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 […]
Tag: Social Policy Institute
Celebrating the Inclusive Growth in St. Louis Advisory Committee
After an incredible 18-month engagement and 6-part event series, the Social Policy Institute and the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth honored the Inclusive Growth in St. Louis advisory committee on Dec. 7, 2021, at Justine Petersen’s Greencubator.
Activating Inclusive Growth in St. Louis
On Dec. 9, 2021, we learned how to influence policy and collaborate with like-minded people to activate change in our last Inclusive Growth in St. Louis event. After a year of events investigating why economic growth in St. Louis benefits some groups of people more than others and how we can change systems to support […]
Embracing Inclusive Leadership
Join us at 12:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, Sept. 23 for an event discussing strategies to create inclusive leadership.
Investing in Inclusive Neighborhoods
Join us virtually for Investing in Inclusive Neighborhoods, 12:30-2:00 p.m. (CT) on July 14 and 15, to explore strategies for community driven, place-based investments that support equitable housing valuations and small/minority-owned business growth that leads to long-term wealth.
Creating Inclusive Access to Education, Training & Technology
Watch recording from Feb. 10-11 event, Creating Inclusive Access to Education, Training & Technology, a discussion about the opportunities to create inclusive access to education, training & technology for under-represented populations in St. Louis.
A Message from the Director
As we are opening a near year, we are also experiencing the tragedy of the violence at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It was a sad day in our nation’s history and highlights the ever-widening divisions within the country. Despite the shocking and unprecedented moment in American history, Congressional leaders were undeterred and […]
A different dialogue: Lifting up community voices
By: Sarah Cowart, communications manager for Social Policy Institute; Pamela Chan, associate director for Social Policy Institute, and Daniel Barker, director of research and knowledge, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth If you attended “Building an Inclusive Economy” on October 7 with the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis (SPI) and Mastercard Center […]
Women in St. Louis worry about their careers as they step back to care for their families (Links to an external site)
St. Louis Public Radio highlighted survey results from Social Policy Institute’s Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey in the U.S. to elevate evidence that child care concerns are driving job losses and the ability to return to work during the pandemic. Atia Thurman, associate director from the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at Washington University added commentary about policy solutions.
Supporting Inclusive Households in Building Financial Security
Join us virtually for Supporting Inclusive Households in Building Financial Security, 12:30-2:00 p.m. (CT) on Dec. 10, 2020, for a discussion about the opportunities to equitably support the financial situations of households.
Challenges and Opportunities in Developing Child Savings Programs in Israel and Uganda: Oct. 15
From 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (CT) on Oct. 15, join the Social Policy Institute (SPI), the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD), and the Next Age Institute (NAI) for a discussion about asset building for long-term child development and CSA programs—with the particular focus on CSAs in Israel and Uganda, which differ greatly in their structure.
CityStudioSTL faculty course grant in partnership with SPI (Links to an external site)
The Sam Fox School and the Social Policy Institute at Washington University have awarded their first joint CityStudioSTL Faculty Course Grant to associate professor Catalina Freixas.
SPI researchers win top awards for papers at ACCI Conference
Yingying Zeng, Mathieu Despard, and Sophia Fox-Dichter received the National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) Paper Award for their paper “Workplace Financial Counseling: Credit Outcomes Among Lower-Paid, Entry-Level Workers”.
Stephen P. Roll, Blair D. Russell, Dana C. Perantie, and Michal Grinstein-Weiss received the JCA Best Article of the Year for their paper “Encouraging Tax‐Time Savings with a Low‐Touch, Large‐Scale Intervention: Evidence from the Refund to Savings Experiment”.
SPI program manager Brinda Gupta appears on Humans of St. Louis (Links to an external site)
Brinda speaks on her experience of working at SPI and especially her relationship with her mentor and SPI director Michael Grinstein-Weiss.
Class of 2020 SPI staff graduate!
Congratulations to all the SPI staff who just graduated from the class of 2020!
What COVID-19 is Telling us About our “Swiss Cheese” Economy, Financial Fragility, and Public Health (Links to an external site)
Mat Despard, SPI research, writes about how he and his colleagues will use surveys to learn about the economic impacts of COVID-19 and how these impacts may vary by race, household income, assets, and debt, employment status and industry, and place.
Financial inclusion to help mitigate the economic consequences of COVID-19 (Links to an external site)
Mat Despard, SPI research, writes about policy changes that will help households better cope with the economic fallout of COVID-19 and be better prepared for future catastrophic events.
Social Policy Institute, McDonnell International Scholars Academy award $10,000 seed grants to three research proposals
Social Policy Institute and McDonnell International Scholars Academy have jointly announced the selection of three international policy-focused proposals to receive $10,000 seed grants following a call for proposals in September 2019. The selected proposals will develop research that fosters international collaboration on policy projects and includes faculty from both Washington University and an international university.
How Do the Lives of Participants in a Housing Mobility Program Change after They Move? A Case Study of the Mobility Connection Program
This brief outlines the results of an assessment of Mobility Connection, a housing mobility program in St. Louis, Missouri. Mobility Connection is administered through Ascend STL and this assessment was conducted in partnership with the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis. Our research focused on answering the following questions: How do Mobility […]