INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON POVERTY
Research | Training | Policy | Practice

Message from the Director

2022: A Year of Connection and Collaboration at IRP

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Katherine A. Magnuson
Katherine A. Magnuson

As 2022 comes to a close, we at IRP are reflecting on our work during the past year and preparing for new opportunities in 2023.

At IRP our goal is to improve the effectiveness of public policies that reduce poverty, inequality, and their consequences, to promote economic mobility and equity, and to further develop knowledge of the structural causes of poverty, inequality, and economic insecurity. To do this important work, we learn with and from many talented graduate students and early career researchers. In 2022, we were fortunate to have so many of them contribute to the IRP community and for us to be a part of their intellectual and policy communities. As we begin a new year, all of us at IRP look forward to continuing these collaborations and creating new ones as we seek to support policy-relevant research on poverty and economic mobility.

I hope you find their messages below as inspiring as I do.

Sincerely,
Katherine Magnuson
IRP Director

Graduate Research Fellows Program

Khrysta A. Evans, PhD Candidate in Educational Policy Studies in the Social Sciences concentration at the University of Wisconsin–Madison: Becoming a Graduate Research Fellow in IRP has been an amazing addition to my scholar trajectory here at UW-Madison. Each week we get the chance to have conversations with scholars from different social science disciplines. During these conversations I have learned more about conducting ethnographies; running undergraduate labs; and starting and maintaining innovative projects. Additionally, I have truly benefited from the one-on-one conversations I get to have with IRP speakers whether they are faculty members or IRP Post Docs. In those conversations, scholars have been very encouraging of my work and have asked me questions to push my thinking forward.
Annaliese Grant, 2022-2023 IRP Graduate Research Fellow and IRP Dissertation Award recipient: IRP has been pivotal for my training and research during my PhD program. A major reason I chose UW for graduate training, IRP’s weekly training seminars, lecture series, and opportunities for research and collaboration have given me a broad view of interdisciplinary approaches to research on poverty and inequality and have given me the tools to frame and execute my own work. IRP has facilitated countless connections within and outside of the Madison community that have been pivotal for my research. Dissertation support has allowed me to finalize important research in this final stretch of my graduate training.
Amit Jadhav, 2022-2023 IRP Graduate Research Fellow: As a Graduate Research Fellow, I get an opportunity to attend seminars on poverty and inequality. I've learned the different aspects of research on poverty and that poverty has many dimensions. The research presented in IRP seminars provides an overview of poverty research and allows interaction with scholars from across the country. Also, I've learned many qualitative techniques researchers use in their research. I believe that this exposure to dynamic research on poverty and inequality will help me to work on my Ph.D. dissertation and in the future as a researcher.
Elise Marifian, 2022-2023 IRP Graduate Research Fellow: I love the Graduate Research Fellows weekly seminars. They provide the opportunity to engage with accomplished scholars studying a wide range of poverty-related topics and using different methodologies than what I have been trained to use in my own research. This inter-disciplinary exposure enriches my scholarship by encouraging me to think about my work through different lenses. These informal seminars also give us GRFs a chance to learn about the personal challenges and successes of both junior and senior scholars. These conversations have uncovered a lot of the “Hidden Curriculum” aspects of graduate school, informing me about resources to support my professional development and strategies to navigate academia beyond graduate school.
Greg Wilson, 2022-2023 IRP Graduate Research Fellow and IRP Dissertation Award recipient: The IRP Dissertation Fellowship has been instrumental in ensuring that I complete my dissertation by the end of the academic year. Most especially, it has afforded me the space to really engage in robust data analysis which is central when completing a qualitative project of this scale. Additionally, as part of the Fellowship I have richly benefited from being in conversation with various people in the IRP network including campus visitors and those who have been so willing to hear about my work and even provide high-quality feedback. I feel deeply fortunate to have been awarded the Fellowship.

National Poverty Fellows Program

Mina Addo, 2021-2023 IRP National Poverty Fellow: I have appreciated the opportunities to present my research at IRP, such as at seminars. Preparing for a talk helps me think through ideas and improve how I communicate them. And engaging in discussion with faculty and graduate research fellows has helped me hone my ideas. I really appreciate IRP's interdisciplinary focus; I have been able to connect with scholars from a wide range of disciplines who have helped me think creatively about my work. Also, in addition to research mentors, IRP has connected the National Poverty Fellows to policy mentors who help us navigate research in the federal government and the Washington, DC, policy community. I had crossed paths with my policy mentor briefly at a conference, but it has been great to have a direct connection with her through IRP.
Jennifer Daniels, National Poverty Fellow for 2022–2023 in the Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE): What I’ve found to be the most useful are the faculty and senior scholar mentorship and professional guidance. I’ve encountered people from IRP who I feel are genuinely invested in helping me develop my research. As a newly minted social scientist with a social work practitioner background, as I ventured into completing my Ph.D. in Public Policy, I always felt passionate about engaging and conducting applied research. The uniqueness of IRP is in its track record of producing and showing reverence toward research that emphasizes the larger societal issues and lived experiences of everyday people, especially those facing disadvantage and marginalization. IRP has made me feel as if my intellectual thoughts and drive for improving our communities through research matter.
Gwen Donley, National Poverty Fellow for 2022–2023 in the Office of Community Services in the Administration for Children and Families: My research and training background is focused on population health, and I realized that I had some significant gaps in knowledge about how public policy influences the things I was researching. Being involved with IRP has given me a cadre of resources and people that I can learn from to make my work more useful to policymakers. In addition, my cohort in the National Poverty Fellows program has been invaluable to me since joining IRP; we share ideas, challenges, and successes, and their insights strengthen my work.

Economic Mobility Fellowship Program

Francesca Baroni, Economic Mobility Fellow for 2022–2023 in the Office of Community Services in the Administration for Children and Families: As an IRP Economic Mobility Fellow, I have worked within the federal government since September. Through this opportunity, I have developed a deeper understanding of federal-level policy implementation, which I highly value as someone passionate about policy as a tool to create systemic changes to benefit communities that have been historically marginalized. Also, through my disaster management research, I will be enhancing my research skills. I am grateful to conduct research on such a crucial topic and hope that my work will impact communities that have been disproportionately harmed by the increased intensity and frequency of natural disasters due to climate change.

Emerging Poverty Scholars Fellowships

Ivis García, 2022-2024 IRP Emerging Poverty Scholar Fellow: I am so grateful for the support I received from IRP for my research on Puerto Rico’s relocation housing program after Hurricane Maria. They funded my research, encouraged me to apply for competitive grants, connected me to mentors and other researchers studying poverty, funders, editors, and think tanks in DC. IRP was also very useful for my professional development, providing resources and guidance to help me think of how to use media to expand my research impact. Overall, their support gave me the confidence and resources to pursue my research and make a difference for low-income households.