Grace Palmer

Grace Palmer is a Project Leader on the Government Performance Lab’s Children and Families team. She works with state and local governments to make it easier for families to connect to supports they want and need – such as substance use and mental health treatment, financial assistance, and health and wellbeing programs – outside of the child welfare system.

Currently Grace manages projects supporting Michigan DHHS to strengthen the ways families can access key resources before crises occur. In this and past projects Grace has worked with governments and community stakeholders — such as hospitals, schools, peer recovery workers, and nonprofit service providers — to design and implement social service systems that meet families where they are and are responsive to their needs. 

Previously, Grace was a Communications Advisor at the Brookings Institution focused on metropolitan policy. Grace holds a BA in History from Brown University and an MPP from the Harvard Kennedy School. She lives in Concord, NH with her husband and rescue dog. In her spare time, Grace is an avid reader and enjoys hiking and nature walking through New England, travel, and cooking.