Lars Benson is a Government Performance Fellow working with the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management. He is currently working to reform social service procurement processes to improve effectiveness, strengthen evaluation, and help agencies and nonprofits secure equitable results for Connecticut communities. Prior to joining the Government Performance Lab, Lars earned his Master of Public Administration from the London School of Economics, where his academic work focused on assessing constituent engagement and democratic decision-making programs by local governments. As a graduate student, Lars worked part-time helping a London-based charitable foundation use program and outcome data to fight child poverty through targeted grant-making to community organizations. Previously, Lars attended Northwestern University and worked with Common Cause to advocate for Automatic Voter Registration and campaign finance reform in Illinois.