In times when divisions might seem commonplace, a focus on common ground might seem like wishful thinking, or even naivety. Qualities unbecoming to a research lab. But at the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO), common ground isn’t something you bargain to reach or struggle to find. It’s something built—brick by brick, partnership by partnership, truth by truth. When evidence leads the way, you’re never lost.
LEO doesn’t claim to have all the answers and spends much of its time asking questions. But there is one question they can always answer, without fail—why?
Because people experiencing poverty deserve solutions that work.
As LEO approaches its 13th year—with more than 100 projects spanning over half the states in the U.S.—it’s worth asking: where has putting evidence in the driver’s seat taken us? And where is it leading us next?
Because evidence doesn’t build itself. And it certainly doesn’t change lives just by existing. It comes to life through people, partnerships, and community. That’s why, from the very beginning, LEO has worked to cultivate relationships across sectors: with a growing network of nonprofit partners (the solution creators), a community of passionate researchers (the solution investigators), and a coalition of policy and decision makers at the local, state, and national levels (the solution scalers).
Whether it’s shaping national legislation, informing state budgets, or helping counties scale what works, each and every action reflects a common belief: where evidence leads, impact follows.
Speaking of impact, in addition to a growing and focused policy and impact team, LEO also closely partners with Notre Dame’s federal relations team based in Washington, D.C. Their focus is on keeping research at the center of policymaking and seeing to it that more federal dollars go toward programs backed by evidence.
“What I appreciate most about LEO is the desire to close the gap on policy and practice, to find common ground, and to get the phrase ‘evidence-based policy’ into actionable legislation,” says Jill Pentimonti, a key member of the federal relations team.
“What I appreciate most about LEO is the desire to close the gap on policy and practice, to find common ground, and to get the phrase ‘evidence-based policy’ into actionable legislation
Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, has long advocated for an evidence-based approach to addressing poverty. “If you want to make good public policy, it usually requires buy-in from both parties. It’s just that simple,” he says.
Ryan has been a LEO supporter since the early days. It started in 2016 when conversations with LEO co-founder Jim Sullivan and economist Raj Chetty underscored a major gap for Ryan—too little nonpartisan evidence was guiding federal poverty policy. This realization sparked Ryan’s long-running collaboration with LEO and led him to co-sponsor the bipartisan Evidence-Based Policymaking Commission Act with Democratic Senator Patty Murray. The law laid the foundation for the 2018 Evidence Act, which modernized federal data practices helping decision-makers focus less on politics—and more on what works.
“In my experience, the best way to overcome ideological sticking points and partisanship in poverty-fighting is to use evidence and data,” says Ryan. “Academically rigorous studies and empirical data are hard to refute, so arming policymakers with more information and more evidence about what works and what doesn’t is key to breaking through ideological stalemates. It’s easy to object to a partisan talking point. It’s harder to object to the findings of a well-run randomized controlled trial.”
Thankfully, LEO has a lot of these—objective findings that are the foundational bricks LEO lays that can lead to strong impact.
The Goodwill Excel Center shines brightly as an example of LEO’s work at the state level. Led by Betsy Delgado, the Excel Center is a tuition-free high school for adults. Along with education, the program offers child care and a life coach to help students navigate issues with transportation, tutoring, scheduling, and more. But before they moved to scale, the Excel Center team partnered with LEO to evaluate the impact of the program—together building a foundation for the program with evidence.
In fact, LEO researchers found that the Excel Center indeed makes a difference. Specifically, they discovered that graduates experienced a 39% increase in earnings within five years of applying to the program. They were also 11% more likely to be employed in the formal labor market and 33% more likely to enroll in college or professional certification programs.
The work of the partnership didn’t stop there. Even with strong results, expansion didn’t come easy as the Excel Center soon learned that many states blocked adult learners over 21 from attending high school. Instead, they were left with only the GED as an option, which offers much less promising outcomes.
This evidence helped forge common ground in Arizona after LEO testified to the legislature about the program’s proven impact. Not only did the state lift the age cap, they committed $12M to the cause and launched their first Excel Center in 2022.
And other states, including South Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas, have followed suit and also made noteworthy changes. The Excel Center aims to open 85 operational schools by 2030.
The same capacity for impact exists at the local level as well. LEO’s partnership with Destination: Home in Santa Clara County showed that it’s possible to stop homelessness before it starts. The study found providing targeted financial assistance significantly reduced homelessness among at-risk households—and that these effects persist over time. Put simply, the intervention helped those at-risk of losing their home stay in their home in the short and the long term.
These findings laid the foundation for local momentum for the approach. In 2017, the pilot served 215 households. As LEO demonstrated the positive impact, Destination: Home expanded its capacity and today reaches more than 1,700 households—greatly increasing the number of lives impacted by evidence. The County ultimately adopted the model, transitioning the program to the Office of Supportive Housing. And drawing on this strong partnership, founded on the common pursuit of understanding what works to prevent homelessness, LEO and Destination: Home partnered with Results for America to develop a toolkit to help bring this solution to more communities across the country. (Be sure to check out page 11 for more about the toolkit and where LEO’s going next).
Just as LEO’s evidence has helped shape change at the state and local level, it’s also guiding work back in D.C. where Jill Pentimonti and her team continue to make inroads. Through steady, strategic engagement with staff from the House Ways and Means Committee, LEO was invited to share insights on how evidence can strengthen the reauthorization of Title IV-B—a federal program aimed at promoting family stability and protecting children.
This included a seat at a committee roundtable on child welfare, where LEO had the opportunity to share how improved data access can lead to better outcomes.
“When we think about funding programs that impact the outcomes of disadvantaged youth, we really want those programs to be evidence-based,” says Pentimonti. “And after dozens of strategic conversations over the course of a few years on the Hill, the current legislation now includes the wording ‘evidence-based.’” This is a win.
Clear in all these examples, whether at the local, state or federal level, is that change takes partnership, a deep respect for truth, and an unwavering belief in people’s dignity. These building blocks, this common ground.
People across the country who are experiencing poverty are worthy of these efforts. More than that, they are wholly deserving of our best efforts. That’s the common ground that brings us together—across generations, state lines, ideologies, focus areas, and expertise.
As Paul Ryan puts it, “Trust and relationships are the building blocks for developing consensus. People have to trust you before they’re willing to find consensus with you.”
“Trust and relationships are the building blocks for developing consensus. People have to trust you before they’re willing to find consensus with you.”
So whether they’re in Arizona running Excel Centers, in Santa Clara working to prevent homelessness, or in DC changing legislation, LEO’s partners and the LEO team show what’s possible when research is done with—not to—communities.
This is common ground—a place that’s not flashy. It’s not the loudest voice in the room. And it’s certainly not easy. But that’s because, as LEO has discovered, common ground is not a place to be found, but a structure to be built and reinforced brick by brick.
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