Blog
Social scientists are producing thousands of studies relevant to policy decisions, and policymakers are making thousands of decisions that would benefit from research evidence. Policymakers prefer to hear directly from researchers about their findings (Scott, 2021), so why is it that a disconnect often exists? What does the science say about how researchers could more […]
We are pleased to announce the newest class of William T. Grant Scholars. Launched in 1982, the Scholars Program supports the professional development of promising researchers in the social, behavioral, and health sciences who have received their terminal degrees within the past seven years. To date, the program has sponsored more than 197 talented researchers. […]
During the COVID pandemic, policy debates about how to address the crisis have often been portrayed as scientific knowledge in competition with political rhetoric for public attention. Yet even in this unprecedented case, rarely has evidence of only a single type been used in policy arguments. Rather scientific research about virus transmission and vaccines has […]
Register Now: “The Institutional Challenge Grant: An Overview of the Program and How to Apply”
Join us on May 17 for an informational webinar, hosted by Senior Program Officer Lauren Supplee, where we will discuss the background and goals of the program, as well as provide an overview of the award, application, and review process. Supplee and Foundation President Adam Gamoran will also field questions from attendees and share practical […]
The newest grants, amounting to nearly $2,000,000, are being awarded to Johns Hopkins University, Northeastern University, and the University of California Santa Cruz. These institutions will work in partnership with local nonprofits or public agencies to address challenges such as youth suicide, youth employment, and educational inequality.
The Foundation hopes to support more solution-oriented research that not only richly theorizes anti-Asian racism but also identifies ways to counter racism, xenophobia, and other forms of oppression.
LGBTQ youth face disproportionate levels of harassment, bullying, depression, and substance abuse compared to non-LBGTQ peers. What is the current evidence on ways to reduce these inequalities and how might new research inform how grantmakers and service providers respond? In this webinar, held on March 17, 2021, we discuss the Foundation’s interest in supporting studies […]
President’s Comment: Combatting Anti-Asian Violence By Confronting the Deep Roots of Racism
Many of us may have hoped that the change in administration in Washington, DC, would have lessened the pervasive climate of hostility and xenophobia that we have experienced in the United States over the past four years. After all, a change in leadership is often regarded as prelude to culture change. Tragically, White supremacy and […]
Hosted by the Foundation and the Forum for Youth Investment on March 11, 2021, this webinar focuses on how concepts such as the perceived objective nature of evidence, the positionality of the researcher in policymaking, and the role of power and politics in the use of research evidence are critical to understand as we study […]
Can a model that supports collaboration between the scientific and policy communities improve the use of research evidence in child and family policymaking?
Reflections from the Reducing Inequality Convening: Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic
When we asked grantees in our reducing inequality focus area what they wanted to talk about at our annual convening in December, COVID-19 was top of mind.
Call for Proposals: Theories of Blackness, Indigeneity, and Racialization in Research to Reduce Inequality in the Lives of Young People
This small, one-time writing fellowship incorporates three components for each participating Writing Fellow: publication of an original chapter in an edited volume, participation in a writing workshop, and presentation of parts of each chapter in a facilitated webinar series. Fellows will receive writing support and editorial feedback, participate in a writing workshop, and present portions […]
Improving the use of research evidence in ways that benefit youth requires clarity not only about what counts as quality evidence, but also what counts as quality use. Surprisingly, the question of what it means to use research evidence well remains largely unexplored, even amid wide-ranging international efforts to strengthen the role of research in […]
We are pleased to announce that the Foundation has awarded five community-based organizations in New York City $25,000 grants to improve the quality of their youth programs. The Youth Service Improvement Grants (YSIG) program supports activities to improve the quality of direct services for young people ages 5 to 25 in the five boroughs of […]
We are proud to announce four new research grants, including three to support studies on reducing inequality in youth outcomes and one to support a study on improving the use of research evidence. Approved at the Foundation’s fall Board meeting, these grants will build theory and empirical evidence in our two focus areas. The next […]