Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab
Author(s)
Jon Stone
Media Relations Manager
Lab to be housed at the Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise
Gov. John Hickenlooper and Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne today announced the launch of the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab (CEAL), an innovative government-research partnership that will be housed at the Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise at the University of Denver. CEAL will work with state officials to evaluate public policies, design improvements to existing programs, and pilot new interventions intended to benefit Colorado residents.
Funding for CEAL is provided through a $4.5 million grant from the Houston-based Laura and John Arnold Foundation.
The lab is part of the Hickenlooper Administration’s ongoing effort to make the Colorado state government more effective and to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely. CEAL is modeled after other “policy labs” in various regions across the country, including California, Washington, D.C., Michigan, Rhode Island, and Houston, Texas. Policy labs are government-research partnerships that seek to integrate evaluation into policymaking by pairing experienced researchers with state and local officials in order to study problems and scale proven solutions.
“The lab is the first program of its kind in Colorado,” Hickenlooper said. “We owe it to the citizens of our state to ensure that the programs we undertake not only deliver on what they set out to do but that they are high quality, measured and push for improvement.”
CEAL will put Colorado at the forefront of a movement to implement an evidence-based approach to governing in order to make progress on key issues. Colorado and other states across the country face significant challenges in promoting the wellbeing of citizens and communities. Public agencies and service providers often do not have the resources or capacity to conduct rigorous data analysis and research studies on their own, and as result, we don’t know enough about what works, for whom, and why.
Chancellor Rebecca Chopp
Chancellor Rebecca Chopp addresses reporters at the Colorado State Capitol, introducing the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab
David Miller
David Miller, Executive Director of the Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise addresses reporters while Gov. Hickenlooper looks on
Governor John Hickenlooper
Gov. Hickenlooper addresses the crowd. Pictured L-R: Lieutenant Governor Donna Lynne, Chancellor Rebecca Chopp and Laura Barton