Thank you for being a valued member of the Social Policy Institute community this past year. I am extremely proud of our team—staff, faculty affiliates, funders and community partners—who work so hard to make the world more equitable for everyone. Our mission to make the world more equitable by applying innovative, evidence-based solutions to complex social problems is more important than ever before and your partnership makes our impact possible.
The social crises created by the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated inequalities and required an unprecedented expansion of the social safety net in the U.S. and around the world. In 2022, we will continue to examine and evaluate promising policy and practice solutions to improve the social and economic well-being of households around the world. In the coming months we will release the second Child Tax Credit survey report focused on usage and impact of the credit; evaluation results of the social mobility impact of LaunchCode’s technical re-skilling and apprenticeship program; and analysis of COVID-19’s impact on frontline workers and their financial health. We will continue to produce timely findings in Israel related to the economic impact of COVID-19 as well as vaccination uptake, and we recently partnered with Operation Food Search on a new school breakfast report.
I really enjoyed meeting many of you virtually in 2021 through our yearlong Inclusive Growth in St. Louis event series, led by an advisory committee of local partners. The series inspired SPI to act on what we learned—and I hope it inspired you to do the same. We will continue to partner with organizations in St. Louis to evaluate and scale up promising solutions that lead to equitable policies and growth. We are committed to increasing representation on our staff and research, working directly with communities we serve throughout the research process. And we will continue to support and collaborate with Washington University’s “in St. Louis, for St. Louis” initiative.
We have a lot of work ahead of us, and a lot to be proud of, too. I look forward to continuing to lead this incredible team and partnering with brilliant minds as we work towards a more equitable world. I wish you a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year!
Best,
Michal Grinstein-Weiss
Shanti K. Khinduka Distinguished Professor
Director, Social Policy Institute