Transforming Evidence Network Holds Inaugural Conference

Event Read time:
Projects: Evidence Project

Sections

  • About
  • Mission & Values
  • How We Work
  • History
  • Celebrating 75 Years
  • Leadership
  • Experts
  • News Room
  • Events
  • Transforming Evidence Network Holds Inaugural Conference
  • Careers
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
  • Accountability
  • Contact Us
  • Partnerships
  • Cookie Policy
  • Current Contract and Grant Opportunities
Transforming Evidence Network Holds Inaugural Conference
Conference attendees socialize on a patio near a pool. Palm trees and a white building with windows are in the background.
The Pew Charitable Trusts

The Transforming Evidence Network (TEN), a global cross-sectoral forum for evidence experts to learn and innovate together, held its inaugural conference Oct. 3-5, 2022, in Miami. The event drew more than 180 attendees, connecting researchers, practitioners, policy professionals, funders, intermediaries, and others across different policy sectors, scholarly disciplines, and countries. Each group provided insight about the science and practice of evidence use. By convening a new community in this way, TEN aims to strengthen the capacity for creating evidence-informed, equitable solutions to societal challenges around the world. TEN is a collaboration of The Pew Charitable Trusts’ evidence project, the William T. Grant Foundation, and the Transforming Evidence initiative.

The event, “Making, Mobilizing, and Using Evidence in Policy and Practice,” featured four plenary sessions.

Below you can find recordings of each.

Opening plenary

Welcome and setting an agenda for the Transforming Evidence Network

Speakers

  • Angela Bednarek, project director, evidence project, The Pew Charitable Trusts
  • Annette Boaz, co-director, Transforming Evidence
  • Kim DuMont, senior vice president of program, William T. Grant Foundation
  • Lauren Supplee, senior program officer (former), William T. Grant Foundation

How can we build durable institutional infrastructure to support evidence use?

Ensuring that evidence is used in policy and practice requires decision-makers to have the capacity, opportunities, and incentives to use it routinely. The panel discusses important characteristics of the institutional architecture (e.g., formalized processes for use of evidence in budgeting or program decisions) needed to support productive and routine evidence use, and how to scale and sustain it.

Speakers

  • Karen Bogenschneider, Rothermel-Bascom professor emerita of human ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
  • Susanna Campbell, associate professor in American University’s School of International Service
  • Harsha Dayal, director of research and knowledge management at the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation within the Presidency of South Africa
  • Moderated by Lauren Supplee, senior program officer (former), William T. Grant Foundation

Engineering evidence use: Mobilization strategies to connect making and using evidence

Mobilization plays a critical role in developing and using evidence. Mobilizing evidence can include packaging it for use, making it easier to access, embedding evidence experts in specific areas (e.g., research fellows in government), and creating connections between individuals and organizations. This panel deliberates about the distinct role of knowledge mobilization, what we know about how and when to employ different strategies, and the specialized skill sets and workforce needed to undertake it effectively.

Speakers

  • Angela Bednarek, project director, evidence project, The Pew Charitable Trusts
  • Fréjus Thoto, executive director, ACED-Benin
  • Alison Bourgon, director general, science policy branch, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
  • Rowena Bermingham, Net Zero Society Foresight policy lead, U.K. Government Office for Science
  • Moderated by Annette Boaz, co-director, Transforming Evidence

Expanding models for evidence production and encouraging systems level changes to generate more useful evidence

This session explored how to expand the ways evidence is produced and how the system for generating evidence can be enhanced to better support its use in policy and practice. Panelists shared different approaches for developing evidence that are/can be useful to decision-makers and the systemic changes that can support and incentivize them.

Speakers

  • Ruth López Turley, professor, Department of Sociology, and director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research, Rice University
  • Rayvon Fouché, division director, Social and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation, and professor of American Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Purdue University
  • Ruth Stewart, director, Africa Centre for Evidence, University of Johannesburg
  • Moderated by Annette Boaz, co-director, Transforming Evidence

Closing plenary session

Panelists reflect on the conference discussions and next steps for the network.

Speakers

  • Erwin Gianchandani, assistant director for technology, innovation, and partnerships, National Science Foundation
  • Angela Bednarek, project director, evidence project, The Pew Charitable Trusts
  • Annette Boaz, co-director, Transforming Evidence
Event
Projects: Evidence Project
Experts: Angela Bednarek
Related Experts
Angela Bednarek
Angela Bednarek Project Director
Evidence Project
America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
MEDIA CONTACT
Esther Berg Officer, Communications 202.552.2283

MORE FROM PEW

A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
A large group of people in formal or traditional attire stands together on a stage, with a digital background depicting marine life and the large text “WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.” WTO Needs to Redouble Its Effort on Fishing Subsidies
A man in a winter hat and sunglasses kneels on a rocky shoreline in front of a campfire, holding a metal mug with gloved hands. Behind him, in the water, a motorboat is moored to the shore. Cliffs rise on both sides of the water. Why Newfoundland’s South Coast Fjords Are Sacred
An illustration of a couple holding hands walking away from an outline of houses behind them Pathways to Homeownership: Housing in America
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.