How Evidence Becomes Action: Theory of Change
If IWPR:
- Produces high-quality, strategically focused research aligned with funding realities;
- Integrates policy and communications from inception;
- Activates rapid response with discipline; and
- Operates with clear authority, sequencing, and aligned organizational systems and infrastructure; then
IWPR will increase policy influence, strengthen its national thought leadership, build sustainable funding pipelines, and advance economic equity for all women.
In our work, we place an intentional focus on Black women, women of color, gender-expansive people, and others facing multiple forms of marginalization.
From Research to Real World Change
For nearly 40 years, IWPR has helped shape policies that advance women’s economic equity, helping ensure that evidence, not ideology, drives decision-making. Founded in 1987 by feminist economist Dr. Heidi Hartmann, IWPR was created to deliver rigorous, women-centered research capable of challenging assumptions and producing real-world change.
From the start, IWPR’s work has moved gender equity forward. Our early analysis of the economic costs of unpaid caregiving helped lay the groundwork for the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), now a cornerstone of US employment policy. Since then, IWPR has become one of the country’s leading gender equity think tanks, producing highly cited research on the drivers of the gender wage gap, the barriers to careers with family-sustaining wages, the cost of abortion restrictions to the economy, and other issues impacting women’s lives.
IWPR’s experts examine how gender, intersecting with race, class, geography, and age, shapes economic outcomes. Our work not only documents disparities, it delivers actionable solutions designed to inform policy, strengthen advocacy, and support implementation at the federal, state, and local levels.
In moments of disruption and backlash, IWPR’s voice is especially critical. From defining the “she-cession” during the COVID-19 pandemic to documenting the economic consequences of abortion bans and workforce displacement, we ensure women’s experiences, particularly those of Black women and other historically marginalized groups, remain visible, measurable, and impossible to ignore.
IWPR translates evidence into impact. We testify before Congress, educate policymakers, equip advocates and business leaders with data they can use, and shape public narratives through media engagements each year. As the landscape evolves, so does IWPR, expanding how evidence moves through initiatives like the State Policy Action Lab and Advancing Black Women in Leadership, and convenings like our Power+ Summit.
Together, these efforts reflect what IWPR has always done best: connect rigorous research to the people and systems with the power to drive lasting change.
Support IWPR
Now more than ever, IWPR depends on contributors like you to help turn evidence into action. Your support fuels the research and solutions needed to improve the lives of women and families across the country.
