institute of policy analysis and research kenya

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) is an autonomous public institute that was established in May 1997 through a Legal Notice and commenced operations in June 1999. The Institute is thus an autonomous Think Tank established under an Act of Parliament.

The Institute undertakes the following activities

Conducts objective research and analysis on public policy issues with the goal of providing advice to policy makers. Provides advisory and technical services on public policy issues to the Government, government agencies, and other stakeholders. Collects and analyses relevant data on public policy and disseminates its research findings to a wide range of stakeholders through workshops/conferences, internal seminars, research papers, policy briefs, a newsletter, and the Kenya Economic Report. Develops and maintains research resources and databases on public policy and related issues, and avails these to the Government, the private sector and academic institutions. Undertakes contracted public policy research and analysis for the government and clients from the private sector. Undertakes capacity building activities for government and private sector officers. Serves as a point of contact and encourages exchange of views between the Government, private sector and other civil society.

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Kenya’s cost of living crisis: expert unpacks what’s driving it and what should be done

Adan Shibia , The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

Kenya and South Africa are working to address trade barriers: where to start

XN Iraki , University of Nairobi and Paul Odhiambo , The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

How Nairobi police failures let people get away with murder

Douglas Lucas Kivoi , The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

Boda bodas are critical to Kenya’s transport system. But they’ve gone rogue

Kenya has tried to reform its police force, but it’s left gaps for abuse

Why violence is a hallmark of Kenyan policing. And what needs to change

Senior Policy Analyst, The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

Principal Policy Analyst, Governance Department, The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

Foreign Policy Analyst, The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

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KIPPRA and IDinsight to advance evidence-based policymaking in Kenya

IDinsight will work with the Kenyan Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis to achieve Kenya’s national development goals through data-driven policies.

Dr. Frida Njogu-Ndongwe, IDinsight East Africa Regional Director (left) and Dr. Rose Ngugi, KIPPRA Executive Director (right), persent the MOU solidifying their partnership to inform public policy.”

2 November 2021 –  IDinsight and The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) announce today that they have signed an MOU to solidify their partnership in contributing to the achievement of Kenya’s national development goals through evidence-informed public policy. The MOU signing took place on October 15.

As part of this partnership, KIPPRA and IDinsight ​​will undertake joint research and evaluations in underserved areas of interest including public finance management and programs empowering women, girls, and persons with disabilities. The research generated through this partnership will inform government institutions and their development of national policies. Together KIPPRA and IDinsight will bring data-driven approaches including machine learning and rapid, rigorous surveys to inform the government’s Public Policy Making Process (PPMP). KIPPRA and IDinsight will jointly hold technical and policy workshops to disseminate research and evaluation findings as well as organize policy seminars and conferences. 

We look forward to this partnership with IDinsight and are excited for the opportunity to jointly conduct evaluations and research that will further inform policy decisions across the country. KIPPRA is committed to Kenya’s national development goals and will continue to provide relevant support to the country’s decision-makers. – Dr. Rose Ngugi, Executive Director, KIPPRA 

We are excited to formalize our engagement with KIPPRA. KIPPRA has a great track record of contributing to Kenya’s development by providing policy advice to the government at national and sub-national levels. IDinsight will bring our expertise in data and evidence, cutting-edge tools, and tailored support to work with KIPPRA to support government institutions. – Frida Njogu-Ndongwe, East Africa Regional Director, IDinsight

About KIPPRA

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis is an autonomous public think tank  that provides the Government of Kenya and its stakeholders with quality policy advice in order  to contribute to national development goals. KIPPRA undertakes research, policy advice and  policy-related capacity building.

About IDinsight

IDinsight is a mission-driven global advisory, data analytics, and research organization that helps global development leaders maximize their social impact. We tailor a wide range of data and evidence tools, including randomized evaluations and machine learning, to help decision-makers design effective programs and rigorously test what works to support communities. We work with governments, multilateral agencies, foundations, and innovative non-profit organizations in Asia and Africa. We work across a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, education, health, governance, sanitation, and financial inclusion. We have offices in Dakar, Lusaka, Manila, Nairobi, New Delhi, Rabat and the US.

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Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) is an autonomous public institution that was established in May 1997 through a Legal Notice and commenced operations in June 1999.

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) is an autonomous public institute that was established in May 1997 through a Legal Notice and commenced operations in June 1999. In January 2007,His Excellency the President signed the KIPPRA Bill into law and the KIPPRA Act No. 15 of 2006 commenced on 1st February 2007.The Institute is thus an autonomous Think Tank established under an Act of Parliament.

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• Core Competence: Economic Policy Analysis and Management

KIPPRA was established with the broad objective to develop human and institutional capacities for policy analysis and research, economic forecasting and formulation of medium and long term perspectives for economic and social development of Kenya.  

With the support of its donors over the last 10 years, KIPPRA has become a well-established and respected public policy research institute in Kenya. The Institute has not only become a major player in the country‟s public policy arena but has had impact in the region. Moreover, KIPPRA has strengthened its long term sustainability by building a strong brand name and reputation; attracting more funds for research and new donors; consolidating its legal status through the KIPPRA Act No. 15 of 2006; strengthening governance structures and embarking on the process of developing a campus. KIPPRA has contributed to successful policy blueprints such as the Kenya Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation 2003-2007 that saw the rate of economic growth accelerate from 0.6% in 2002 to 7.1% in 2007, and the Kenya Vision 2030: A Globally Competitive and Prosperous Kenya . In addition, the Institute used ACBF Phase II support to start research and policy analysis in new areas such as climate change, energy, and social protection. KIPPRA is now recognized as the leading research institute on energy issues in the country and is also collaborating with international institutes such as Institute of Development Studies (IDS)at the University of Sussex on how public policy process regarding climate change could be improved. 

The goal is to support Government of Kenya’s efforts in policy analysis and formulation towards  national economic development.  The main premises that led to the identification and development of previous phases of KIPPRA  project remain valid. ACBF has supported KIPPRA since it started operations in June 1999. The  first phase of ACBF support saw KIPPRA get on its feet and find a niche in the public policy process in Kenya. The second phase support had the impact of strengthening the capacity of KIPPRA and enabling the Institute to entrench itself in Kenya‟s public policy process. The proposed phase III intervention is intended to assist KIPPRA enabling the Institute to consolidate support to the stakeholders and to attain long-term sustainability required for the achievement of its mandate.

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ACBF has been granted the status of a specialized agency because of the potential to transform Africa through capacity development.

The recognition of ACBF as the African Union’s Specialized Agency for Capacity Development launches the beginning of a new era for capacity building by ACBF, which will require an appropriate level of political commitment and financial support from all stakeholders.

The remarkable achievements ACBF has registered over the past 26 years is not by accident in our opinion. They have come through hard work, dedication, commitment, purposeful leadership, support from the member countries as well as productive partnership building.

Africa needs ACBF as much, probably more now, than at the time it was created in 1991.

Ghana’s partnership with ACBF is a tremendous blessing for us and therefore the opportunity for Ghana to host the 26th ACBF Board of Governors Meeting is something that we treasure.

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How IFPRI, CGIAR and the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis Share Capacity

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How can inflation be lowered, and more better-paying jobs be created? How can necessary public investments be funded and prioritized? By raising taxes and looking for external funding sources? Such questions are high on people’s and policy makers minds in Kenya and taking appropriate decisions and explaining their rationale to people is not always easy. Science can play an important role in decision-making by quantifying expected impacts of policies and evaluating existing programs.

In order to promote the role of science in policy making, the CGIAR Initiative on National Policies and Strategies (NPS) shares analytical capacity and tools with national research institutions and partners. In Kenya, one of NPS’ main partners is the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), which has the overall mission “to provide quality public policy advice to the Government of Kenya by conducting objective research and analysis and through capacity building”.

Mawia, Harriet; Kassim, Yumna; Breisinger, Clemens; Karachiwalla, Naureen; Mockshell, Jonathan; and Go, Ara.

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Institute of Policy Analysis and Research

Our records indicate this think tank may no longer be operational.

IPAR's vision is to become a national center of excellence offering constructive policy ideas to the government of Kenya and its development partners in order to increase welfare. The mission of the institute is to strengthen the national capacity to develop, implement and evaluate public policy by undertaking independent policy analysis and research, and by sharing the results with Kenya and its development partners. IPAR also seeks to serve as a resource center by offering technical, research and informational support for national development. To these ends, it provides objective, data-based findings and articulates them at forums nationally and elsewhere for the benefit of interested parties, including the government, NGOs, the private sector and the donor community. Through its competitive internship program, the institute has become a major contributor to capacity building for young professionals seeking career development in policy research and analysis within government, private organizations and other institutions.

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2024/2025 Kippra Self-sponsored Young Professionals Programme

• Job Type Contract
• Qualification MBA/MSc/MA
• Location Nairobi
• Job Field Data, Business Analysis and AI   , Graduate Jobs  

Job Description

In line with The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)’s mandate of developing human and institutional capacities to formulate medium and long-term strategic perspectives for national development, KIPPRA runs a flagship programme christened Young Professionals (YP). The Institute is therefore inviting applications to fill  ten (10) self/institution-sponsored vacant positions.  The programme is physical and rigorous. It includes both coursework and publication of various research outputs. Areas of coursework include the public policy-making process, Introduction to the legislative process, applied research methods, Tools for policy analysis, Governance structures in a Devolved system of Government, Monitoring and Evaluation, Macroeconomic Modeling and Forecasting, Systems of National Accounts and Introduction to Social Accounting Matrix (SAM ) . By the end of the programme the participants are expected to publish a number of research outputs.

The objective of the YP Programme is to develop young professionals in the area of public policy research and analysis and offer them an opportunity to gain on-the-job experience, expand their knowledge, leadership skills and build professional networks. Applicants are advised to visit our website:  www.kippra.or.ke  for information on existing departments.

Job Specification

Qualifications for admission to the Programme

For admission into the programme, the following are the  minimum qualifications :

• Master’s Degree;
• Be below 35 years of age;

Competencies

• Have strong analytical problem-solving capabilities and be results-oriented;
• Be computer literate including knowledge in atleast a statistical package (R, STATA, SPSS, E-VIEWS);
• Should possess interpersonal and communication skills;
• Be fluent in English;
• Be persons legally living in the country at the time of participating in the programme

Method of Application

• DO NOT  indicate the preferred department for placement.
• INCOMPLETE  applications will not be considered.
• KIPPRA will  NOT  guarantee employment upon completion of the programme.
• Once a successful candidate joins this programme, they  MUST  complete it within the stipulated fixed period of (1) one year.
• Successful applicants  will be required to  pay in full Ksh. 207,146  before being admitted into the programme.  

Applicants are requested to submit a cover letter, CV, copies of certificates & testimonials, and duly filled personal data form which can be downloaded from the Institute’s website All applications must be submitted in soft copies only through the recruitment portal accessible via  https://recruitment.kippra.or.ke/ . Hard-copy applications will  NOT  be accepted. Applicants are advised to indicate in the  subject line  that they  are self-sponsored applicants.  All applications should reach the Institute  on or before Monday 13th May 2024 at 11:59:00 hrs.

Late applications will not be accepted, and  ONLY  shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

All applications to be addressed to: -

The Executive Director,

The Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis,

Upper Hill, Bishop Gardens Towers, 2nd Floor Bishop Road, P.O. Box 56445, Nairobi, 00200 City Square, Tel: 0724256096/0736712724 Nairobi, Kenya.

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Kenya Economic Reports

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Kenya Economic Report 2023 on Cost of Living and the Role of Markets 

Kenya Economic Report 2022 on Building Resilience and Sustainable Economic Development in Kenya 

Kenya Economic Report 2021 on Kenya in the Covid-19 Era: Fast-Tracking Recovery and Delivery of the "Big Four" Agenda 

Kenya Economic Report 2020 on Creating an Enabling Environment for Inclusive Growth in Kenya 

Kenya Economic Report 2019 on Resource Mobilization for Sustainable Development of Kenya 

Kenya Economic Report 2018 on Boosting Investments for Delivery of the Kenya Vision 2030 

Kenya Economic Report 2017 on Sustaining Kenya's Economic Development by Deepening and Expanding Economic Integration in the Region 

Kenya Economic Report 2016 on Fiscal Decentralization in Support of Devolution 

Kenya Economic Report 2015 on Empowering Youth through Decent and Productive Employment 

Kenya Economic Report 2014 on Navigating Global Challenges While Exploiting Opportunities for Sustainable Growth 

Kenya Economic Report 2013 on Creating an Enabling Environment for Stimulating Investment for Competitive and Sustainable Counties 

Kenya Economic Report 2012 on Imperatives for Reducing the Cost of Living in Kenya 

Kenya Economic Report 2011 on Transformative Institutions for Delivering Kenya Vision 2030 

Kenya Economic Report 2010 on Enhancing Sectoral Contribution Towards Reducing Poverty, Unemployment and Inequality in Kenya 

Kenya Economic Report 2009 on Building a Globally Competitive Economy 

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IPRA Highlights

The latest ipra research, news and events, community outreach, featured publications.

The Institute has an exciting array of once-off and regular publications on key development policies, with emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa. The Institute’s publications communicate the analysis, views, and scholarship of their authors and are not intended to reflect an official view of the Institute or the views of members of the Institute’s Board of Trustees

The Institute of Policy Research and Analysis (IPRA), established in 2001, is an independent, not-for-profit research institute dedicated to the advancement of research-based knowledge and applied policy analysis, and training, with a particular emphasis on African countries and on the poorer groups in those countries. The Institute’s work falls into three distinct fields: research for evidence-based policy making; training and capacity building; and advisory services.

Areas of Expertise

Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR)

The Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR) contributes to the evidence base available to policy-makers by conducting and commissioning timely, relevant, high-quality and policy-oriented analysis and research, and by building a documentation centre to manage the knowledge that already exists but is often hard to find.

IPAR also works to develop the skills of the policy community by offering targeted capacity development and training in policy analysis and research to external institutions, including ministries, universities and development partners. The organisation also promotes a culture of debate and dialogue by hosting public events, workshops, seminars, conferences and other discussion forums.

Major achievements

• The establishment of a local think tank that is respected for its research and policy analysis evidenced by the requests we have had to carry out research for official development partners, international NGOs and the Government of Rwanda.
• The carrying out of research and policy analysis in line with the strategic objectives and the publication of the findings in reports, policy briefs, posters and newspaper articles.
• Evidence that the findings from a number of research projects are influencing government thinking and policy.
• The organisation of a number of workshops, roundtables, panel discussions and deliberative forums that have attracted significant interest.
• The establishment of an Economic Policy Research Network.
• The development of partnerships with a number of international organisations for collaborative research and/or capacity building.
• Providing training for academics, government officials, university students and NGOs in research and policy analysis.
• Diversifying funding by securing a number of funded research projects and consultancies from government, official development partners, international NGOs and European research funding.
• Developing a communications and outreach strategy, a web site and a monthly email update distributed to stakeholders via email.
• Completing the organisational structure for professional support, research related and other staff.
• Building internal systems and processes.
• Gained the confidence and trust from core funders and government.
• Ranked among the best emerging think tank worldwide in  2010 by the Global Think Tank Index .

 Notable research projects

The mdg 2010 country update report.

This report was commissioned by UNDP and provided the first analysis of inequalities with respect to the MDGs as well as an evaluation of the potential for Rwanda to achieve the targets by 2015. The findings were influential in President Paul Kagame being invited to co-chair one of the committees at the MDG Summit in 2010. This report included an analysis of the impact of the economic downturn and climate change on Rwanda.

Household enterprises

This research was commissioned by the World Bank. The findings have led to the government rethinking its definition of enterprises and recognising the need to explicitly incorporate household enterprises in its private sector development. The development of household enterprises will be essential if the estimated 125,000 new labour market entrants each year are to be absorbed into productive work. Government has considered this in The Economic Development and Poverty Reduction 2 (EDPR2).

East African Taxation Project: Rwanda Case Study.

This project was commissioned by Action Aid Rwanda, and considered the role of tax incentives in supporting Rwanda achieve its development goals. As a result of the findings and recommendations the government is debating its policy on tax incentives and the investment code is being revised.

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Policy research and policy analysis : an exploration of principles and practice in Kenya

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INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH

Faculty spotlight: olga kamenchuk.

Studying the intersection of political psychology, public opinion, and policy analysis with a focus on Eastern Europe

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I'm interested in the way people process and understand information, including manipulations of information.”

Olga Kamenchuk IPR associate research professor

After graduating college in the late 1990s, Olga Kamenchuk worked as a journalist at a local radio and TV station in Ivanovo, Russia. At the time, the press was relatively free under President Boris Yeltsin, the first popularly elected Russian president.

After leaving journalism, Kamenchuk watched the country shift toward authoritarianism over the years under Yeltsin’s successor Vladimir Putin. The government began to regulate the internet, while people self-censored themselves out of fear or went to jail for what they posted on social media. 

“The way I remember it [Russia] was very far from that,” Kamenchuk said, looking back at the changes in the country over the last several decades.

Kamenchuk, an associate research professor in Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research and an associate professor of instruction in the School of Communication, now studies public opinion and political psychology with a focus on Eastern Europe.

“That's one thing that interests me as a researcher—authoritarian countries—as well as authoritarian backsliding in new democracies or democracies in general,” Kamenchuk said.

After getting her PhD in psychology in the United States, research has always been a part of her various roles in academia, think tanks, intergovernmental organizations, and NGOs both in Europe and the U.S. Along with conducting research, she would often present it to the media. 

“I'm interested in the way people process and understand information, including manipulations of information,” she said.

Using Public Opinion to Bridge Divides

Feb. 24, 2024, marked the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—a war which many Ukrainians see as beginning in 2014 with Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Since 2022, over half a million people from both countries have died, according to U.S. officials, and an estimated 10 million Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes.  

One of Kamenchuk’s new research projects is investigating how Ukrainians and Russians see one other and how they believe the conflict should be resolved. She and her colleagues are conducting surveys and analyzing media sources and social media posts from both countries to understand each group’s attitudes toward the other. While she started this project before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she points to the impact the war has had on it.  

“I think the war made it more even more important to see what might be distancing people [from one another],” she said.

For Kamenchuk, this research is personal. She’s ethnically Ukrainian, spent summers in Ukraine growing up, and has relatives in Ukraine and Russia—giving her insights into both sides of the conflict. Learning how Ukrainians and Russians see one another could be crucial to drive policy that could bring a resolution to the war.

“It's very interesting to me to look at the future,” Kamenchuk said. “If we can help policymakers to find some kind of management or potential solutions to such horrible conflicts and perceptions and the way people feel about each other—this is something that interests me.”

One of the challenges of collecting traditional survey data in a conflict zone is that many Ukrainians are now refugees, either internally or in other countries. This has made using computational methods to analyze social media datasets critical to help control for changes in Ukraine’s population.

Ayse Lokmanoglu, professor of communication at Clemson University and a former postdoctoral fellow at Northwestern, is currently working with Kamenchuk on this research. Lokmanoglu says Kamenchuk’s regional expertise and understanding of international policy are an asset to her as a researcher, but her curiosity makes her unique.  

“I think she has a natural curiosity that every researcher says they have, but she actually has,” Lokmanoglu said. “Her curiosity drives the project to be better.” 

Investigating How Emotions Drive Behavior

After Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Russians fled the country and the ones who stayed experienced crackdowns by the Russian government for expressing their disapproval of the war. But this was part of a long history of Russian censorship.

Another line of Kamenchuk’s research focuses on political psychology and how emotions drive the success of state-sponsored disinformation. To understand how people respond to these kinds of restrictions, Kamenchuk and communication and policy scholar and IPR associate Erik Nisbet , who are married, conducted a study before the war in 2018 to explore how Russians perceive and respond to the risk of online activism.

Their research shows that Russians used their emotions more than reason when calculating the risk of engaging in political activism online. How much a person cared about the issue also mattered—people who felt strongly about a topic were the most likely to engage in online activism.

“We noticed that this relationship between emotions and political expression can be very different, depending on how informed are people on the topics that can be deemed controversial,” she said.

This research has broader implications beyond Russia, Kamenchuk says, in terms of how we understand why democracies backslide and what has worked to stop countries from sliding into autocracy.  

“Can we do much in Russia? I'm not sure, honestly, at this point,” Kamenchuk said. “But can we do something in those countries, which have been democracies or are still democracies, but seem to be backsliding? That's where we might do something. 

In a 2021 study looking at how Russians responded to state-sponsored misinformation about COVID-19, Kamenchuk and Nisbet coined the term “informational learned helplessness” to describe the fatigue people feel when they have been exposed to repeated false and misleading information and they give up trying to figure out the truth.

“People can feel helpless, trying to make sense of what they're seeing around themselves,” she said, explaining that they eventually stop trying to determine fact from fiction.

Technology can play an important role in empowering people to spot misinformation, Kamenchuk says, pointing to a large-scale "pre-bunking" campaign by Google’s Jigsaw against misinformation about Ukrainian refugees. In 2022, Jigsaw launched a series of social media videos in European countries such as Poland,  Slovakia, and the Czech Republic  to tackle emerging misinformation with anti-refugee narratives. 

"These methods can incorporate digital engagement for societal resilience,” she said.

Olga Kamenchuk is an associate professor of instruction in the School of Communication, an IPR associate research professor, and an IPR associate.

Published: April 17, 2024.

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Careers Research Assistant – State Policy and Research/EARN at EPI 

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The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the nation’s leading progressive economic think tank, is seeking a Research Assistant (RA) who is highly organized, detail-oriented, adaptable, and can gather, understand, analyze, and compellingly present a wide variety of economic data. This entry-level position will support the research and writing of EPI’s researchers and policy experts, provide programmatic support for the State Policy and Research team, and assist EPI’s national network of state and local policy groups—the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN)—with data, research, and technical assistance.

About the Economic Analysis and Research Network (EARN) : EARN is a nationwide network of state-based research, policy, and advocacy organizations advancing an inclusive, equitable, worker-centered economy through state and local policy change. The network consists of 56 organizations in 44 states and the District of Columbia. EARN groups conduct research, provide data analysis, and develop and advocate for state and local economic policies that raise wages, improve workplace benefits, support families, and advance economic, racial, and gender equity.

Besides competitive pay and excellent benefits (detailed below), EPI RAs receive extensive training in data management, programming, and content management systems. RAs on the State Policy and Research team work on a wide range of issues, including state labor markets (wages, employment, unemployment), workplace policies and supports (minimum wages, paid leave, unemployment insurance), economic development, unions and worker power, economic impacts of structural racism, and racial and gender-pay inequities. EPI RAs regularly go on to attend competitive graduate programs in economics, political science, public policy and law. In short, the EPI RA position is one of the best launching pads in the D.C. policymaking ecosystem to begin a career using in economic policy research from a progressive perspective.

This position is based in Washington, DC. EPI is a hybrid workplace with attendance in our Washington, D.C., office required at least two days per week (currently Tuesday and Wednesday). 

What You Will Do

• Support the research, data analysis, and technical assistance needs of EPI/EARN’s projects, campaigns, and state partners. 
• Collect, analyze, and produce visualizations of a variety of economic data for use in EARN and EPI publications, presentations, and online tools
• Produce tables, figures, literature reviews, and research summaries with meticulous documentation of methods, data, and processes 
• Co-author and assist in the production of reports, issue briefs, blog posts, resource packets, presentations, and other materials by EPI and EARN member organization staff 
• Assist in reviewing, editing, and fact-checking materials from both internal and external authors 
• Help develop and maintain state-level data packages and tools for EARN state groups 
• Provide technical assistance to EARN’s state and local partners, in consultation with other EPI staff 
• Produce custom statistics and data sets for EARN members to use in their analyses and advocacy.
• Update and maintain EARN data packages and tools 
• Assist in the management of EARN’s online resources, including the EARN website and listserv.
• Support the State Policy and Research team’s programmatic needs: helping to manage projects, drafting strategy documents and memos, helping facilitate webinars and meetings, and assisting the team’s State Policy Strategists as they plan, organize, and facilitate cross-state work among EARN member groups. 
• Attend meetings and conferences to represent EPI and EARN, as needed, and prepare short memos summarizing the key events that took place. 
• Help to plan and staff EARNCon, EARN’s annual conference for state partners and allies, as well as other network events.
• Assist in the training of new EPI/EARN Research Assistants, interns, and new EARN member staff. 
• Other duties as assigned. 

Who You Are

We do not expect that every candidate will have this full range of experience, but the following qualities and experience are highly desirable:

• A bachelor’s degree in economics, math, or other related social science field (e.g., public policy or political science) with strong quantitative skills 
• Experience with and demonstrated commitment to economic justice, worker power and collective bargaining, and racial and gender equity 
• A love of learning and a desire to explore a diverse set of economic, gender, and racial justice policy issues 
• Training and experience with analysis of microdata, including the use of statistical software such as Stata, or R
• Familiarity with labor market and microeconomic survey data
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and ability to create materials for a wide range of audiences
• Facility with the Microsoft Office Suite, with expertise in Excel. Knowledge of WordPress, Highcharts, and/or GIS a bonus. 
• Self-motivated and able to work independently, but also able to collaborate and work as part of a team and with diverse partners 
• Willingness to handle occasional long hours and travel 

Salary and Benefits

EPI is a unionized workplace with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU). This position is the bargaining unit and reports to the Director of State Policy and Research.

The salary for this position ranges from $58,700 to $61,000, dependent on experience, plus benefits.

EPI offers an ​​excellent benefits package, including generous paid time off, a 9.25% employer-provided 401k retirement contribution, partial tuition reimbursement, eight weeks of parental leave, and fully employer-funded medical, vision, dental, short- and long-term disability, and life insurance for individual employees.

This position is based at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. As a condition of employment, EPI requires all staff to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination which meets the guidelines recommended by the CDC. Currently, the CDC recommends that everyone ages five years and older receive 1 dose of updated (2023–2024 Formula) mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

To Apply 

Candidates should send a cover letter highlighting their relevant experience and explaining their interest in working at the Economic Policy Institute, resume, and writing sample to [email protected] with “EARN Research Assistant” in the subject line. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered.

EPI believes that having a diverse and inclusive workplace not only strengthens the institute’s work but is also essential for understanding and creating economic policies that support all working people. We encourage applicants who bring lived experience and nontraditional backgrounds to apply to our positions. 

EPI is an equal opportunity, fair chance, affirmative action employer, committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, military status, prior history of arrest or conviction, citizenship status, caregiver status, or other categories protected by law.

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