Who we are
Scientists and technologists working in the public interest
We are an independent nonprofit. Our team includes economists who helped pioneer the use of administrative data for policy research, technologists who build AI and agentic systems at the frontier, and practitioners who have led workforce and human services agencies. That range lets us see a problem from the policy side and the engineering side at once, and design for both. We work as partners. Leaders rely on us for a clear, expert read on what will improve outcomes, and we stay with them through design, measurement, and results.
How we work
We start with the question and follow the evidence
We begin with the question, not a solution: what outcome are you trying to achieve, and for whom. From there we bring the right mix of economists, data scientists, engineers, AI specialists, and human-centered designers, ground our recommendations in evidence, and shape the work alongside the partners who know their communities best.
We measure whether the work moved the outcome it was meant to, and we are candid about what we find. When a decision calls for new technology, we build it to be secure and scalable, and our partners own it.
Our core values
We're powered by our ideals
At RIPL, we believe in living these five ideals every day to inspire positive change and innovation:
Real-world results
What we have built and proven
Much of what RIPL recommends, we created. We built DOORS, the workforce platform now deployed across multiple states, and SIRAD, the open-source framework that lets researchers analyze administrative data while protecting people's identities. We pioneered the secure research data lakes that made fast, responsible analysis possible during the pandemic, and when Rhode Island needed to pay pandemic unemployment benefits, RIPL built the system that made it the first state in the country to do so.
We work across states, including Rhode Island, New Jersey, Colorado, Arkansas, Hawai'i, Maryland, and Washington, and with federal agencies. Implementation runs on secure cloud infrastructure through our partnerships with major cloud, technology, and AI providers.
Opening DOORS
Creating the DOORS (Data for Opportunity in Occupational Reskilling Solution) solution, implemented in multiple states to improve workforce development outcomes
