County – Episode #80 appeared...
New performance initiatives in Cincinnati city government: An interview with Chad Kenney, Chief Performance Officer, Office of Performance and Data Analytics – Episode #79
February 27, 2015 06:32 - 10 MBCincinnati, under Mayor John Cranley and City Manager Harry Black, has recently launched a set of new initiatives designed to strengthen city government performance and improve outcomes for residents. The initiatives include the introduction of citywide strategic goals, department head performance agreements and the launch of an innovation lab. Coming in June, the city will also launch CincyStat, the […] The post New performance initiatives in Cincinnati city government: An interview with C...
Improving public policy through behavioral economics: An interview with Raj Chetty, Professor, Harvard University – Episode #78
February 20, 2015 06:35 - 8.28 MBHow can tools from the behavioral sciences, such as behavioral economics, improve the design and implementation of public policies? We examine that question with a leading economist, Raj Chetty of Harvard University. In his recent keynote speech at the American Economic Association meeting, he argued that insights from the behavioral sciences can expand the scope of tools that are available to policymakers — insights […] The post Improving public policy through behavioral economics: An inte...
Insights for evidence-based grant making from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program: An interview with Evelyn Kappeler, Director of the Office of Adolescent Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Episode #77
February 15, 2015 21:25 - 13.2 MBAn important advance in the effort to make grant programs more evidence focused has been the launch of “tiered-evidence” or “innovation fund” grant designs in the federal government. They focus resources on practices with strong evidence, while also promoting innovation. One of the first tiered-evidence grant programs to launch, in 2010, was the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) Program. It is […] The post Insights for evidence-based grant making from the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program: An...
Using Career Academies to help disadvantaged students: An interview with Jim Kemple, Executive Director, Research Alliance for New York City Schools – Episode #76
February 13, 2015 08:17 - 12.1 MBCareer Academies are one of the biggest success stories among interventions designed to improve outcomes for high school-aged disadvantaged students. A rigorous evaluation, using a random-assignment design, showed that Career Academies boosted the earnings of participants by a sizable 11 percent in the eight years after graduation, with especially strong gains among young men. Moreover, the findings demonstrate the […] The post Using Career Academies to help disadvantaged students: An inter...
Evidence-based policies that improve early-life health and wellbeing: An interview with Janet Currie, Professor, Princeton University – Episode #75
February 08, 2015 18:07 - 13.1 MBWhat early-childhood interventions have been shown by rigorous research to have lasting impacts on people’s health and wellbeing? To explore that question, we’re joined by Janet Currie, a leading expert on early-childhood interventions, including Head Start. She is a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and the director of Princeton’s Center for Health […] The post Evidence-based policies that improve early-life health and wellbeing: An interview with Janet Curr...
Public sector innovation teams around the world: An interview with Jo Casebourne, Director of Public and Social Innovation, NESTA – Episode #74
January 30, 2015 08:07 - 10.7 MBHow can city, regional or national governments use innovation initiatives – teams, units or funds – to catalyze innovation in the public sector? To gain insights into that question, we’re joined by Jo Casebourne (@jocasebourne), the Director of Public and Social Innovation at NESTA, the British innovation nonprofit. A recent report by NESTA and Bloomberg Philanthropies, called i-teams, presents case […] The post Public sector innovation teams around the world: An interview with Jo Casebourn...
Strategies to turn around a city government: An interview with Andy Kopplin, First Deputy Mayor and Chief Administrative Officer, City of New Orleans – Episode #73
January 19, 2015 22:28 - 17.3 MBIn 2010, when Mayor Mitch Landrieu took office, New Orleans faced many serious challenges, including the highest murder rate, widespread blight and a dysfunctional city government. Four years later, the city has undergone a remarkable turnaround, with a new culture of results-focused and data-driven government that emphasizes establishing clear strategies, setting specific goals and tracking those goals with data-driven “stat” (aka […] The post Strategies to turn around a city government: A...
Creating a results focused city government: An interview with Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville, Kentucky – Episode #72
January 10, 2015 22:20 - 10.3 MBMayor Greg Fischer (@louisvillemayor) of Louisville, Kentucky joins us to talk about creating a city government culture that is data driven and results focused. He is a former businessman and entrepreneur who was first elected mayor in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. He was named a “Public Official of the Year” by Governing Magazine in […] The post Creating a results focused city government: An interview with Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville, Kentucky – Episode #72 appeared first on Gov In...
Improving education outcomes through innovative low-cost interventions, such as texting: An interview with Benjamin Castleman, Professor, University of Virginia – Episode #71
January 08, 2015 07:54How can school district leaders, or other state and local education leaders, strengthen student outcomes through innovative low-cost interventions, such as through text messages? To gain insights, we’re joined by Benjamin Castleman (@BenCastleman), a professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on how behavioral economics and social psychology can […] The post Improving education outcomes through innovative low-cost interventions, such as text...
The federal evidence agenda & lessons for state/local leaders: An interview with Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution – Episode #70
January 02, 2015 10:03What are the key themes of the Obama Administration’s evidence-based policy agenda around grant making and what can state and local leaders learn from those efforts to strengthen the use of evidence in their own jurisdictions? We get perspective on those questions from Ron Haskins, the author (with Greg Margolis) of Show Me the Evidence: Obama’s Fight for Rigor and […] The post The federal evidence agenda & lessons for state/local leaders: An interview with Ron Haskins, Senior Fellow, The B...