Mdrc

“990 review process the form 990 review process at mdrc includes an internal review by mdrc's senior vice president/chief financial officer and president as well as external review by grant thornton. The form 990 is then reviewed by the audit committee of the board of directors. The full board is provided with a copy of the form 990 prior to its being filed with the irs. The full board discusses the form 990 post-filing at its scheduled annual meeting in december.”

“Conflict of interest policy enforcement & monitoring directors and officers are required to complete and sign an annual conflict of interest disclosure statement. The statements are reviewed by the corporate secretary and the president for actual or possible conflicts of interest. If any is disclosed, or inferred, these actual or possible conflicts of interest are brought to the attention of the chairman of the board. In response, the chairman might convene a group of disinterested directors to discuss and address the conflict. All employees, including officers who are also staff members and key employees, are required to read and sign a code of ethics, which includes information about conflicts of interest. Annually, each employee must sign a statement disclosing the presence or absence of conflicts of interest on behalf of the employee and family members. Failure to do so can result in disciplinary action up to and including termination. These statements are reviewed by the human resources department and, as appropriate, by counsel for determination regarding action that should follow the reporting of an actual or potential conflict of interest. In addition to the required annual report, all employees are instructed by the code of ethics that they have a responsibility to report a violation of the code. Employees can report any such violation to mdrc supervisory personnel, the human resources department, or to an independent organization, lighthouse services, which hosts an online site and toll-free number which employees can use to make complaints anonymously or in identifiable form.”

“Process for determining compensation the finance and compensation committee ("the committee") of mdrc's board of directors establishes each year the compensation and bonus payments, if any, for the top paid and next top paid officer of the organization based on survey information provided to them from both internal and external sources. The individuals at the end of 2021 are dr. Knox and mr. Amadeo. Each year mdrc's human resources function conducts a review of the form 990 and other documents of research organizations that perform similar research as mdrc, to ascertain their pay structures for the top and second top paid officers, which is typically the ceo or president and the coo/cfo. Included in this survey is the base salary and bonus payments made to the top and second top paid executives of these other policy research firms, along with such comparable factors as size of the organization as measured by headcount and operating budgets. This survey information is supplemented by comparable information provided from an external, third party consulting firm called the national think tank compensation survey (nttc) conducted by akron incorporated, a washington dc based compensation consulting firm. The nttc compiles the base salary and bonus payment information provided by survey participants and displays the information anonymously by quartile, location, and firm size (stated in terms of employees and budget). Survey participant include competing policy research organizations, as well as foundations, endowments, and universities. The results of both the in-house and external surveys and comparison of form 990s for those comparable not-for-profit organizations are presented to the committee, which then deliberates, and based on the information provided, establishes the pay level for mdrc's president and chief financial officer. The compensation of the president and chief financial officer is approved by the board. Part vi, section b line 15b process for determining compensation the committee establishes compensation levels for the chief financial officer, as required by the california nonprofit integrity act of 2004. Compensation for the rest of the officers and employees is based on a recommendation by the president to the committee. The recommendation from the president establishes a merit and bonus pool for the coming year, based on the organization's standard pay practice as described below. The president sets and approves the salary level and bonus payments for officers other than the chief financial officer, and for other key employees. Each year, mdrc's president recommends to the board a salary pool for merit increases and discretionary bonuses to be paid to other officers and key employees in the organization. The merit increase and bonus pools are generally competitive within the two marketplaces in which the organization competes for human talent (new york and california). The president bases the recommendation on survey information provided by the organization's human resources department, which in turn, obtains local labor market pay practices from external third party consulting firms such as mercer human resources consulting and towers perrin compensation consulting, as well as conducting a survey of pay practices from other policy research organizations. Typical merit increase pools in recent years have been in the four percent (4%) to five percent (5%) range. Once the merit increase pool has been established and approved by the board, mdrc establishes each employee's salary based on two factors: performance on the job during the most recent calendar year (mdrc uses a four tier performance rating system), and where an employee's salary falls within the salary range established for their position (called a compa-ratio). Holding performance constant, mdrc's compensation system provides a greater increase in salary to those employees who are low in their salary ranges and provides smaller increases in salary to t”

“Availability of documents mdrc's financial statements are made available to the public through the mdrc website and a hard copy is provided upon request. Mdrc's governing documents and conflict of interest policy are generally available to the public upon request.”

“Vice president, director of deployment and accountability, barbara goldman, is reported as a former officer on the form 990 as she is still currently employed by mdrc, but in a non-officer capacity.”

“Mdrc was founded in 1974 on the notion that high - quality research and evidence can play a vital role in reducing poverty and inequity in the united states. Mdrc is a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy and education research organization committed to finding solutions to some of the most difficult problems facing the nation - from reducing poverty and bolstering economic self-sufficiency to improving public education and college graduation rates. We design promising new interventions, evaluate existing programs using the highest research standards, and provide technical assistance to build better programs and deliver effective interventions at scale. Our diverse, interdisciplinary staff of researchers and former educators and program operators - supported by experts in finance, law, technology, human resources, and communications - work in communities across the country, in a wide range of domains, including pre-k to postsecondary education, criminal justice, housing, and job training. Our work is stronger when our staff represent diverse backgrounds and perspectives, our management practices are inclusive, and our organizational culture promotes growth, learning, and innovation. Underlying all our work is a deep faith in the wisdom of on-the-ground program staff and individuals directly affected by the programs and policies we study. Over the years, mdrc has brought its commitment to building strong evidence to an ever - growing range of policy areas. We have worked in nearly every state and most of the nation's major cities. Today we are working on projects in five policy areas and four centers: - family well-being and child development - k-12 education - postsecondary education - economic mobility, housing, and communities - youth development, criminal justice, and employment - center for applied behavioral science - center for data insights - center for criminal justice research - center for effective career and technical education mdrc has worked diligently over the last several years to strengthen our existing programmatic technical assistance, implementation research, and communications functions, while building new capabilities in behavioral science and data analytics - all in the service of improving education and social programs. Mdrc offers "end-to-end" relationships and services that incorporate close attention to the links among an intervention's implementation system, its core activities, and its highest priority outcomes; strong data analysis; predictive analytics; behavioral diagnosis and design; and other technical assistance services to help programs target their services effectively, improve their recruitment and engagement, and design their service approaches to change the trajectories of their participants. What distinguishes mdrc? Dedication to learning what works to improve the well-being of families with low incomes. When selecting new projects, mdrc takes a proactive, strategic approach that is based on an analysis of the key issues and trends in social policy and an assessment of opportunities to learn. We try to answer important policy questions by conducting multiple studies over time, each building on the last, confirming what has come before and adding new knowledge. Devotion to rigor, accuracy, and innovation. To shape policy and practice in the field, it is not enough to learn what works; research must learn why and how programs work. Each mdrc study uses the most rigorous appropriate research design to assess what difference a program makes. We are best known for large-scale studies using random assignment, but we also use an array of qualitative methods - ethnography, focus groups, case studies rooted in field research, classroom observations, case file reviews, and in-depth interviewing - to complement our quantitative analyses. We're also a leader in methodological innovation, developing and implementing new evaluation designs in real-world conditions. Research expertise and operational k”

“In collaboration with the all4ed and the education trust, mdrc launched the "educational equity: solutions through social and emotional well-being" project, which shares lessons through a series of practitioner briefs. We launched the higher education randomized controlled trials (the-rct), a restricted-access data file that contains student-level data from 30 randomized controlled trials by mdrc, including more than 45 institutions and 68,000 students. Researchers at mdrc and elsewhere can use the data file to conduct new types of cross-cutting analyses. Mdrc plans to expand the database to include evaluations by other researchers. In spring 2020, the center for employment opportunities (ceo) launched returning citizens stimulus program, which provided about $25 million in cash payments to 10,000 people returning to their communities from incarceration during the pandemic. In mid-2021, mdrc released a study documenting ceo's successful implementation of the program and how the cash payments improved the lives of recipients. We released a study of math enrichment in preschool and kindergarten in new york city. It found that children who received two years of early math enrichment had improved math test scores in third grade. The size of the effect is equivalent to closing about 40 percent of the achievement gap between children from families with low incomes and their peers from families with higher incomes. We published a new analysis of the effects of the city university of new york (cuny) accelerated study in associate programs (asap) model, evaluated first in new york and later in ohio, showed long-term effects in new york on degrees earned and consistent effects in both states. Mdrc released new briefs in our ideas and evidence series, which provides policymakers and practitioners with fact-based research and analysis to help them address critical issues in social policy and education. Mdrc staff members published commentaries on a wide range of topics, all highlighting evidence for policymakers and practitioners to use, in venues like the hill, governing, government executive, hechinger report, the crime reporter, route fifty, community college daily, the 74 million, early learning nation, and higher ed dive.”

“Covid-19 impact statement: the pandemic caused by the sars cov-2 virus and its associated disease covid-19 led to a change in work practices since march 2020; namely much work being done remotely, with consequent adjustments to research work related to institutions that needed to be open for in-person activities for the work to be conducted. In early 2021, mdrc's offices were made available to employees and employees used the offices and began to engage in in-person research activities again. Mdrc continues to monitor its investment portfolio and its liquidity and is actively working to minimize any potential long-term impacts. Mdrc is actively working with its research collaborators and funders and does not expect an adverse effect from the pandemic in its future work. To help sustain itself during the economic disruption wrought by the pandemic, mdrc sought economic assistance from the government. The paycheck protection program established by the cares act provides small businesses with funds to pay up to 24 weeks of certain necessary expenditures, including payroll costs, rent, and utilities. Mdrc received a paycheck protection program forgivable loan of $4,648,200 and reported this loan on its balance sheet. The organization applied for full forgiveness of the loan in may of 2021 as it met all of the criteria required by the small business administration to obtain forgiveness. In august 2021, the loan was fully forgiven, and mdrc credited the federal government for the portion of the forgiven loan that was used to cover payroll in activities funded by the federal government. The loan is recorded as governmental grant revenue on part viii, line 1(e) of the form 990.”

“Mdrc amended its 2021 form 990 to correct the compensation reported for the individuals disclosed in part vii and schedule j of the form 990.”