The Government Performance Lab Welcomes New Fellows

This summer, the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab (GPL) welcomed five new fellows for the next year. GPL team members support state and local government leaders working to identify, pilot, and scale promising solutions to pressing societal challenges. 

Please join us in welcoming these new fellows to the GPL: 

Aditya Mukundan, Hannah Walker, Keiana West, Peter Willenborg, and Rachel Morrow.  

Learn more about our new fellows on the “Our People” page. 

Over the next year, these fellows will join GPL team members working on initiatives in the following areas: Children & Families, Homelessness & Housing, and Safety & Justice.  

 The GPL Approach  

GPL team members work intensively with state and local leaders, typically for 12+ months on specific projects. This dedicated capacity helps jurisdictions produce better outcomes for their residents through service systems changes such as: 

• New alternative 911 emergency response teams that can better reach people in crisis. 
• Streamlined pathways to more, permanent supportive housing. 
• Management strategies that ensure children can be cared for by their loved ones. 

The GPL works with jurisdictions to first identify potential high-impact solutions and then test and demonstrate those promising solutions through pilot programs. As the GPL learns what is effective, team members work to spread and scale those findings through communities of practice, executive education, and research dissemination. 

 To help improve government performance, GPL team members rely on the following GPL tools and strategies: 

• Using data to adjust and improve public programs. 
• Designing service systems and referral pathways to better identify and engage residents. 
• Aligning procurement and contract management practices with desired outcomes, 
• Spreading and scaling effective solutions to serve more people in more communities. 
• Tackling disparities and disproportionalities in public resources and services. 

Through the fellowship program, the GPL equips fellows with the experience, knowledge, and networks they need to be ambitious, effective change-makers both on their projects and throughout their careers.  

The GPL staff also create a strong talent pool for governments across the country. To date, GPL alumni have served in 81 public service positions across 39 jurisdictions, in roles such as Chief Transformation Officer, Senior Policy Officer, Chief of Staff to the Mayor, and Director of Strategy, Applications & Research.