Public Impact Scholars

Public Impact Scholars is a program developed by the Initiative on Cities to equip BU faculty with new skills and knowledge to influence local and state policy and discourse for positive societal impact. Faculty have an opportunity to gain new perspective on state and local government, evidence-based policymaking, and effective community-engaged research. The program also provides an opportunity to be part of a peer group of like-minded BU faculty from a variety of disciplines.

The program is open to any tenured, tenure-track, research, or clinical faculty, as well as full-time lecturers at Boston University. Program instructors include faculty and senior staff drawn from across BU. Sessions are held over three half days.

2022 Cohort

Meet our 2022 cohort of Public Impact Scholars.

The Public Impact Scholars program addresses the following questions:

• How are local and state government structured? What are their respective powers and limitations?
• How do cities garner and allocate their financial resources?
• What are the best mechanisms by which researchers can influence the policy-making process?
• What are the most effective methods of community-engaged research? What are some common challenges and how best can researchers address them?

2020 Cohort

See our inaugural 2020 Public Impact Scholars cohort or read about their experience.