Georgetown University’s Beeck Center Releases New Publication on Transforming Government, Presents Recommendations at the White House

The Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation’s new publication recommends strategies for achieving transformational systems change in government to deliver social impact.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 28, 2015) — The Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University today released its new publication Smarter Government for Social Impact: A New Mindset for Better Outcomes, which recommends strategies for transforming the public sector and shifting billions of dollars in public spending to incentivize and pay for policies and programs that deliver impact.

The Beeck Center presented the publication’s key recommendations on how to transform government yesterday to a group of cross-sector leaders and government officials at a White House convening “A New Paradigm for Government: Adopting an Outcomes Mindset.” During the convening, Beeck Center leadership provided an overview of the publication and moderated a roundtable discussion, highlighting the publication’s call for a system-wide shift to an outcomes mindset.

“Transforming systems requires public sector leaders to foster an environment focused on achieving successful outcomes,” said Sonal Shah, Executive Director of the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation. “Our latest publication provides a blueprint for government leaders to implement a new outcomes mindset and build the supporting infrastructures that can help drive meaningful impact.”

The paper, co-authored by Jim Shelton, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and current Chief Impact Officer at 2U, details how systems change is a highly complex and trying process. Meaningful transformation will only occur when government adopts a fresh, outcomes mindset.

“Washington, D.C.’s influential Beeck Center argues for disrupting one of our nation’s largest industries — government — through innovation in its most recent publication Smarter Government for Social Impact,” said Sheila Herrling, Senior Vice President of Social Innovation at the Case Foundation. “A must read for change makers looking to deploy data and technology to solve our most pressing social challenges.”

Smarter Government for Social Impact recommends four strategic steps critical for meaningful systems transformation. The steps must be implemented together as they rely on one another for the continuous learning and support that is critical for a successful new government system.

  • Create an outcomes mindset. Foster a new institutional culture across government and stakeholders to change how policy operates within public programs;
  • Rally support for change. Create the necessary political and civic context for sustainable change;
  • Develop the supporting infrastructures. Construct the human and administrative capacity to support new policy and invest in robust data and evidence systems for adaptive learning; and,
  • Build an outcomes marketplace. Shift the structure of public funding to encourage diversity and competition in the public service market and increase opportunities for innovation.

Co-author Jim Shelton underscored the critical importance of the publication’s call-to-action, noting that “Americans deserve a government that rewards programs that achieve the desired outcomes, make the best use of every dollar, and improve the lives of citizens.”

Smarter Government for Social Impact is the second publication in the Beeck Center’s Better Outcomes Series, building off the findings in its first publication, Funding for Results: How Governments Can Pay for Outcomes. Funding for Results illustrates how the public sector can realign funding to reform social service delivery and improve results. Governments traditionally pay for the number of people served, or they have arbitrary benchmarks and protocols that often become the main focus of administrators at the expense of driving results. Funding for Results provides a guide for leaders looking to design programs to ensure public funds are properly managed to attain results.

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