About

A New Model for Building Solutions

The world’s biggest social problems are complex, multi-faceted, and stubborn. They also demand and deserve innovative, effective solutions.

No academic center or government can solve issues like economic inequality, pandemic response, or political polarization alone. We need community leaders, policymakers, and social scientists – equipped with varied skills and experience – to co-create fresh insights, evidence, and action.

Stanford Impact Labs (SIL) aims to serve that need by investing in highly-motivated teams of government, business, and nonprofit partners working in tandem with solutions-driven scholars.

We call these teams impact labs.

How We Work 

• We find, train, and invest in scholars from across the university motivated to use their talents to effect change at the local, national, and global level.
• We support and equip impact labs (scholars paired with government, business, nonprofit, and philanthropic entities) working to create and test scalable solutions to pressing social problems.
• By providing financial capital, professional training, thought partnership, and mentoring, we help turn evidence and experience into purposeful work that benefits society.
• In an effort to create a culture of public impact at Stanford and beyond, we share what works (and what fails) to inspire scholars and practitioners everywhere to co-create just, fair, and equitable societies.