Results for America

So much of American politics right now is focused on what divides us.

Our new book, to be released September 29, brings together an unlikely group of leaders united by a shared commitment to using data and evidence to deliver results.

In “Do What Works: Smarter Government, Better Results,” these leaders offer an on-the-ground report of positive change happening around the country and lessons for how others can do the same.

To learn more about these leaders and to get a preview of the stories they tell, read today’s post in The Department of What Works. You can pre-order your copy of the book now.

📖 Preview the stories here:
https://thedepartmentofwhatworks.substack.com/

📦 Pre-order your copy here:
https://disruptionbooks.com/books/do-what-works

Do What Works - Disruption Books Broken. Ineffective. Dysfunctional. Those are the words Americans often use to describe the government they pay for and depend upon to meet some of their most basic needs.

📰 It was great to see our new book “Do What Works: Smarter Government, Better Results” featured in POLITICO Playbook this week!

We’re excited to be sharing stories from governors, mayors, legislators and other leaders across the country who are changing government and improving lives.

🚀 See what the buzz is about and PRE-ORDER your copy today!
https://results4america.org/do-what-works/

📢 Exciting NEWS! 🚨

This fall, we will release Results for America’s new book — Do What Works: Smarter Government, Better Results — which shares stories of progress and impact happening today at all levels of government. With chapters by governors, Members of Congress, former White House leaders, mayors and other bipartisan leaders, the book offers a blueprint for how governments everywhere can solve urgent challenges and rebuild public trust.

📖 Learn more and PRE-ORDER your copy now!
https://results4america.org/do-what-works/

🗓 Please save the date for these fall events celebrating the leaders who are changing government and improving lives:

➡ Texas Tribune Festival - Sept. 24-26 | Austin, TX
➡ Obama Presidential Center - Oct. 8 | Chicago, IL
➡ Impact Maryland - Oct. 14 | Baltimore, MD
➡ Capitol Hill event - Oct. 14 | Washington, DC
➡ George W. Bush Presidential Center - Dec. 11 | Dallas, TX

Violent crime dropped 77% while 3rd-grade reading scores jumped 40 percentage points. How?

DREAM ON traveled to Spartanburg, South Carolina (the 3rd-fastest growing metro area in the U.S.) to visit the Northside neighborhood.

Here, a unique coalition of government officials, school district leaders, and local residents stopped looking at neighborhood development through a traditional lens. Instead, they used advanced manufacturing principles — including kaizen, a Japanese philosophy popularized by Toyota — to support resident leaders and guide one of the most inspiring neighborhood transformations in America.

Beyond crime reduction and reading scores, the teamwork in Spartanburg also built hundreds of units of new housing, a brand-new community center, a state-of-the-art child development center.

Spartanburg and its Northside are providing a national model for how discipline, resident leadership, and a community coming together can completely rewrite a neighborhood's future.

🎥 Watch the episode here! 👇🏽

This Japanese Philosophy Saved an American Neighborhood Violent crime dropped 77% while 3rd-grade reading scores jumped 40 ...

Join Results for America’s Jen Tolentino tomorrow at 3pm EST for a webinar hosted by the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities - LEO - at Notre Dame and J-PAL North America to explore how local government leaders are embedding research, data, and evidence into budgeting processes. There’s still time to reserve your spot!

🔗 RSVP here: https://forms.gle/jjni9W4WtkftkctB6

From Line Items to Impact: Incorporating Evidence into Local Budgeting An Evidence Matters Webinar Many local governments have taken steps to evaluate the community impacts of specific programs and have used such analysis to support funding decisions. But how do we move from making ad hoc decisions about what gets evaluated to building a consistent focus on data and ev...

As partners of The EdRedesign Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, we’re excited to invite you to a powerful virtual event: the premiere of DREAM ON’s new episode on the transformation of Spartanburg, SC’s Northside neighborhood.

In this episode, you’ll see how a cross-sector coalition of residents, local government, school district leaders, and a backbone organization came together to:

➤ Cut violent crime by 77%
➤ Raise 3rd-grade reading proficiency from 6% to 48%
➤ Build hundreds of units of new housing
➤ Open a new community center
➤ Create a state-of-the-art early learning center

📅 Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2026
🕛 Time: 10:00–11:00 AM ET
💻 Location: Virtual | Zoom Webinar

At this special launch event, you’ll be among the first to watch the episode and hear directly from the leaders behind this work during a live Q&A moderated by Rob Watson (Executive Director, EdRedesign) with:

➤ Jennifer Blatz, President & CEO, StriveTogether
➤ Dr. Russell Booker, CEO, Spartanburg Academic Movement
➤ Carol Naughton, CEO, Purpose Built Communities
➤ David Summers, CEO, Spartanburg Northside Development Group

This event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required.

👉 Register here: https://edredesign.org/events/dream-spartanburg-sc

Please share this with your networks and join us to explore what’s possible when communities come together to rewrite a neighborhood story.

DREAM ON: Spartanburg, SC The EdRedesign Lab serves as a catalyst advancing the cradle-to-career field by promoting cross-sector community-based systems of support and opportunity for all children, especially those affected by racism and poverty.

📢 On June 2, join the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities - LEO - at Notre Dame and Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) (North America) for the next virtual session in their Evidence Matters Webinar series! The webinar will explore how local government leaders are embedding research, data, and evidence into budgeting processes. You’ll hear practical advice from local government leaders about how to get started and how to sustain momentum over time—building the internal capacity, cross-departmental partnerships, and political will needed to make evidence-informed budgeting a lasting part of how your government works.

Event Details:
🗓️ Date: June 2, 2026
⏱️ Time: 12pm PST / 3pm EST
👩🏾‍💻 Register here: https://forms.gle/jjni9W4WtkftkctB6

Featured speakers include:
Ricardo Basurto-Davila, Chief Evaluation Officer, County of San Diego - Government, CA
Ryan Flynn, Civic Design Researcher, The Lab @ DC
Jen Tolentino, Director, Local Practice, Results for America
Sam Quinney, Director, Yale for Connecticut Initiative, Yale Tobin Center for Economic Policy

In our latest story from The Department of What Works, Maycomb Capital’s Caroline Herriman and Shelby Kohn join Jeff Kositsky, Deputy Director of Housing Stability and Homelessness Resolution for the City and County of Denver Government, as guest writers to share how Denver is tying homeless shelter payments to performance, reducing administrative burden, improving data and helping shelter providers focus on moving people toward housing.

🔗Read the story today:
https://thedepartmentofwhatworks.substack.com/p/from-receipts-to-results-denver-redesigns

From Receipts to Results: Denver Redesigns $60 Million in Homeless Shelter Contracts By tying payments to performance, the city is reducing administrative burden, improving data and helping shelter providers focus on moving people toward housing.

In this week’s post in The Department of What Works, Ricardo Basurto-Davila, County of San Diego - Government’s Chief Evaluation Officer, shares how the county created an independent evaluation office to help answer key questions – like “are we investing in the right things, at the right scale, for the right populations?”

📰 Read the full story to learn more: https://thedepartmentofwhatworks.substack.com/p/how-san-diego-county-is-making-sure

“Counties and cities across the country are being asked to do more with less, and to show the impact of their work. The answer to that challenge is not more reporting. It is building the institutional capacity to ask whether our investments are working, and making sure the answer gets to people who can act on it,” writes Ricardo Basurto-Davila, Chief Evaluation Officer for the County of San Diego - Government in our latest post from the Department of What Works.

🔍 Learn how San Diego’s independent evaluation office is connecting rigorous evaluation to the policy and budget decisions that shape the lives of 3.3 million San Diegans.



Read the full story today! ⬇️

How the County of San Diego is Making Sure Its Spending Delivers Results An independent evaluation office is connecting rigorous evaluation to the policy and budget decisions that shape the lives of 3.3 million San Diegans.