How to Build Relationships with Policymakers

About the Webinar Series

Improve your policy skills in this 3-part policy webinar series that will give developmental scientists practical tools to connect your research with policymakers. The evidence, including the upcoming special issue of Social Policy Report, shows us that scholars are most successful at improving evidence-based policymaking when they build relationships with policymakers. But how do you do that? Who are policymakers and how do they use evidence? How do scholars form successful policy collaborations?

In each of these webinars, we will showcase a different type of policymaker – advocacy organizations, legislators, and agency workers. You will understand how each policy audience uses and thinks about evidence and see examples of strong research-to-policy partnerships. Guided in part by SRCD Policy Fellow alum, you will leave with practical tips and information to help connect your work to the policy world.

The sessions are designed for all developmental scholars, regardless of career stage, discipline, or area of study. If you are interested in connecting research evidence to policy, these sessions are for you.

Session Overviews

Session 1: How to Build Relationships with Advocacy Organizations
Sponsored by: SRCD’s Science and Social Policy Committee
Date: Tuesday, April 2, 2024, at 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. ET 
Panelists: 

• Albert Wat, Senior Policy Director, Alliance for Early Success
• Jennifer Rodriguez, Executive Director, Youth Law Center
• Rachel Katz, Director of Research & Evaluation, Start Early (Moderator)

Session 2: How to Build Relationships with Legislators
Sponsored by: SRCD’s Policy Department 
Date: Friday, April 5, 2024, 11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET 
Panelists: 

• Taylor Scott, Research to Policy Collaborative
• Vivian Tseng, Foundation for Child Development, author of April 2024 SPR
• Alaina Flannigan, Research Scientist on Child Welfare, Child Trends (Moderator)

Session 3: How to Build Relationships with State and Federal Agency Officials
Co-Sponsored by: SRCD’s Science and Policy Departments, International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS), and Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA) 
Date: Tuesday, April 16, 2024 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET 
Panelists: 

• Jessica Bradshaw, Associate Professor at the University of South Carolina, and Board Member at The International Congress of Infant Studies (ICIS)
• Callie Edwards, Director, Program Evaluation and Education Research at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation
• Jenni Owen, Director of the North Carolina Office of Strategic Partnerships, author of April 2024 SPR
• Paul Strande (Invited to Speak), Senior Advisor for Research Partnerships, Executive Office of the President within OMB
• Rose Wesche, Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech, member of the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA), and Chair of SRA’s Social Policy Committee
• Lindsay Turner Trammell, Director for Policy, SRCD (Moderator) 

Registration Prices

*Note: The third webinar session is FREE for all.

For questions about the event, please contact policy@srcd.org.
For questions about registration, please contact events@srcd.org.