It is my privilege to serve as the Executive Director of the New Jersey State Policy Lab. Since its launch in 2021, we have worked to build something meaningful—producing high-quality blogs and reports, sharing them widely on our website and across social media, and holding ourselves to a standard of excellence in everything we do. In five years of working with faculty and staff with expertise in a wide range of policy domains, we have built a solid foundation of research informing the state’s policy development. We are consistently producing and sharing knowledge through reports and blogs, a policy newsletter, and economic forecasts—ensuring that timely and rigorous research reaches policymakers and the public.
As part of our “Policy in Practice” series with the Rutgers Government Relations team, we bring faculty experts to Trenton to discuss research directly with legislative staff. We have covered issues ranging from economic forecasts to the impact of corporate property acquisition on local communities. These sessions have led to engaging dialogues between researchers and policymakers, illuminating policy development efforts.
We knew from the beginning that if we wanted to have a lasting impact, we needed to do more than produce research, we also needed to invest in students. We launched our summer internship with a simple but powerful idea: recruit students with lived experiences and a passion for a specific policy issue and give them the tools necessary to explore it. Working with gifted graduate students, we developed a curriculum that would ground them in strong research methods, connected them with faculty experts, mentors, and practitioners, and gave them windows into the possibilities of careers in public service.
We also worked to help students find their voices—to carry the concerns of their communities into their careers as policy analysts and researchers. After five years of hosting this program, our interns have grown into leaders contributing to a stronger, more informed state. Notably, we invite former interns and research assistants to serve on panels, sharing insights with current students about ways to continue making a difference with their careers.
Our work with students extends beyond the internship program. Through our Policy Collaboratory with SPIA in NJ, we convene graduate students from across the state to tackle some of New Jersey’s most pressing challenges—from sea level rise (in 2024) to affordable housing (in 2025), and access to higher education (in 2026). This year, teams of students developed and presented policy proposals to representatives of the New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education. These proposals generated meaningful solutions supporting expanded access to educational opportunities in the state. Importantly, this program also builds students’ confidence in their ability to influence public policy in New Jersey.
We are prepared to continue this important work into the future, building connections between research and policy, investing in the next generation of leaders, and centering the needs of communities across New Jersey. Our current research projects are focused on such topics as treatment outcomes for opioid use disorder, strategies to eliminate pedestrian fatalities, and impacts of artificial intelligence in policing, education, and small businesses in New Jersey.
We are a small but mighty team, and we are proud of all that we have accomplished. We would like to thank all the individuals who have contributed to this work in the past and who will be a part of it in the future. Together, we are informing policymaking and improving the quality of life for everyone who lives in New Jersey.
Sincerely,
Dr. Elizabeth A. Cooner
Executive Director, New Jersey State Policy Lab