Leveraging Evidence for Policy at the Local Level

This week, eleven staff members from seven local governments across California are gathering at Stanford University to launch their Evidence for Policy Fellowships. Over the course of the year-long program, fellows will learn frameworks to understand, collect, analyze, and make decisions based on evidence, as they work to move the needle on social mobility and economic opportunity in their communities. Stanford Impact Labs is pleased to welcome the 2025 cohort: 

• Julissa Acosta and Karen Decker, City of Half Moon Bay: Developing sustainable approaches to economic development programming for entrepreneurs, job seekers, and small business owners.

• José García and Lauren Hancock, City of Palm Desert: Analyzing community needs to develop and pilot a portfolio of library programs that support workforce and economic development goals.

• David Franz and Rebecca Bernal, City of Shafter: Building data infrastructure to link Library and Learning Center activities, to deliver more effective and targeted literacy programming.

• Devin Stenhouse, City of South San Francisco: Designing and building evaluation capacity for a locally-based child savings accounts program.

• Alexis Costales and Mario Anaya, City of Tulare: Designing policy approaches that stimulate multifamily housing development for moderate to low-income households, in service of the City’s Housing Element implementation.

• Vanessa Mininger, Merced County: Leveraging data to drive approaches to increase access to childcare, particularly in underserved rural communities, and evaluating the effectiveness of pilot programs

• Andy Carter, Tuolumne County Transportation Council: Building the systems and processes for transportation data transparency, to inform decision-making, improve service delivery, and strengthen public trust.

Over the coming year, fellows will develop pilot programs and evaluate the effectiveness of library services (both for literacy and workforce development); design approaches to child savings accounts; plan for the implementation of major initiatives in housing, early childhood education, and economic development; and build the infrastructure for data transparency in transportation planning. Fellows will conduct discovery and landscape research, learn strategies for effective data collection and analysis, build evaluation skills, and develop their data storytelling and visualization skills. 

Amanda Graor and Michelle Skoor will return as members of the Evidence for Policy team, after supporting last year’s cohort with their expertise. Together, we will facilitate workshops, lead virtual trainings, develop new curricular modules to reflect the growing applications of AI in government, and provide support and technical assistance to fellows over the coming year.

This program, designed to benefit cities and counties in California that may not have had the opportunity to participate in other evidence-driven policy programs, seeks to bring the researcher mindset to career local government staff working on the front lines to make positive change in their communities. Leveraging data and evidence can help jurisdictions design new programs, enhance connection with residents, and evaluate and improve the effectiveness of services. Similarly, supporting leaders to develop these skills can drive towards a culture of learning in local government. In the video below, last year's cohort of Evidence for Policy fellows share how these approaches benefit both their work and their communities.