Innovations for Poverty Action
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a research and policy nonprofit that creates and shares evidence, while equipping decision-makers to use evidence to reduce poverty. With a long-term presence in 22 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, IPA leads the field of development in cutting-edge research quality, innovation, and impact. In recent decades, trillions of dollars have been spent on programs designed to reduce global poverty, but clear evidence on which programs succeed is rare, and when evidence does exist, decision-makers often do not know about it. IPA exists to bring together leading researchers and these decision-makers to ensure that the evidence we create leads to tangible impact on the world.
Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is a 501(c)(3) U.S.-based non profit organization founded in 2002 that strives to build a world with more evidence and less poverty. Our theory of change addresses two problems we see in the world: that there is limited evidence on what works to help the poor and that the evidence that does exist is often unused by those who create and run programs for the poor. This leads to programs that are either ineffective or not as effective as they could be, and often, to wasted money and enduring poverty. IPA exists to solve this problem. We test promising ideas across contexts and along the path to scale, proactively engage key decision-makers throughout the research process, share findings with the right people at the right time, and equip partners with the skills and tools they need to co-create and use data and evidence. Our vision? A world with more evidence and less poverty.
