2024 Annual Report
We discover and advance what works to improve the lives of people living in poverty
Letter from Our Executive Director
Dear Friends,
As we near the culmination of our 2025 Strategic Ambition, we are taking time to reflect on our strategic evolution and the future for IPA. We find ourselves celebrating remarkable accomplishments while preparing for our next chapter of amplified impact in a development sector undergoing drastic transformation.
Our 2025 Strategic Ambition represented a fundamental shift in how we approach our mission. We moved beyond generating evidence and putting it out into the world to sharing evidence more strategically (to the right people at the right time) and—critically—equipping decision-makers with the tools and capacity to effectively use data and evidence in their work. We’ve made tremendous progress through our research, evaluations, sector initiatives, and policy work—including the Embedded Evidence Labs and the Right-Fit Evidence Unit. These efforts have supported funders, NGOs, and governments in low- and middle-income countries to build sustainable systems for gathering and harnessing evidence for greater impact. The lessons learned during this strategic period have reinforced our conviction that creating rigorous evidence, while fundamental to our work, must be coupled with strategic partnerships and systems change that fosters the ecosystem for using evidence at scale to improve lives.
As we look ahead, we will continue to amplify our impact through continued strategic and targeted investments in the use of existing evidence and by expanding and deepening our partnerships with governments from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that have the levers to use evidence to drive change at scale.
In this year’s annual report, I am proud to share many exciting examples of how we are amplifying our impact with targeted investments in evidence generation and strategic partnerships with researchers, LMIC governments, funders, and other key decision-makers.
Some key accomplishments from last year—all highlighted in more detail in this report:
We grew and established new timely research initiatives addressing urgent, under-researched policy challenges. Our Consumer Protection Research Initiative addresses evolving risks in financial technology, while the new Citizen Security Research Initiative fills knowledge gaps on justice system strengthening and violence reduction. We launched our Climate & Environment Program in late 2024 to address urgent policy questions at the intersection of poverty alleviation and climate adaptation. This program consolidates IPA's existing climate work into a coordinated effort to generate evidence on interventions that improve welfare while reducing emissions and protecting the environment. Learn more here.
We supported governments to use rigorous evidence at scale. In the Philippines, we are supporting nationwide scale-up of mEducation, a phone-based math tutoring program proven effective through randomized evaluations. In Rwanda, we are partnering with the Ministry of Education to support the scale-up of an evidenced-based performance-based teacher compensation approach, while strengthening the data systems needed for a successful scale-up. Across Nigeria, the Philippines, and Rwanda, we are supporting governments to alleviate extreme poverty at scale with adapted versions of the Graduation Approach. Learn more here.
In 2024, we advanced several Best Bets innovations toward scale through strategic partnerships. We collaborated with World Vision Kenya to adapt and scale Becoming One, a couples' counseling program proven to prevent intimate partner violence and partnered with International Care Ministries to pilot the program in Uganda. In Sierra Leone, we expanded our collaboration with the Ministry of Health to scale a social signaling intervention to improve rates for childhood immunization.
We have also been redoubling our efforts to foster the systems and culure that support evidence-informed decision-making, whether that be with governments, funders, or nonprofits. Our Embedded Labs program now supports 24 labs across 14 countries, with lab teams working hand in hand within government agencies to address specific challenges and build internal capacity for evidence use. Our Right-Fit Evidence (RFE) Unit continues to grow in both reach and impact, with 27 staff members based in 10 countries advising 26 implementing and funding organizations across Africa, Asia, and Latin America as of 2024. To support learning across the sector, the team shared case studies about several engagements and released new guidance to funders, the Stage-Based Learning framework, which introduced a new approach to monitoring and evaluation with grantees.
To enhance our work across the board, we established a Global Research and Data Science team that pursues research innovations and enables our advisory work to provide technical expertise to governments and nonprofits across the full spectrum of data solutions. This specialized team leverages technology including AI and machine learning to design, test, and deploy data collection and analysis systems—expanding IPA's role as a technical assistance provider.
As we prepare for the next phase of our growth and evolution, I am filled with both gratitude for how far we have come and optimism for what lies ahead, despite the challenges. The development sector is changing rapidly, but our core commitment remains unwavering: to create a world with more evidence and less poverty.
Thank you for your continued partnership in this vital work!
With warm regards,
Annie Duflo
A Year in Numbers
16
country offices
1,000+
staff
24
Embedded Evidence Lab teams across 14 countries
600+
researchers in our network
1,000+
partners
1,400+
evaluations to date
Our Year in Review
Launching Our Climate & Environment Program
Climate change and environmental degradation disproportionately affect those living in poverty, yet not enough evidence exists on which solutions and policies can effectively address development, climate, and environmental issues together. In late 2024, IPA launched our Climate & Environment Program (CEP), bringing together policymakers, practitioners, and researchers to build robust evidence on interventions that improve people's welfare amidst these challenges.
This program focuses on five strategic priority areas: protecting ecosystems and biodiversity while supporting sustainable livelihoods; reforming food systems for increased incomes, resilience, and sustainability; reducing climate shock vulnerability among low-income populations; supporting clean energy transitions with co-benefits for people living in poverty; and advancing sustainable urbanization in low-income countries and neighborhoods.
As we expand this vital work, we look forward to sharing new findings and evidence-based solutions that can help build a more sustainable and equitable world. Learn more about CEP in our Research and Learning Agenda.
New Global Research and Data Science Team
This specialized team provides comprehensive technical expertise across the full spectrum of data solutions—from initial design to rigorous testing and final deployment of data collection and analysis systems.
The launch of IPA’s Global Research and Data Science team represents our commitment to innovation, efficiency, and technological leadership in the development sector, ensuring we apply the most advanced analytical capabilities available while building our proven foundation of methodological rigor in service of our mission.
In 2024, IPA integrated data science and engineering into our services. The GRDS team builds on more than two decades of innovation in data collection and analysis that shaped the development research field. This team represents a pivotal advancement in our mission to improve the lives of people living in poverty through innovative technology and data science.
Our partnerships demonstrate the real-world impact of this integrated approach. For example, through a partnership with the Gates Foundation and Microsoft's Airband Initiative, our data scientists are embedded with internet service providers across East and West Africa, developing data engineering and analytics systems to promote gender-intentional design of digital connectivity services. Meanwhile, our Embedded Labs partnerships are unlocking existing government data for informed decision-making and building predictive models to target social programs effectively.
Through Right-Fit Evidence, we provide data analytics services and advisory support for data systems, A/B testing, and dashboards that help partners transition from data collection to actionable insights. In 2024, for example, RFE partnered with Mentu, a Colombian EdTech organization, to strengthen their ability to rigorously test improvements to Shaia, their AI-powered teacher assistant. Funded by the Jacobs Foundation, the collaboration helped Mentu establish an A/B testing infrastructure and institutionalize an experimentation process that enables evidence-driven program improvement and greater cost-effectiveness.
A key strength of this integrated approach is our enhanced ability to serve partner organizations by taking siloed, fragmented data and creating analysis that informs decision-making. Key applications include improving social program targeting through causal machine learning, which measures how interventions affect different populations, along with essential supporting services such as data visualization, natural language processing for text analysis, web data collection, and data engineering to transform diverse, unstructured information into actionable insights.
Consumer Protection Research Initiative Secures New Funding To Address Emerging Risks
Digital financial services have transformed how people save, borrow, and make payments—especially in low- and middle-income countries. But rapid innovation has also introduced new risks for consumers, including hidden fees, fraud, over-indebtedness, and limited avenues for resolving problems that arise. To help fill critical evidence gaps on how to protect consumers and promote financial health, IPA launched the Consumer Protection Research Initiative in February 2020. The initiative has since completed more than 20 studies examining key risk areas including digital fraud, unclear terms leading to unexpected fees, accessible credit contributing to overindebtedness, and inadequate customer service.
In its first four years, the initiative has supported more than twenty studies led by IPA and partner researchers. These include surveys of consumers, collaborations with financial regulators in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and the Philippines to strengthen monitoring of consumer risks, and randomized trials of tools to protect consumers—ranging from anti-fraud education campaigns, to repayment plans for digital loan borrowers in distress, to legal help for mobile money users trying to resolve disputes.
Recognizing the continuing and evolving nature of financial technologies and associated risks, IPA secured $7.8 million in funding in 2024 for a four-year extension of the initiative, with three key areas of focus:
- Artificial intelligence. Increasing advances in AI present both challenges and opportunities for firms, consumers, and regulators that we will explore. For example, fraudsters can use AI to create more sophisticated scams, while financial institutions and regulators can leverage machine learning for real-time fraud detection.
- Gender-differentiated impacts. The initiative is committing to gender-disaggregated reporting for all future studies, so we can begin to build a better understanding of gender-differentiated impacts.
- Information sharing. Effective consumer protection depends on strong information flows at multiple levels. Cross-country learning helps drive innovative solutions, regulators who use multiple data sources get a fuller picture of market risks, and data sharing among firms improves the ability to spot behaviors that may lead to harm.
Among the highlights of this new phase are ten new researcher-led studies, new engagements with financial regulators, an expanded consumer survey covering 10 countries (Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tanzania, and Uganda), and a new system for monthly tracking of digital financial services pricing.
New Citizen Security Research Initiative
Organized crime, drug trafficking, corruption, and weak institutions jeopardize community safety and threaten global security by undermining democracy, hindering economic development, and perpetuating cycles of poverty and violence. Little is known about the most effective strategies to strengthen justice systems and combat illicit activities. To address this gap, IPA, with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), launched the Partnership to Advance Research and Scientific Evidence (PARSE). Funded under PARSE, IPA's Citizen Security Research Initiative (CSRI) aims to advance evidence on topics central to justice, civilian security, and crime and violence reduction.
Through this initiative, IPA will generate and synthesize insights on what works best to help policymakers and practitioners make informed, cost-effective, and impactful programmatic and policy decisions. The CSRI, led by IPA’s Peace & Recovery Program, will host a competitive research fund to support innovative studies that test strategies for reducing violence and promoting justice reform, providing policymakers with actionable insights backed by evidence.
Right-Fit Evidence Unit Grows & Releases New MEL Guidance for Funders
Since 2017, IPA’s Right-Fit Evidence (RFE) Unit advises funders and implementers on their approach to monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) to help them achieve greater impact. As of 2024, our team has grown to 27 staff members based in 10 countries, advising 26 organizations—14 implementers and 12 donors across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Despite its potential, MEL too often emphasizes reporting over real learning. Implementers can become burdened with heavy, one-size-fits-all requirements that absorb resources but yield little insight, while funders are left with reports that check boxes rather than generate actionable knowledge. This imbalance limits opportunities for reflection, adaptation, and continuous improvement. RFE addresses the need to reorient MEL around learning—helping organizations generate the right insights at the right time to guide decisions and strengthen programs. Our work ranges from co-designing monitoring and learning plans that are right-sized to the needs of funders and implementers, to building MEL team capacity to design practical data collection tools, use evidence for decision-making, and implement more sophisticated approaches such as A/B testing, or convening communities of practice.
RFE published the Stage-Based Learning Framework in 2024 to help align funder practices with the learning needs of their grantees and their interventions to ensure MEL investments translate into better evidence and better programs. The framework centers on how learning priorities and activities evolve as interventions progress toward scale. The publication offers useful guideposts for developing right-fit learning plans to build stronger programs that better serve the needs of people living in poverty.
Launch of the Strategic Impact Evaluation and Learning (SIEL) Program with the UK Government
In November 2024, IPA embarked on a six-year partnership with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through the launch of the Strategic Impact Evaluation and Learning (SIEL) program. This initiative, running from 2024 to 2030, offers funding, resources, and technical support to help FCDO teams generate evidence that informs program decisions, strengthens understanding of “what works,” and maximizes value for money.
Led by FCDO's Evaluation Unit in collaboration with IPA and J-PAL, this program will fund and conduct impact evaluations—including randomized controlled trials, long-term follow-up studies, nimble evaluations, and pilot studies. These evaluations will focus on four priority areas: economic growth, humanitarian assistance, climate and nature, and conflict and fragility, with cross-cutting themes such as women and girls, technology and innovation, and migration.
The program aims to establish a robust evidence base to understand what works, enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of FCDO's interventions, and equip FCDO staff with the necessary skills to design, commission, and use impact evaluations. This partnership underscores the vital role that committed funders play in transforming how we approach development challenges. As FCDO Chief Economist Adnan Khan emphasized at SIEL’s launch event, evidence must be integrated throughout policy design, implementation, and updates to avoid "pouring water into a leaky bucket."
By harnessing evidence to increase effectiveness and value for money, SIEL will contribute to both immediate policy improvements and the global knowledge base, demonstrating how strategic partnerships can catalyze sector-wide transformation.
Our Impact
Best Bets: Progress In 2024
IPA is uniquely positioned to identify and share promising innovations along the path to scale. In our Best Bets report, we highlighted 14 emerging innovations with the potential to improve people’s lives at scale. To unlock catalytic impact at scale, these innovations require further research and, in some cases, more commitment from implementers or funders. In 2024, IPA worked to advance several of these Best Bets through strategic partnerships with governments, funders, and local organizations, including:
Preventing Intimate Partner Violence through Couples’ Counseling
More than a third of women around the world have experienced physical or sexual violence, most commonly committed by an intimate partner. Many survivors live in low-income countries where violence against women is too often accepted or tolerated.
In many contexts, faith leaders provide advice and counseling to couples, including on how to prevent or manage conflict. However, they typically receive limited training and often lack the appropriate skills to provide actionable guidance.
Becoming One is a group couples’ counseling program proven to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV). Faith leaders deliver the program over 12 sessions focused on four thematic areas: communication, finance, intimacy, and respect. After demonstrating significant impact through a randomized evaluation in Uganda, IPA collaborated with partners to scale Becoming One nationwide, reaching over 10,000 couples to date.
In 2024, IPA collaborated with World Vision Kenya to adapt and scale the program across multiple denominations in the country. We are also partnering and providing technical support to International Care Ministries (ICM) to pilot the program with their network of faith leaders in Uganda.
Boosting Childhood Immunization With Social Incentives
Childhood immunization is one of the most cost-effective ways of reducing child mortality, but in some contexts a large percentage of children fail to complete their immunization schedules, making them and others in their communities vulnerable to deadly diseases including measles, tetanus, pneumonia, and yellow fever.
A simple, low-cost innovation—a colored bracelet used to signal whether a child had initiated vaccination, progressed in the schedule, or completed all first-year vaccinations on time—was found to increase timely and complete vaccination by 13 percentage points.
Since 2023, IPA has been collaborating with the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Sierra Leone to scale the intervention to 245 government clinics across eight districts. The program has expanded to include second-year-of-life vaccines and the introduction of the new malaria vaccine. IPA is conducting a randomized evaluation to measure the intervention’s effectiveness and identify optimal design.
To build a path to scale, IPA and researcher Anne Karing have been working closely with the government to integrate the intervention into routine systems and processes such as the vaccine supply chain, and to develop implementation and communication materials. We are also working closely with the national and district civil service to build capacity within the MoH to manage the intervention, refine tools and protocols, and conduct implementation research into how to most cost-effectively deliver the intervention at scale in Sierra Leone.
Soft Skills Training: Building Evidence for Economic Impact at Scale
Soft skills—which shape people's preferences, aspirations, resource access, and workplace behaviors—are proven to play a crucial role in job seeking, work performance, and business development. Building on previous IPA research and recognizing soft skills training as an emerging opportunity for impact at scale, IPA has been expanding the evidence base on this topic to better understand how psychological and social attitudes and abilities drive economic outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.
With significant support from the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund in 2024, IPA announced funding for research at the intersection of soft skills, workforce development, and entrepreneurship policies. This initiative aims to address key gaps in understanding which soft skills matter for different populations, optimal implementation strategies, and the causal mechanisms driving economic impact.
We also worked with the World Bank’s Gender Innovation lab on the Effective Socio-emotional Skills to Gain Economic Empowerment (ESTEEM) framework, which clarifies which socio-emotional skills drive economic empowerment for different groups and provides free measurement tools and research insights on skills training and women's economic activity.
This comprehensive approach positions IPA to build the next generation of evidence using common measurement frameworks while generating implementer-friendly insights for effective program scale-up.
Two-Generation Initiative: Transforming Support for Vulnerable Households
IPA’s Two-Generation Initiative is helping transform how development and humanitarian actors design, monitor, and evaluate programs for vulnerable households. Through the Two-Generation Initiative, IPA partners with local organizations, refugee-led groups, and governments to generate and use data and evidence to create better policies and programs that help primary caregivers and children together.
These efforts start from a common challenge: the lives of young children and their primary caregivers are deeply interconnected, but programming tends to be siloed—either focused on young children or the adults that care for them. By addressing children and their caregivers' needs and aspirations together, it may be possible to generate breakthrough outcomes.
Given the potential for childcare to improve outcomes for both children and their caregivers, in 2024, IPA published A Multigenerational Perspective on Childcare, an evidence review synthesizing findings from ten randomized evaluations of childcare interventions in low- and middle-income countries. The review highlights how affordable, accessible, and high-quality childcare can simultaneously support children's development, empower women, and hold promise for other adult family members. By incorporating this multigenerational perspective in future work, we can better understand how to design childcare interventions that improve a range of outcomes across generations and for some of the most vulnerable populations.
Building on this approach, IPA secured a transformative $5.5 million, four-year grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to expand the Two-Generation Initiative across Colombia and Uganda, with additional activities in Ecuador. This generous grant will equip organizations to better improve the lives and livelihoods of refugee and host community households.
Integrating SQ-LNS Into Health Systems and Social Protection Programs
Stunting, or being low-height for one’s age, is a warning signal that a child is at risk of failing to reach their full physical and developmental potential. Poor nutrition—particularly when introducing solid foods and liquids to an infant's diet (6–23 months), when nutrient requirements are high—and recurrent infections in early life are key contributors to childhood stunting.
Small-Quantity Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (SQ-LNS) are ready-to-eat, small packets of paste that provide energy, protein, fats, and essential micronutrients, with proven impacts on child growth, nutrition, and development outcomes.
In Zambia, IPA has worked side-by-side with government partners to identify pathways to scale SQ-LNS. Most significantly, the project is working with the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services to explore integrating SQ-LNS into Zambia’s social cash transfer program—a pathway with the potential to reach the country’s most vulnerable children at scale.
As part of this project, IPA has also explored local production of nutritional supplements, assessed the inclusion of SQ-LNS in Zambia’s national essential medicines list, and contributed evidence into a new National Nutrition Policy that emphasizes supplementation.
Tackling Barriers Faced by Adolescent Girls
Adolescent girls living in low-income settings are often trapped in a cycle where low skills and poor labor market opportunities cause them to turn to (often older) men for financial support. This increases the chances of sexually transmitted diseases and early teenage pregnancies that, in turn, further reduce the likelihood of attaining employment and achieving better health outcomes and reproductive autonomy.
Empowerment and Livelihood for Adolescents (ELA) is a program created by BRAC that bundles business and vocational skills training, financial literacy, health education, and empowerment training. In some contexts, the approach has reduced teen pregnancy and increased income-generating activities for young women and girls. In 2024, IPA supported critical research to understand ELA's individual components and explore adaptations for enhanced scalability. This includes an impact evaluation in Tanzania launching in 2025, with preliminary results expected in 2028, that will examine the combined effects of life skills programming with intensive graduation-style livelihood support, helping shape future interventions for adolescent girls and young women worldwide.
Embedded Evidence Labs: Transforming Government Decision-Making from Within
IPA's Embedded Evidence Labs program continues to achieve remarkable success in institutionalizing evidence-based decision-making within government agencies across multiple continents. Labs are teams that work within the government to systematically connect research with decision-making. We now support 24 embedded evidence teams across 14 countries, with Lab staff working directly within government institutions to address specific policy challenges while building sustainable internal capacity for evidence use. This approach represents a fundamental shift in moving evidence to impact, creating lasting institutional change that persists beyond individual projects.
Colombian Lab Advances Evidence-Based Early Childhood Development and Sets the Standard for Institutionalization
The Colombian government provides child development services to over 2 million children across the country through various programs and services, but in the past it has not had enough access to data and evidence to ensure programs truly improve children's cognitive, physical, and social development. IPA partnered with Colombia's Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) with a goal of integrating evidence and data use, learning, and innovation into ICBF’s organizational culture. Now a formal Lab, with dedicated staff and an official mandate, the Lab team develops innovative interventions, adapts proven ones to Colombia's context, and strengthens program officers' capacity to use data to guide decision-making and develop innovative services.
Notably, the Lab has developed four evidence-based childhood development programs. One, Sanar para Crecer (Heal to Grow), is being scaled nationally after a randomized evaluation demonstrated improvements in workers’ socio-emotional skills and support for children’s socio-emotional development. Beyond individual programs, the Lab has fundamentally changed how ICBF designs and monitors its work, positioning the department to deliver more effective early childhood programs—and ultimately better outcomes for the millions of children it serves each year.
Côte d’Ivoire Formally Launches Education Lab
IPA and Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Education launched an Embedded Evidence Lab within the Department of Studies, Strategies, Planning, and Statistics (DESPS), institutionalizing evidence-based policymaking in the country's education sector. This initiative builds upon IPA's eight-year partnership with Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Education, established in 2016.
The Ed Lab focuses on designing and implementing a process that connects policy priorities with data, evidence, and decision-making, while also establishing a structure to manage this process. Additionally, to sustain and enable this process, the Ed Lab carries out strategies to strengthen capacities, allocate resources, and secure political support for its sustainability. The aim is to institutionalize a practice and culture of using data and evidence to improve educational outcomes.
With funding from the Jacobs Foundation and technical support from IPA, the lab creates a collaborative space where decision-makers, researchers, and practitioners work together to strengthen Côte d'Ivoire's education system through data-driven approaches.
Peru's OEFA Innova Pioneers Environmental Enforcement Innovation
IPA and J-PAL partnered with Peru’s Environmental Evaluation and Enforcement Agency (OEFA) to establish the country’s first embedded lab focused on climate and environmental enforcement. OEFA is responsible for balancing private investment with environmental protection nationwide but faces challenges in designing and implementing effective enforcement strategies, ensuring evidence-based decision-making, and reaching the large number of regulated entities with a limited budget. The agency is also uncertain about the effectiveness of some interventions, underscoring the need to enhance both the cost-effectiveness and impact of its enforcement strategies.
Since launching in March 2024, the Lab has developed and is testing key innovations, including preventing fires that could endanger communities through automated fire detection systems that apply machine learning to high-resolution satellite imagery. Other innovations are built around the "Reporta Residuos" app that enables citizen reporting of garbage accumulation, including leveraging WhatsApp messaging to improve municipal response rates. If successful, these efforts could lead to cleaner neighborhoods and healthier living conditions for people in affected communities relying on resource-efficient solutions. The Lab's structured five-stage learning cycle—from policy challenge mapping through scaling pathways—demonstrates how environmental protection can become more data-driven and evidence-based while ensuring interventions remain both effective and scalable. The Lab has been institutionalized through a resolution of the presidency and has four full-time employees from OEFA.
Nigeria's Central Bank Lab Transforms Financial Consumer Protection
Digital financial consumers in emerging markets face a wide range of risks, from heightened fraud and data privacy issues to a lack of recourse and exposure to new, complex, or unfair products. In Nigeria, consumers frequently experience challenges related to network quality, unexpected fees, fraud, and agent overcharging.
Nigeria’s central bank has faced challenges in safeguarding consumers due to a number of factors, including the lack of relevant data about consumers, financial institutions that are siloed within different departments and teams, and a lack of tools for actionable analysis for regulators and sector stakeholders. In addition, the rapidly evolving Nigerian financial services sector presents unique consumer risks that require new, adaptive approaches to market monitoring and consumer protection regulation.
Recognizing these challenges, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) partnered with IPA to create the CBN Data Office—an Embedded Lab within the Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion Department. IPA worked side by side with CBN staff to build internal capacity through hands-on analytics training, upgrade data systems for better quality information, and develop practical tools like market monitoring dashboards that regulators could use daily.
The partnership has delivered several improvements so far. The team co-created Nigeria's first Digital Financial Services User Survey, revealing critical insights into how consumers actually use mobile money and digital banking. Most importantly, the Lab has cultivated a data-driven culture within the Central Bank, fundamentally transforming how Nigeria approaches financial consumer protection with evidence-based decision-making now embedded in daily regulatory operations.
Fostering Cross-Country Learning and Knowledge Exchange
Building on the success of individual Labs, IPA convened two significant Cross-Country Learning Exchange (CCLE) events in 2024 to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaborative learning across the global network. This is a long-term government-to-government exchange that started in 2022 with events in Ghana and Rwanda.
In April 2024, IPA hosted the third edition of IPA's CCLE in Uganda, bringing together Ministries of Education from Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. This gathering enabled education officials and Lab teams to share experiences, challenges, and innovative approaches to integrating evidence into education policy and program design.
In December 2024, the Embedded Lab program hosted the Latin America Learning Exchange in Lima, Peru, bringing together Lab teams and government counterparts from across the region across gender, education, early childhood development, environment, and consumer protection sectors. Through these collaborative sessions, teams from Colombia, Mexico, and Peru identified key opportunities and challenges related to data-driven policymaking in the region, establishing a foundation for continued regional cooperation and learning.
These exchanges represent more than knowledge sharing—they create a community of practice among government officials committed to evidence-based decision-making, fostering innovation and mutual support that strengthens the entire network of embedded labs. “Labs focus on needs, on solving things, on finding innovative ways to create measurable impact,” said Pablo Pena, Environmental Analyst for Innovation Research, OEFA Lab, during the Latin America Learning Exchange event in December.
As Labs continue to demonstrate tangible policy impact and institutional change, they serve as powerful examples of how strategic partnerships can transform government operations and ultimately improve outcomes for citizens across diverse contexts and policy areas.
Improving Education and Livelihoods By Supporting Effective Approaches from Pilot to Scale
In 2024, IPA partnered with governments and organizations to transform promising programs into scalable policies capable of improving millions of lives.
With Georgetown University’s gui2de, IPA supported Rwanda’s Ministry of Education to expand the STARS program from 248 to 345 schools. The STARS program is an initiative to improve education quality in Rwanda through performance-based compensation. It builds on a previous evaluation supported by IPA and gui2de, which found that pay-for-performance contracts improved teacher performance—particularly in classroom presence and pedagogy—and enhanced student learning outcomes, with no negative impact on teacher recruitment. IPA is now partnering with researchers, gui2de, and the Rwandan government to identify, test, and scale the most effective designs for integrating performance-based compensation into teacher contracts and to provide technical assistance for nationwide implementation. In its second year, STARS introduced new incentive models for headteachers, strengthened participation in Rwanda’s national education information platform (CAMIS), and demonstrated improvements in teacher performance and student learning. Rwanda’s Embedded Evidence Lab is central to testing and refining contract models, strengthening data systems, and laying the foundation for a nationwide scale-up that could reach 66,000 primary teachers and nearly 3 million students.
In the Philippines, mEducation expanded to more than 200 schools, reaching 5,800 learners with support from nearly 700 teachers. Originally piloted as a phone-based intervention during COVID-19, it is now being scaled as a remedial program to strengthen foundational numeracy. Several Schools Division Offices allocated their own budgets and integrated mEducation into recovery plans, signaling local ownership and sustainability. At the national level, the Department of Education (DepEd) reaffirmed its support and alignment with its learning recovery programs, and partnerships with universities to mobilize pre-service teachers marked key steps toward institutionalization.
IPA also engaged with governments and partners in 2024 to shape the next phase of work on the Graduation Approach. Pioneered by BRAC in 2002, the Graduation Approach, which was evaluated by IPA, helps people move out of extreme poverty for good. Typically lasting 18-36 months, the program offers a carefully sequenced, time-bound package of support designed to break the cycle of poverty and foster lasting economic independence. Discussions in the Philippines, Nigeria, and Rwanda set the stage for upcoming pilots, dedicated learning agendas, and new partnerships that will guide evidence-based expansion in the years ahead.
Together, these initiatives show how IPA builds structured paths to scale—combining rigorous evidence, co-creation with governments, and system-level reforms to ensure effective solutions achieve lasting impact.
2024 Supporters
Funders
The foundations, governments, corporations, multilateral organizations, and NGOs supporting IPA’s research and programs
60 Decibels
Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), MIT
Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA)
Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise Ltd.
Allan and Gill Gray Philanthropy
Argidius Foundation
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Brown University
Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA)
Center for Global Development
Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)
Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI)
Compassion International
Crack the Code
Decodis
Delivery Associates
Douglas B. Marshall, Jr. Family Foundation
Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Enveritas
Fund for Innovation in Development (FID)
Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University
Hand in Hand International
Harvard University
Health Access Connect
HereWeGrow
Holman Africa Research and Engagement Fund
Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation
Inter-American Investment Corporation (IDB Invest)
Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM)
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
International Growth Centre (IGC)
The International Rescue Committee
Jacobs Foundation
Livelihood Impact Fund
Mathematica Policy Research
Mentu
New York University
Orbis
Papua New Guinea Sustainable Development Program (PNGSDP)
Promoting Equality in African Schools (PEAS)
Pula Advisor
Purdue Applied Research Institute LLC and Purdue University
Quadrature Climate Foundation
RC Forward
Rural India Supporting Trust
Save the Children Australia
Save the Children International (SCI)
Tirando por Colombia
Universitat St. Gallen
University College London (UCL)
University of Naples Federico II
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Oregon
University of Washington
Vanderbilt University
Washington University in St. Louis
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
World Bank
Yale University
Youth Impact (formerly Young 1ove)
Donors
The individuals, family foundations, and corporations supporting IPA’s overall mission
*51 people supported IPA anonymously in 2024.
**A special thank you to our supporters who have been with IPA for over 10 years.
Kristin Ace & Jeff Braemer**
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Anonymous (51)*
Ben Appen & Leslie Chang**
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Julia Bauder
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Joshua Blum
John & Sharon Bremer
Emily Brown**
Sharon & Jim Butler
Roberta Carlisle
Christopher & Ellen Clapp
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CW Global Partners
The Dancing Tides Foundation
Matt Darnall & Kathleen Kiernan
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A.C. DeChant**
Ruth & Patrick Doane
DSN & Family Foundation
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Emily Field
First Dollar Foundation
Ghemawat Charitable Fund
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Laura Hattendorf & Andrew Kau
Hinck Charitable Trust
Heather Houser
Marguerite Hoyler & David Rademeyer**
Vicente Iglesias Charitable Fund
Kaplan-Lipson Family Fund**
Dean & Cindy Karlan**
Laidir Foundation
Aaron Lear
David & Jan LeRoux**
Nancy Levenson & Suzy Fuquea**
David Lichtenstein & Rebecca Silver**
Chiayi Lin
LinkedIn
Timothy Linscott
Alan & Annamarie Louie**
Robert A. Lowe & Michelle Berlin-Lowe**
Catherine Muther**
Daniel & Marie-Jo Newlon**
The O'Brien Family**
Cynthia Parshall
Jackie & Chance Petersen
Thomas Petersen
The Philipsborn-Ray Fund**
Philotimo Foundation
Peter Rigano**
Bede Rodeghiero
Ferrill & Belinda Roll**
Helen & Grace Roll
Colin Rust & Jeannie Tseng**
Lisa & Steve Sawin**
Beth & Russell Siegelman**
Mason Smith**
Jason Stipanov & Amy Tisler
Dan Stoyell
Cheryl Lee Sullivan & Brian H. Ross
James Tarabori
Colin Teichholtz & Stella Um**
TGS Management Company
The Life You Can Save
Three Guineas Fund DAF Fund, a fund of the Tides Foundation
James W Tomb Jr. Charitable Fund
Michael D. Topper & Kimberly A. Freitas Fund**
Eric Joseph Uhrhane**
Felix Villa
Michael Wang
Jed Weissberg & Shelley Roth**
David Wells & Sonya Moore-Wells
W. Trammell Whitfield Foundation Fund at The Chicago Community Foundation
Wickelgren Mikelson Charitable Giving**
Peter Wiley
WinterHamlin Giving Fund
Herbert O. Wolfe Foundation
The Zaitlin-Nienberg Family**
Janet Zhou
Agnieszka Zieminska Yank & Stephen Yank
2024 Financials
IPA’s 2024 fiscal year covered January 1 to December 31, 2024. Percentages are calculated using exact amounts rather than rounded amounts. See our full, audited financials at: poverty-action.org/financials.
Revenue
Grants & Contracts: $46.3m (87.7%)
Contributions: $6.0m (11.4%)
Other Income: $0.5m (0.9%)
Total: $52.8m
Expenses
Program Services: $44.5m (76.8%)
Management & General: $12.4m (21.4%)
Fundraising: $1.0m (1.8%)
Total: $57.9m
Net Assets
End of 2023: $10.3m
End of 2024: $4.6m
*Change in Net Assets: -$5.7m
*In 2024, IPA invested a net $2m of previously-raised donor funds into programs directly linked to increasing impact, particularly policy work and data science.
IPA is a trusted, high impact nonprofit. We are verified and recommended by the following organizations so you can give with confidence:
2024 Environmental Report
IPA is committed to integrating environmental sustainability into our poverty reduction efforts. We strive to carry out our work in a way that respects and protects the environment, emphasizing transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement in our environmental performance. IPA's Environmental and Sustainability Policy, first issued in September 2023, continues to guide our operations with a focus on minimizing environmental harm by: empowering staff with the knowledge and tools to advocate for and implement sustainable practices; including environmental considerations in procurement processes and supplier selection, opting for local sourcing whenever possible; monitoring and managing the consumption of energy and natural resources efficiently; and reducing waste and expanding recycling efforts. To learn more, view our Environmental Report on our website.
Our Leadership
As of November 2025. Visit poverty-action.org/about/people for a complete and up-to-date list of our global, regional, sector, and country programs leadership.
Board of Directors
Benjamin S. Appen, CFA
Founding Partner, Co-Chair of Investment Committee, and CEO, Magnitude Capital
Trey Beck
Public Policy Analyst
Vineet Bewtra
Senior Advisor, Global Innovation Fund
Annie Duflo
Executive Director, IPA and Ex Officio Member, Board of Directors
Heather W. Grizzle
Founding Partner, Causeway Strategies
Laura Hattendorf
Senior Advisor, Mulago Foundation
Jane Kabubo-Mariara
Executive Director, Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP)
Karen Levy
Co-Founder, Fit for Purpose
Russell Siegelman
Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Chairman, IPA Board of Directors
Mason Smith
Head of Quantitative Engineering, TGS Management Company
Colin Teichholtz
Head of Fixed Income, Eisler Capital
Kentaro Toyama
W.K. Kellogg Professor of Community Information, University of Michigan School of Information
David Wells
High Growth Tech Company Board Member & Advisor
Agnieszka Zieminska Yank
Chief Talent Officer, APCO
Janet Zhou
Director, Strategy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Founder and Former President and Chairman of the Board
Dean Karlan
Founder of IPA; Professor of Economics and Finance at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management; Co-Director of the Global Poverty Research Lab
Senior Management Team
Annie Duflo
Executive Director
Claudia Casarotto
Chief Global Programs Officer
Stacey Daves-Ohlin
General Counsel and Secretary, IPA Board of Directors
Sarah de Tournemire
Chief Partnerships and Philanthropy Officer
Steven Glazerman
Chief Research & Methodology Officer
Andrew Solomon
Chief Financial Officer (Interim) and Treasurer, IPA Board of Directors
Loïc Watine
Chief Research & Policy Officer
Our Offices
As of November 2025, IPA has 16 country offices in Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, as well as offices in the United States. Visit poverty-action.org/contact-us for up-to-contact information for our office locations, and see poverty-action.org/where-we-work for details on all of the countries where IPA works.
Country Office Contacts
Burkina Faso & Côte d'Ivoire: Maud Amon-Tanoh, Country Director | info-burkinafaso@poverty-action.org
Colombia: Juan Felipe Garcia, Country Director | info-colombia@poverty-action.org
Ghana: Salifu Amadu, Country Director | info-ghana@poverty-action.org
Kenya: Ginger Golub, Country Director | info-kenya@poverty-action.org
Liberia & Sierra Leone: Zin Nwe Win, Country Manager | info-liberia@poverty-action.org
Malawi & Zambia: Emmanuel Bakirdjian, Regional Director | info-zambia@poverty-action.org
Mexico: Odette Gonzalez Carrillo, Country Director | MEX_info@poverty-action.org
Nigeria: Funmilayo Ayeni, Country Director | info-nigeria@poverty-action.org
Peru (and Latin American Countries without a Country Office): Barbara Sparrow, Country Director | info-peru@poverty-action.org
Philippines: Aftab Opel, Country Director | info-philippines@poverty-action.org
Rwanda: Cassien Havugimana, Country Representative | info-rwanda@poverty-action.org
Tanzania: Zachary Isdahl, Deputy Regional Director, East Africa & Asia | info-tanzania@poverty-action.org
Uganda: Miriam Laker, Country Director | info-uganda@poverty-action.org
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