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Think Tanks, Institutes & Foundations

Political Social Work Initiative

Think tanks are institutions that work to solve social problems by identifying policy issues, researching and evaluating potential ideas, and making recommendations that attempt to influence public policy. They can be independent or affiliated with other organizations, and while many are non-profit, some are funded by corporations, governments, and/or advocacy groups.

Think tanks can be non-partisan or partisan, so be sure to pay attention to the goals of the organization as well as who is authoring the publication that you’re planning to utilize. Social workers can utilize think tanks to stay informed on current social problems as well as potential policy solutions that could be used in their advocacy efforts.

  • Annie E. Casey Foundation
    • The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF®) is devoted to developing a brighter future for millions of children and young people with respect to their educational, economic, social, and health outcomes. The primary mission of the Foundation is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, and community supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families.
  • Aspen Institute
    • The Aspen Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the greatest challenges of today.
  • Bernard and Angie Rapoport Foundation
    • Established in 1987, the Bernard & Audre Rapoport Foundation has dedicated nearly $80 million in grants to improve the social fabric of life.
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC Foundation (BCBS-NC)
    • The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation is a private, charitable foundation established as an independent entity by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina in 2000. Over the past two decades, they continue to work with – and support – organizations, government entities, and community partnerships across the state, investing more than $190 million in North Carolina through nearly 1,300 grants, collaborations, and special initiatives.
  • Brennan Center for Justice
    • As an independent, nonpartisan law and policy organization, the Brennan Center conducts rigorous research to identify problems and provide in-depth empirical findings and compelling analyses of pressing legal and policy issues. They also pioneer and champion policy solutions, such as automatic voter registration and small-donor public financing.
  • Brookings Institute
    • The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC. Their mission is to conduct in-depth research that leads to new ideas for solving problems facing society at the local, national, and global levels.
  • Carnegie Corporation of New York
    • Carnegie Corporation of New York is one of America’s oldest grantmaking foundations. It was established in 1911 by Andrew Carnegie to promote the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding. Today the foundation works to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for the issues that Carnegie considered most important: education, democracy, and peace.
  • Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
    • In a complex, changing, and increasingly contested world, the Carnegie Endowment generates strategic ideas and independent analysis, supports diplomacy, and trains the next generation of international scholar-practitioners to help countries and institutions take on the most difficult global problems and safeguard peace.
  • Carter Center
    • The Carter Center is guided by the principles of its Founders, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. Founded, in partnership with Emory University, on a fundamental commitment to human rights and the alleviation of human suffering, the Center seeks to prevent and resolve conflicts, enhance freedom and democracy, and improve health
  • Center for American Progress
    • The Center for American Progress is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Their aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country.
  • Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)
    • The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) is a nonpartisan research and policy institute that advances federal and state policies to help build a nation where everyone — regardless of income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, ZIP code, immigration status, or disability status — has the resources they need to thrive and share in the nation’s prosperity.
  • Center for Family Policy and Practice (CFFPP)
    • The Center for Family Policy and Practice (CFFPP) was founded in 1995 with a focus on family and fatherhood policy. They consider the impact of national and state social welfare and child support policy on low-income parents and their children. After more than 20 years, their work has evolved. With primary goals (1) to change the dialogue about family economic security to include the perspective of parents who may not live with their children, (2) to attach children’s well-being to both their parents’ security and success and (3) to articulate the need for a family policy that supports racial equity and safety from violence and abuse.
  • Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
    • CLASP is a national, nonprofit organization that conducts research, policy analysis, and advocacy on issues related to economic security for low-income families with children. This site is a rich source of electronic publications on many issues including welfare policy, child welfare, child support and low-income fathers, couples and marriage policy, and child care and early education.
  • Center for Public Integrity
    • The Center for Public Integrity seeks to counter the corrosive effects of inequality by holding powerful interests accountable and equipping the public with knowledge to drive change. They are an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit news organization dedicated to investigating systems and circumstances that contribute to inequality in America.
  • Center for Responsive Politics
    • Nonpartisan, independent, and nonprofit, OpenSecrets is the nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Their mission is to track the flow of money in American politics and provide the data and analysis to strengthen democracy.
  • Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP)
    • CSSP is a national, non-profit policy organization that connects community action, public system reform, and policy change to create a fair and just society in which all children and families thrive. They translate ideas into action, promote public policies grounded in equity, and support strong and inclusive communities. They advocate with and for all children, youth, and families marginalized by public policies and institutional practices.
  • CIRCLE
    • CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, is a non-partisan, independent research organization focused on youth civic engagement in the United States. They conduct extensive research on youth participation and leverage that research to improve opportunities for all young people to acquire and use the skills and knowledge they need to meaningfully participate in civic life. In all of their work, they are especially concerned with understanding, addressing, and ultimately eliminating the systemic barriers that keep some young people marginalized from and underrepresented in civic life.
  • Economic Policy Institute
    • The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank working for the last 30 years to counter rising inequality, low wages and weak benefits for working people, slower economic growth, unacceptable employment conditions, and a widening racial wage gap. They intentionally center low- and middle-income working families in economic policy discussions at the federal, state, and local levels as they fight for a world where every worker has access to a good job with fair pay, affordable health care, retirement security, and a union.
  • EducationNC (EdNC)
    • EducationNC (EdNC) works to expand educational opportunities for all students in North Carolina, increase their academic attainment, and improve the performance of the state’s public schools. THey provide residents and policymakers with nonpartisan data, research, news, information, and analysis about the major trends, issues, and challenges bearing on education.
  • Guttmacher Institute
    • The Guttmacher Institute is a leading research and policy organization committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) worldwide.
  • Human Rights Watch
    • Human Rights Watch investigates and reports on abuses happening in all corners of the world. They are represented by roughly 450 people of 70-plus nationalities who are country experts, lawyers, journalists, and others who work to protect the most at risk, from vulnerable minorities and civilians in wartime to refugees and children in need. They direct advocacy toward governments, armed groups and businesses, pushing them to change or enforce their laws, policies, and practices.
  • ICPSR
    • An international consortium of more than 750 academic institutions and research organizations, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) provides leadership and training in data access, curation, and methods of analysis for the social science research community.
  • Imagining America
    • The Imagining America consortium (IA) brings together scholars, artists, designers, humanists, and organizers to imagine, study, and enact a more just and liberatory ‘America’ and world. Working across institutional, disciplinary, and community divides, IA strengthens and promotes public scholarship, cultural organizing, and campus change that inspires collective imagination, knowledge-making, and civic action on pressing public issues.
  • Institute for Policy Research (IPR)- Northwestern University
    • The Institute for Policy Research (IPR) is an interdisciplinary public policy research institute founded in 1968 at Northwestern University. Their mission is to stimulate and support excellent social science research on significant public policy issues and to disseminate the findings widely—to students, scholars, policymakers, and the public.
  • Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP)
    • The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) is a nonpartisan research institution dedicated to producing and disseminating rigorous evidence to inform policies and programs to combat poverty, inequality, and their effects in the United States. They do this through the orchestration of a national research, training, and dissemination agenda grounded in extensive collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners.
  • Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR)
    • The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that engages in research and dissemination to shape public policy and improve the lives and opportunities of women from diverse backgrounds. As a nonpartisan organization, the independence of their research is essential to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and quality. IWPR seeks to ensure these standards through internal and external peer review processes. All publications are reviewed by in-house researchers not involved in their production.
  • John William Pope Foundation (JWPF)
    • This mission was personal to founders John William and Joyce W. Pope. Both grew up in rural North Carolina and fully appreciated the opportunities afforded to them through education and the free enterprise system. They passionately hoped that future generations would have the same opportunities they did.
  • Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)
    • KFF serves as a nonpartisan source of facts, analysis, and journalism for policymakers, the media, the health policy community, and the public. As a one-of-a-kind information organization, they bring together substantial capabilities in policy research, polling, and journalism in one organization to meet the need for a trusted, independent source of information on national health issues—one with the scope and reach to be a counterweight to health care’s vested interests and a voice for people.
  • Leon Levine Foundation
    • The Leon Levine Foundation supports programs and organizations that improve the human condition through investments in education, healthcare, human services, and Jewish values. Based in Charlotte, N.C., the Foundation invests in nonprofits across North Carolina and South Carolina with strong leadership, a track record of success, and a plan for financial sustainability.
  • MDRC
    • Founded in 1974, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, MDRC conducts rigorous studies of programs and policies that affect people with low incomes, actively disseminates the lessons to policymakers and practitioners, and works directly with programs and agencies to help improve their effectiveness.
  • National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)
    • The mission of this nonpartisan policy organization is to "identify and promote strategies that prevent child poverty in the United States and that improve the lives of low-income children and families." The strengths of the organization include its policy analysis, research, and demographic statistics. The site includes an easy-to-use data wizard for comparing states on a variety of variables.
  • National Center for Science and Civic Engagement (NCSCE)
    • The National Center for Science & Civic Engagement (NCSCE) is a national non-profit organization that supports a community of teachers and learners in all sectors of STEM education (k-12, undergraduate, informal, and graduate). Through professional development institutes, topical symposia, materials, workshops, and mentoring activities, they help educators in and outside the classroom improve their educational practice by connecting STEM learning to real-world issues of civic importance.
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
    • The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders. NIMH is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the largest biomedical research agency in the world. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
  • National Poverty Center (NPC)
    • The National Poverty Center (NPC) at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan was established in the fall of 2002 as a university-based, nonpartisan research center. They conduct and promote multidisciplinary, policy-relevant research, and inform public discourse on the causes and consequences of poverty.
  • Pew Center on the States
    • The Pew Center on the States provides nonpartisan reporting and research, advocacy, and technical assistance to help states deliver better results and achieve long-term fiscal health by investing in programs that provide the strongest returns. Their newest areas of research include states' health care spending, the relationship between the states and the federal government, and challenges facing American cities.
  • Pew Research Center
    • Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world. They conduct public opinion polling, demographic research, content analysis, and other data-driven social science research.
  • Policy Lab- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
    • The mission of PolicyLab at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is to achieve optimal child health and well-being by informing program and policy changes through interdisciplinary research. PolicyLab develops evidence-based solutions for the most challenging health-related issues affecting children.
  • Population Reference Bureau (PRB)
    • PRB is a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research organization focused on improving people’s health and well-being through evidence-based policies and practices. Staff analyze population data and ensure the research and its applications are understood and used widely by decision-makers, advocates, and media. Their ability to assess and easily communicate critical issues about topics like gender equality, climate adaptation, equity, and aging makes them a valued partner and resource for those working at all levels and in all areas of the world.
  • Progressive Policy Institute (PPI)
    • The Progressive Policy Institute is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock.
  • RAND Corporation
    • RAND is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer, more secure, healthier, and more prosperous.
  • Research to Policy Collaboration
    • The Research to Policy Collaboration is committed to strengthening the use of research in policy by facilitating meaningful, action-oriented collaboration between legislative officials and researchers. Their primary goal is to support the non-partisan use of scientific evidence by facilitating partnerships between researchers (including applied research/evaluation) and lawmakers.
  • Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
    • RWJF works with others to identify, understand, confront, and remove the structural barriers to health and well-being, including racism, powerlessness, discrimination, and their consequences.
  • Russel Sage Foundation
    • The Russell Sage Foundation was established by Margaret Olivia Sage in 1907 for "the improvement of social and living conditions in the United States." It dedicates itself to strengthening the methods, data, and theoretical core of the social sciences to better understand societal problems and develop informed responses. The foundation supports visiting scholars in residence and publishes books and a journal under its own imprint. It also funds researchers at other institutions and supports programs intended to develop new generations of social scientists
  • Scholars Strategy Network (SSN)
    • The Scholars Strategy Network (SSN) is a national membership organization made up of college- and university-based researchers interested in improving policy and strengthening democracy. Founded in 2011 by Theda Skocpol, Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University, SSN has grown into a network of over 1800 researchers in 47 states. SSN members organize themselves into local chapters across the United States, working to advance the use of research wherever policy decisions are made - from city halls to state legislatures to Washington.
  • Social Work Policy Institute (SWPI)
    • The Social Work Policy Institute (SWPI) is a think tank established within the NASW Foundation. It examines issues that relate to the work of social workers, including how to serve people who have multiple or complex needs and how public agencies and other structures deliver health and human services. Since SWPI's founding in 2009, the NASW Foundation has raised and invested more than a million dollars in its research, publications, and events.
  • The Century Foundation (TCF)
    • The Century Foundation is a progressive, independent think tank that conducts research, develops solutions, and drives policy change to make people’s lives better. They pursue economic, racial, and gender equity in education, health care, and work, and promote U.S. foreign policy that fosters international cooperation, peace, and security.
  • The Commonwealth Fund
    • This organization promotes a healthcare system that achieves better access, improved quality, and efficiency, particularly for low-income people, the uninsured, minority Americans, young children, and elderly adults. The Fund supports research on health care issues and policy. Publications and data and statistics are available from the website.
  • The Commonwealth Institute (TCI)
    • The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis (TCI) advances racial and economic justice in Virginia by advocating for public policies that are designed in partnership with people most impacted, and shaped by credible, accessible fiscal and policy research.
  • The Teagle Foundation
    • The Teagle Foundation works to support and strengthen liberal arts education, which they see as fundamental to meaningful work, effective citizenship, and a fulfilling life. They aim to serve as a catalyst for the improvement of teaching and learning in the arts and sciences while addressing issues of financial sustainability and accountability in higher education.
  • Urban Institute
    • The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides data and evidence to help advance upward mobility and equity. They are a trusted source for changemakers who seek to strengthen decision-making, create inclusive economic growth, and improve the well-being of families and communities. For more than 50 years, Urban has delivered facts that inspire solutions—and this remains their charge today.
  • Victory Fund
    • The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund is the only national organization dedicated to electing openly LGBTQ+ people who can further equality at all levels of government.
  • Wilson Center
    • Chartered by Congress, the Wilson Center provides nonpartisan counsel and insights on global affairs to policymakers through deep research, impartial analysis, and independent scholarship. The Wilson Center brings fresh thinking and deep expertise to the most pressing policy challenges facing today. They convene scholars to create a global dialogue of ideas that Congress, the administration, and the international policy community can act on.
  • World Resources Institute (WRI)
    • The foundation of WRI’s work is producing high-quality research, including reports, issue briefs, working papers, guidebooks, and more. Their publications are subject to peer review and held to academic standards of excellence for objectivity, rigor, and quality. WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Helpful Links

Contact the Political Social Work Initiative

David L. Conley, PhD, MSW | Assistant Professor

conleyd@uncw.edu

School of Social Work