ABOUT US
MemWorks is a collaboration between MDRC, a premier national research and policy institution, and Slingshot Memphis, a local poverty-fighting center of influence that is helping enhance employment outcomes for people experiencing poverty in Memphis.
National Expertise
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Local Insights
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Local Insights
Working together since 2020, Slingshot and MDRC specialize in using evidence to identify solutions to the most difficult social challenges, including the reduction of poverty.
MDRC is a nonprofit, national research and policy institution that was created to build evidence about policies and practices that can improve the well-being of people who are economically disadvantaged. Slingshot is a nonprofit, poverty-fighting center of influence that was created to help make poverty-fighting more evidence-based and effective by providing standardized ways of answering what is effective at alleviating poverty.
This collaboration pairs MDRC’s national expertise about interventions and policies that create pathways out of poverty with Slingshot’s extensive understanding of the Memphis poverty-fighting ecosystem to provide previously unavailable insights.
MDRC and Slingshot are uniquely positioned to provide an objective, holistic perspective on why employment pathways are not working for people experiencing poverty in Memphis. Our goal is to use data and lived experience to empower workforce stakeholders with a fact base and interventions to address the root causes of the roadblocks that impede employment pathways.
- Nearly 50 years of rigorous research with nonprofits and government agencies across the nation
- Deep knowledge of research techniques and the evidence space
- Domain expertise across the education continuum, work and income security, and specific populations like returning citizens
- Three-decade history of evaluating career & technical education programs across the U.S.
- Strength in synthesizing large amounts of data and communicating insights across domains and geographies
- Deep understanding of the Memphis poverty-fighting ecosystem
- Analytical understanding of the challenges facing those experiencing poverty in Memphis
- Conducted 104 impact studies with 39 organizations.
- Researched best practices and analyzed factors that create the greatest poverty-fighting benefits for workforce development
- Strong relationships with the local nonprofit and funding communities, as well as workforce stakeholders
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