Public Policy Commons^™

Evaluating Complex Social Change: Lessons From Ford’S Climate Change Program, Subarna Mathes, Bess Rothenberg, Kelsey Simmons

The Foundation Review

This article offers a detailed account from within the Ford Foundation of what it takes to subject a complex social change strategy to genuine evaluative scrutiny. Drawing on the work of the Foundation’s Office of Strategy and Learning (OSL) and its evaluation of the Natural Resources and Climate Change program, it describes what shifts in strategy and learning were necessary, what was required organizationally, and what changed as a result.

The article delves into the evaluation process itself, including how OSL balanced the needs and perspectives of Ford leadership, program staff, and grantee partners. It shares how OSL centered equity …

Philanthropy And The Climate Crisis: Learning And Evaluation To Drive Decision-Making And Identify Emergent Opportunities, Lindsay Hanson, Rosy Kalfus, Courtney Lee

The Foundation Review

To us, strategic learning is an adaptive approach to using evaluation and other data to directly affect decision-making and action.

An early focus on building relationships and accountability to specific outcomes and values — including establishing baselines and plans for regular reporting and interpretation — laid the groundwork for decision-making in later stages of the Climate Solutions program’s lifecycle.

Increasingly rapid data feedback loops informed the Climate Solutions program’s strategy pivot, decisions, and collaboration with grantees and funder partners.

Engagement in strategic learning and use of evaluation to drive decision-making improved with practice, as illustrated by the Climate Solutions team’s …

More Than The Sum: A Collective Vision For The Future Of Strategy, Monitoring, Impact, Learning And Evaluation (Smile) In Climate Philanthropy, Marta Arranz, Rees Warne, Olivia Deich, Amelia Abdelrazik

The Foundation Review

Organizations funding climate work must learn quickly and make urgent decisions despite uncertainties and low levels of control. Within climate philanthropy, sharing learnings widely and using evidence for decision-making are crucial.

The authors argue the “evaluation” field is both misdefined and underleveraged. In a shift away from accountability and siloed learning within organizations, they propose redefining the evaluation profession as SMILE (Strategy, Monitoring, Impact, Learning, and Evaluation).

After three years of building field-wide learning infrastructure, the authors reflect on the field’s progress and offer recommendations to the climate philanthropy ecosystem.

Climate Breakthrough's Impact And Learning System: A Case Study, Olivia Deich

The Foundation Review

Climate Breakthrough makes one-time, multi-million-dollar, multi-year, flexible grants to climate strategists. The portfolio is collectively aimed at achieving an outsized emissions reduction goal. There are no strategy pillars, and grantees are from across the globe. This model, paired with Climate Breakthrough’s guiding values, opens the door for impact and learning work focused on iteration and learning.

In practice, grantees identify a small set of key performance indicators themselves; they share emissions reduction estimates for their work that are important but not dominant; they have abundant impact and learning resources; and the funder gains a wealth of data from which to …

Feedback Loops In Practice: A Case Study On Evaluating A Climate Collaborative, Mansi Shah, Amy Sherwood, Abbie Turiansky, Drew Koleros, Axum Teferra

The Foundation Review

Philanthropic support to address the climate crisis has grown substantially, yet it remains unclear how effectively philanthropies are learning from their investments, from each other, and from other actors about what generates meaningful impact. Evaluations have come under scrutiny, as conventional approaches often struggle to account for complexity and provide the timely insights needed for adaptive management.

In this article, the authors present the learning journey of a complex, systems-focused climate philanthropy initiative that uses structured feedback loops as an evaluation design. They describe how these loops were implemented over a two-year evaluation; discuss the choice of complexity-aware methods; and …

Spend-Down To Scale Up: Limited-Life Giving In The Climate Crisis, Madeleine C. Mckinnon, Samuel Rogers, David Gunsberg, Emma Mcintosh

The Foundation Review

This article shares first-hand experiences of a charitable foundation operating under a spend-down model, illustrating how a fixed time horizon shapes philanthropic and programmatic behavior. The authors discuss three conditions that a spend-down horizon reliably forces: the imperative to fund quickly, collaboratively, and boldly on shared goals; the discipline to concentrate capital with strategic focus; and the emphasis on learning and collaboration as both a means to optimize for impact now and to sustain and scale impact over the long term.

Authors explore the influence of these conditions in a series of case studies working towards a clean energy transition …

Next Steps In Advancing Pediatric Care In Southern Nevada, The Lincy Institute

Lincy Institute Events

The Lincy Institute released new research evaluating the Southern Nevada pediatric care ecosystem. The report, "An Evaluation of Southern Nevada’s Pediatric Care Ecosystem," offers recommendations to develop a stronger and more coordinated pediatric care ecosystem before the stand-alone children’s hospital being developed by Intermountain Health opens in 2030 and identifies the components of an integrated statewide network to provide all of Nevada’s children with access to high-quality care. The event also featured panel discussions with pediatric care providers and policymakers.

Panel 1 - Pediatric Care Providers

Moderator — Tina Quigley, Project Facilitator, The Lincy Institute

Panelists — Lisa …

An Evaluation Of Southern Nevada’S Pediatric Care Ecosystem, David Damore, Tina Quigley, Nick Fiore

Policy Briefs and Reports

In 2024, The Lincy Institute and the Nevada Health and Bioscience Corporation released a report prepared by the consulting firm Tripp Umbach detailing the case for a stand-alone children’s hospital in Southern Nevada. Shortly thereafter, Intermountain Health announced it would build Nevada’s first such facility in Las Vegas, expected to open in 2030. To complement the hospital’s development, The Lincy Institute undertook an independent evaluation of the regional pediatric care landscape. The analysis draws on secondary data and discussions with advocates, health system administrators, practitioners, and providers. The report examines:

• Fiscal, resource, and workforce challenges underlying Nevada’s poor population-level pediatric …

Politics Of Maritime Security Governance: Institutional Fragmentation, Securitization And Community Engagement In Decentralized Border Area Of Indonesia, Suhirwan Suhirwan, Siswo Hadi Sumantri, Lukman Yudho Prakoso, Ahmad Gafuri Dohamid

Jurnal Wacana Politik

ABSTRACT. Decentralized archipelagic states face governance challenges in translating national security frameworks into localized institutional practices. This paper analyses the formalization of coastal community participation into maritime security governance in Batam, Indonesia through multi-layered political mechanisms. The study uses a qualitative case study design incorporating insights from securitization theory and multi-level governance frameworks. Data were collected between March and July 2025, comprising 18 semi-structured interviews, policy document analysis, mapping of institutional coordination, and field observations. The findings reveal a persistent multi-level securitization gap: national threat narratives, particularly those articulated in terms of sovereignty, have not been proportionally translated into regional …

Developing A Climate-Adaptive Public Service Framework For Sustainable Agriculture: Preliminary Evidence From A Disaster-Prone Village In Indonesia, Susila Susila, Rizky Aditya Surya Pratama, Muhammad Daud Yusuf, Diah Apriliani

Jurnal Wacana Politik

Artikel ini bertujuan mengkaji bagaimana pelayanan publik tingkat desa dapat diintegrasikan dengan Climate-Resilient Agriculture (CRA) untuk mendukung kapasitas adaptasi petani di kawasan rawan bencana hidrometeorologi di Jawa Barat, Indonesia, serta mengidentifikasi dimensi kandidat bagi kerangka Climate-Adaptive Public Service for Sustainable Agriculture (CAPSSA). Menggunakan desain studi kasus kualitatif eksploratif yang dilandasi tinjauan literatur terstruktur dan analisis dokumen kebijakan, penelitian ini menghimpun wawancara semi-terstruktur dengan empat informan di Desa Cibiru Wetan, Kecamatan Cileunyi, Kabupaten Bandung—Kepala Desa, Kepala Dusun, Ketua RW, dan anggota kelompok tani setempat—disertai kajian dokumen kebijakan kebencanaan dan pertanian tingkat kabupaten dan provinsi yang tersedia untuk publik. Analisis awal menemukan …

Graduate Medical Education (Gme) In The Mountain West, 2025, Mia Tschan, Phillip Seo, Kerima Awol, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Health

This fact sheet presents data on graduate medical education (GME) capacity and physician retention across five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. Data are reported on the number of Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) granting institutions, teaching hospitals, residents in training, Medicare-supported GME slots, residents training in slots not supported by Medicare direct GME (DGME), and the percentage of physicians trained in each Mountain West state. The data are derived from the 2025 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) report, “State-by-State Data on Graduate Medical Education,” which includes graduate medical education data …

The Role Of Street-Level Bureaucrats In Relieving Food Insecurity Among African American Single Mothers, Andre Bakajika Kazadi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In Washington, DC, African American single mothers continued to experience food insecurity despite available assistance, as financial and bureaucratic barriers limited access to and utilization of these programs. This problem is relevant because identifying barriers to food assistance can inform recommendations to improve Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) implementation and effectiveness. Findings from existing literature, conducted primarily from clients’ perspectives, found that food insecurity remained prevalent among African American single mothers. However, limited research has examined the perspectives of SNAP workers, known as street-level bureaucrats, who implement food assistance policies and mediate access to benefits. The purpose of this generic …

Fuji Fire: Sifting Ashes Of A Forgotten U.S. Marine Corps Tragedy, Ken Allard

Joint Force Quarterly

Colonel Ken Allard, USA (Ret.), reviews Chas Henry’s Fuji Fire: Sifting Ashes of a Forgotten U.S. Marine Corps Tragedy, an account of the October 1979 fire at Camp Fuji, Japan, that killed 13 Marines and injured more than 73. Drawing on interviews, archival records, maps, command chronologies, and other sources, Henry reconstructs the conditions that produced the disaster, including a fuel farm located uphill from troop quarters, hazardous terrain, and the effects of Typhoon Tip. The book also documents the response of Marines, medical personnel, and commanders, who improvised the collection, treatment, and evacuation of severely burned casualties amid …

War And Power: Who Wins Wars—And Why, Frank Hoffman

Joint Force Quarterly

Frank Hoffman reviews Phillips Payson O’Brien’s War and Power: Who Wins Wars—and Why, which proposes a multidimensional framework for assessing national power and explaining military outcomes. O’Brien argues that success in war depends on more than the size of a state’s armed forces or inventories of weapons. His concept of “Full Spectrum Powers” evaluates five interacting elements: economic and technological strength, political leadership, social and governmental structures, military effectiveness, and alliances. Drawing on conflicts including the world wars, the Cold War, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Russo-Ukraine War, the book examines how states generate, adapt, and sustain military power. …

Training For Victory: U.S. Special Forces Advisory Operations From El Salvador To Afghanistan, Tobias Bernard Switzer

Joint Force Quarterly

Tobias Bernard Switzer reviews Frank K. Sobchak’s Training for Victory: U.S. Special Forces Advisory Operations from El Salvador to Afghanistan, a comparative study of efforts to build host-nation special operations forces in El Salvador, Colombia, the Philippines, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Sobchak evaluates five factors that may influence advisory outcomes: consistency in advisor pairing, language proficiency, partner-to-advisor ratios, authority to organize host-nation units, and combat advising. He finds that advisors’ ability to organize partner forces is most strongly associated with combat effectiveness, while language proficiency is less decisive than commonly assumed. Switzer interprets these factors as measures of two broader …

“Creating The Point Of The Spear”: The Deployment Of Kitty Hawk (Cv-63) As An Afloat Forward Staging Base During Operation Enduring Freedom, Justin B. Blanton

Joint Force Quarterly

On 27 September 2001, Kitty Hawk (CV-63) received orders to deploy to the northern Arabian Sea to serve as an afloat forward staging base for joint special operations forces (SOF) tasked with conducting raids into Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the U.S. military response to the terrorist attacks of 11 September. In order to accommodate the SOF, the aging, large-deck carrier reconfigured to deploy with fewer than 20 aircraft: Eight F/A-18Cs, three S-3Bs, two C-2As, and two SH-60F/HH-60H Seahawks. On 1 October Kitty Hawk departed Yokosuka, Japan, transited to Masirah Island, Oman, and embarked Task Force Sword, …

Resilient By Design: Reforming Medical Logistics To Support Global Operations, Michael Ackman, Jonathan Fowler

Joint Force Quarterly

History has shown that global medical supply chains can be easily disrupted by war, disaster and of course pandemics. As we plan for global military operations and shift our focus from Counter-insurgency Operations (COIN) to Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO) we need to ensure our medical supply chains are flexible, resilient and adaptable. In the current state, our ability to leverage the medical supplies of our Allies and Partners is difficult to achieve in peacetime, and very uncertain in the face of global conflict. We need real and effective solutions today so that we can build and refine a resilient …

Reimagining U.S. Industrial Mobilization, Alexis R. Johnson

Joint Force Quarterly

This paper identifies a critical vulnerability in U.S. defense sustainment strategy and proposes a solution: the Civil Reserve Sustainment Readiness Program (CRSRP). The CRSRP focuses on bolstering Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) capabilities. Given the intensifying great power competition and the increasing likelihood of a contested conflict in the Indo-Pacific, the current Organic Industrial Base (OIB) lacks the surge capacity and agility necessary for rapid, distributed sustainment. Drawing on historical lessons from World War II and contemporary analysis of OIB limitations, this study details how the CRSRP would leverage public-private partnerships, incentivize commercial sector participation, and utilize digital tools like …

Disjointed Command And Air Domain Challenges In Alaska: The Case For A Single U.S. Combined/Joint Force Air Component Commander, Jeffrey W. Kempff

Joint Force Quarterly

The current command and control (C2) organizational structure over the air domain in Alaska is fragmented and doctrinally inconsistent, undermining homeland defense and reducing wartime lethality. Disjointed roles between the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)—particularly in the Alaska Theater of Operations (AKTO) and Alaska NORAD Region Area of Operations (ANR AO)—create gaps in unity of command and effort, especially within the air component. This article examines Alaska's fractured air domain organization and command relationships, illustrating operational ambiguity, duplicative efforts, and inconsistencies that delay decision-making. It proposes a focused, near-term solution: unify the …

Mission Over Bureaucracy: Special Operations Command’S Warrior-Driven Model For Defense Innovation, Robert D. Seader

Joint Force Quarterly

In an era of accelerating technological change, military organizations must rapidly develop and field new capabilities to maintain battlefield superiority. Traditional defense acquisition processes, optimized for peacetime oversight and risk avoidance, now take four times longer than in the 1950s, threatening to undermine military effectiveness against rapidly modernizing adversaries. This paper examines how the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has pioneered a fundamentally different acquisition approach that delivers new capabilities in months rather than the decades typical of conventional programs.

Through extensive interviews with senior acquisition leaders, this analysis identifies three core elements of USSOCOM’s success: a mission-centric culture …