We are the Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab
We work with government and community partners to create data-informed solutions to Colorado’s most pressing problems. Visit the Approach & Impact page to learn how we leverage data for meaningful action.
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What We Do
Projects
We support our partners in tackling challenges across issue areas, from early childhood to housing to physical and behavioral health.
Evidence-Based Decision Making
Policy and budget decisions are not made using research evidence alone. Evidence-Based Decision Making recognizes that decision-makers’ expertise and community needs and context are also important.
Evidence-Building Hubs
Evidence-building hubs reduce the state’s administrative burden by managing evaluation teams. Hubs align and support actionability of findings across projects.
Linked Information Network of Colorado
LINC is a data integration collaborative based out of the Governor’s Office of Information Technology that supports timely and cost-efficient research, evaluation, and analytics.
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Work With Us
The Latest from the Colorado Lab
Learn more about our work through our blog, where we share the latest updates on projects, evidence-based decision making, partnership opportunities, and more.
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2024 Legislative Session Highlights
We celebrate the passage of two pieces of legislation this session that exemplify our commitment to evidence use and evidence building in Colorado. The first, House Bill (HB) 24-1428, advances the state’s vision of evidence-based decision making in policymaking to drive state investments and outcomes during budget requests. The second, State Bill (SB) 24-047, strengthens […]
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Spotlight on External Research Partner: Dr. Phil Pendergast
“In academia, we often get stuck in an intellectual trap of doing evaluation for the sake of doing it even when it’s not making an impact in the world. I feel really motivated to seek out opportunities like this to work with government partners that care about doing rigorous research on programs they’re investing in,” […]
![Four professionals gather and two shake hands](https://coloradolab.org/wp-content/smush-webp/2024/04/shaking-hands.jpg.webp)
Spotlight on External Research Partner: Yumiko Dougherty
As the former Director of Strategy for the Colorado Department of Human Services and then the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, Yumiko Dougherty often turned to the Colorado Lab for support. As a result, Dougherty, who now leads the consulting firm Ignite the Change Advisors, leapt at the chance to partner with the Colorado Lab in […]
![A skyline view of Denver with the gold dome of the Colorado state capitol building](https://coloradolab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/shutterstock_1647872212-3-1.webp)
Growing Capacity to Achieve the Governor’s Wildly Important Goals
The Colorado Lab is working with Governor Polis’s Office of Operations to build agency capacity to achieve the administration’s Wildly Important Goals (WIGs). The WIGs, identified through an annual strategic planning process, help state leaders focus on and track progress toward selected priority efforts. Drs. Kristin Klopfenstein and Courtney Everson are partnering with state agencies […]
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Family First Evidence-Building Hub Updates
Colorado’s Five-Year Family First Prevention Services Plan (Colorado’s Plan) promotes use of evidence-based programs and services in child welfare to help keep children safe and more families together. The Colorado Lab leads the Family First Evidence-Building Hub on behalf of the Colorado Department of Human Services. We recently released the State Fiscal Year 2024 Family First […]
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Colorado Lab Presents at CHoSEN Forum
We were pleased to present at the spring forum for the Colorado Hospitals Substance Exposed Newborn (CHoSEN) Quality Improvement Collaborative. The forum focused on evidence-based practices in caring for families affected by prenatal substance use and opportunities for innovation in collaborative care. Dr. Courtney Everson, Senior Project Director for the Colorado Lab, co-presented a plenary session entitled Piloting […]
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New Workforce Development Evidence-Building Hub
The Colorado Lab has launched a Workforce Development Evidence-Building Hub. The new Hub is a partnership with the Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative, the Colorado Wage Outcomes Result Coalition (Colorado WORC), Opportunity Now, and WorkRise at the Urban Institute. The aim is to learn more about support and training impacts on learner outcomes related to […]
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EBDM: Philanthropy Learning Community
The Colorado Lab is working with Philanthropy Colorado and state philanthropic leaders to determine how funders can best support their nonprofit grantee partners in collecting and learning from data. Foundation leaders have been invited to participate in monthly Community of Practice learning sessions through early 2025. Natalie Portman-Marsh of NPM Consulting, LLC will facilitate the […]
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Plans of Safe Care Pilot: Visit to San Luis Valley
Pictured above: Plans of Safe Care Pilot Team members (Illuminate Colorado, the Colorado Lab, and the Kempe Center) meet with partners from the San Luis Valley Area Health Education Center, the Rural Recovery Network, and Valley-Wide Health providers at Sierra Blanca Medical Center.) Efforts are underway in the San Luis Valley (SLV) to develop a […]
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Early Childhood Evaluation Hub: Synthesis of Initial Evidence
A new Colorado Lab brief offers a bird’s eye view of findings from multiple evaluations underway for stimulus-funded strategies of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC). The Early Childhood Evaluation Hub: Early Insights brief provides a cohesive overview of evidence building to date for evaluations from seven teams. Top-Line Early Insights on CDEC Strategic […]
Explore Our Resources and Projects
We champion transparency and cultivate innovation in Colorado and beyond by sharing our work. Access valuable insights in our resources and projects library.
![A skyline view of Denver with the gold dome of the Colorado state capitol building](https://coloradolab.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/shutterstock_1647872212-3-1.webp)