Newsletter
The journey to impact
Spring 2026
Lessons in scale
We’ve all heard Rome wasn’t built in a day. And we’ve all seen the influences of the Romans in our daily lives. For all their faults, the Romans nearly perfected several crafts of their time, including law, language, and a calendar system. They engineered roads, built aqueducts to transport water, improved sanitation with public toilets, created central heat, and developed public welfare systems. They spread these systems across continents that changed the world. But it’s easy to imagine that first—
Up at Night
In the early days of LEO, we knew how to build evidence. We also knew we wanted to make an impact. We just didn’t know how we’d do that part yet. That might sound strange coming from a research lab. But it’s the truth.
Calling Poverty's Fiercest Adversaries
LEO partners are innovators and disruptors in the anti-poverty space. They find unique ways to address complex problems, going above and beyond to uplift their communities. Two of LEO’s newest partners serve different populations and employ different methods, but maintain the same goal for their clients: economic mobility.
What the Experts Say
LEO is committed to supporting our partners through every step of their journey—from research to impact. Sometimes that impact work looks like support for replication—packaging a program so it can move into new communities. Sometimes it looks like testifying to policymakers about the impact of a program so they might allocate more or new resources to help more people access it.
Future Learnings
As Jennifer Loving, the CEO of Destination: Home said, “We have proven that targeted homelessness prevention works locally, and now it’s time to prove that this can work all across the country. We should never let people, in the worst moments of their lives, suffer even more.”
Forming the Future
For policy and impact intern Mary Curran, one of the most rewarding parts of her LEO experience was the opportunity to see a project evolve from its earliest stages into something real and impactful. What began as research and spreadsheets gradually became partnerships, plans, and the foundation for change in two communities.
Force for Good
Across the country, people are proving that evidence isn’t just numbers—it’s a force for good. This month’s stories highlight how LEO is partnering with policymakers, researchers, and organizations across the country to cultivate community and create change.
