Publications

Introduction Small and medium businesses (SMBs) contribute significantly to the global economy. According to the World Bank, SMBs represent 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. In addition, SMB ownership helps facilitate upward social mobility by building wealth and assets. However, even though the financial gain of owning a business is high, […]

Abstract Background Despite the significant relationship between life satisfaction and education, less is known about the connection between life satisfaction and informal learning in the context of training and apprenticeship programs. This paper examines the influence of the LaunchCode program, a novel training and apprentice program in STEM, on participant’s life satisfaction and optimism. We […]

By Katie Ragsdale, Katie Kristensen, Dr. Leah Hamilton, and Dr. Latrice Rollins The Social Policy Institute (SPI) seeks to shift to a participatory approach throughout its research and programming. Our working definition of a participatory approach draws on the theory and practice of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). While CBPR is not always feasible or appropriate […]

By Katie Ragsdale & Katie Kristensen At the Social Policy Institute (SPI), we are deeply committed to fostering inclusive and impactful policy research. We recognize that the traditional top-down approach to policymaking often neglects the voices and experiences of communities and stakeholders most impacted by the problem at hand. Over the past two years, we […]

2023 FRAC Research Brief Abstract The 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) showed a clear path to dramatically cutting hunger and poverty — the central root cause of hunger — among households with children. These essential benefits for children and their families were lost when the CTC expired in December 2021. This brief provides key […]