Phase One Report

Helping partners in Connecticut build capacity for evidence-based policy

To help policymakers make decisions informed by new research and data, we build bridges between Yale faculty, state and local governments, and other partners–with a special focus on our home state of Connecticut.

We’re working alongside state policymakers to address Connecticut’s most pressing policy challenges

Proponents of evidence-based policy have long encouraged policymakers to make decisions grounded in empirical research. But too often, the evidence policymakers need isn’t only hard to find or understand–the capacity needed to make use of it simply doesn’t exist.

At the Tobin Center, we believe universities are uniquely positioned to build this capacity and strengthen policy–especially at the state level–and we’re passionate about finding new ways for university experts and local leaders to work together toward shared goals.

To deliver impact in our home state of Connecticut, we bring together Yale faculty, our expert staff, and government leaders to address the state’s most pressing policy challenges–and turn evidence into better outcomes for the residents who need them most.

Tobin Center Founding Executive Director David Wilkinson with North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont Tobin Center Founding Executive Director David Wilkinson (left) with North Dakota Governor Kelly Armstrong (center) and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (right) discussing how universities and state governments can work together.
Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Yale University President Maurie McInnis join Tobin Center staff at a 2026 conference and reception. Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (center left) and Yale University President Maurie McInnis (center right) join Tobin Center staff and Connecticut Governor’s Fellows at a 2026 conference and reception.

Our work with Connecticut

We work with partners around the country to inform policy with rigorous, empirical research. But nowhere is our commitment to evidence-based policy more pronounced than Yale’s home state of Connecticut.

Children Learning Social Safety Net Electric Vehicles
Children Learning

Early childhood education

To help fill a critical gap in research that could inform whether cities and states should invest in public pre-k programs–as well as how to design those programs–the Tobin Center supported a landmark study of a large, public pre-K program in New Haven, Connecticut.

Through a collaboration with New Haven Public Schools and relevant state agencies, Yale faculty led a multi-year study to track earnings of parents whose children were enrolled in the program. They learned that free, all-day pre-k can help parents earn more for years to come–findings that helped inform the state’s passing of landmark legislation to expand access to public pre-k in 2025.

Learn More

Social Safety Net

Medicaid, SNAP, and the social safety net

Through our partnership with SCALE at the Yale School of Public Health, the Tobin Center supports work to strengthen Connecticut’s social safety net programs, including Medicaid and SNAP.

SCALE data scientists work within Connecticut’s Department of Social Services (DSS) to build the infrastructure for rigorous randomized controlled trials and other analyses. By pairing cutting-edge analytic tools with close partnership at the leadership level, the team helps evidence shape budgets, operations, and outcomes in real time.

Among other initiatives, the SCALE team has partnered with DSS on responding to major changes in federal policy through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA).

Learn More

Electric Vehicles

Electric vehicles

A collaboration with Professor Costas Arkolakis and Yale School of the Environment Professor Ken Gillingham helped the state of Connecticut address one of the biggest challenges to electric vehicle (EV) adoption: range anxiety.

Despite billions in federal investment in charging infrastructure, the fear of not being able to charge an EV has slowed uptake nationwide. Using detailed datasets—including vehicle registrations, road networks, cell phone mobility patterns, and existing charging station characteristics—the research team was able to show how strategic infrastructure investments could boost EV adoption.

Learn More

The Connecticut Governor’s Fellowship

Connecticut Governor’s Fellowship brings together talented early-career professionals and senior state leaders to help solve Connecticut’s most pressing policy problems.

Conceived in 2021 as a direct response to the urgent needs of the state during the COVID-19 public health emergency, the program is serving as a model for other states looking for new ways to bring talent into state government and expand their capacity to solve important public policy issues.

The Fellowship has channeled over 61 early career professionals into state service. Fellows come from universities across the state—including Yale—and bring to their work a rich diversity of professional experience, from service in the U.S. military to experience in teaching, consulting, and other industries.

Sam Quinney

Answering Connecticut’s questions with data and evidence

Sam Quinney–director of the Tobin Center’s Yale for Connecticut Initiative–works alongside Yale faculty and our partners in Connecticut government to generate timely, relevant, and high-quality evidence to improve resident outcomes. With the Yale for Connecticut team, Sam is developing a new model for working with Yale’s home state that builds on the historic partnerships built by the Tobin Center and the Yale School for Public Health–all with the aim of ensuring that the expertise of Yale faculty can help address Connecticut’s highest policy priorities.

Learn more

Our impact on policy across the country

Since our founding in 2018, we’ve relentlessly pursued real-world impact, developing new strategies to help Yale economics research improve people’s lives in concrete ways.

Our impact at Yale

Rigorous economics research is complex to manage and produce. We streamline the process so faculty can deliver answers when policymakers need them.

Our impact in Connecticut

To deliver impact in our home state, the Tobin Center helps state policymakers address their most pressing policy challenges–and turn evidence into better outcomes for the residents who need them most.

What’s next

We’ve learned a lot since our founding, and we’re refining our strategy to deliver even more impact in the years ahead.