From the COSSA April 12, 2019 press release:

The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) has announced its plans to recognize two sets of champions of the evidence-based policymaking movement with its 2019 awards. COSSA’s 2019 Distinguished Service Award will be presented to Katharine Abraham and Ron Haskins, whose leadership of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking helped catalyze efforts across federal agencies to integrate science- and evidence-based decision-making into the everyday work of government.

“This year’s awardees have collectively demonstrated the important contributions the social and behavioral sciences can make to helping government better serve its citizens when they are given the resources, opportunity, and freedom to thrive,” said COSSA Executive Director Wendy Naus. “We are so pleased to recognize Ron and Katharine’s work toward fulfilling the promise of evidence-based policymaking both through their own distinguished careers and through their work with the Commission.

Katharine Abraham and Ron Haskins were appointed chair and co-chair (respectively) of the Commission on Evidenced-Based Policymaking in 2016. Under their leadership, the Commission’s deliberative processes and subsequent recommendations reflected a thoughtful, forward-looking vision that would reshape the way evidence and data could be used in decision-making. After the publication of the Commission’s report, they remained committed to ensuring that the Commission’s recommendation did not meet the fate of so many well-intentioned but ultimately ineffective reports produced in Washington and collaborated with stakeholders within and outside of the government, leading to the enactment of meaningful changes in policy through new activities within the Executive Branch and the passage of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018.

Read the full COSSA Press Release here

JPSM would like to congratulate Katharine on this well deserved award recognizing her committed and incredible work in evidence-based policymaking.