Under a new strategic plan, the Georgia Policy Labs (GPL) begins the fall semester with a revamped leadership team that expands its research expertise and enhances its reputation as a leading transdisciplinary research center.

As the organization implements a new, three-year strategic plan leading up to GPL’s 10-year anniversary in 2028, GPL’s leadership team brings together faculty with diverse expertise along the education pipeline, reflecting GPL’s long-standing research-practice partnerships with agency and nonprofit partners from early childhood, K–12, postsecondary and career pathways.

The new leadership team now includes the senior director and four faculty directors from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies and the College of Education & Human Development. Each faculty director provides thought leadership and strategic decision-making in a different research focus area:

• Katherine Dunn, GPL’s senior director, will continue to lead the organization’s operations and strategic direction.

• Elaine Liu, the Bernard B. and Eugenia A. Ramsey Chair and a professor in the Department of Economics, will lead the early childhood and whole child focus area.

• Kevin Fortner, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies, will lead the K–12 education focus area.

• Jonathan Smith, an associate professor in the Department of Economics, will lead the postsecondary focus area.

• Daniel Kreisman, a founding member of GPL and an associate professor in the Department of Economics, will continue his leading work in career and technical education through the career pathways focus area.

Fortner and Smith join the leadership team after working extensively with GPL as fellows, and Liu joins GPL and Georgia State from the University of Houston.

“Expanding the leadership team is a significant milestone in GPL’s evolution and emblematic of the organization’s growth over the last several years,” Dunn said. “This new leadership team and the expertise they bring is not only representative of the breadth of our research-practice partnerships but also the relationships we have built across the Georgia State community. At a time when there are many challenges for our partners, our incredible leadership, staff, faculty and students will ensure we are collectively advancing evidence-based policy to best serve students and families. I look forward to the work ahead with this team.”

“This new leadership team will be critical to GPL continuing to lead with purpose. I am excited to work alongside them as we collectively address some of the most pressing issues facing our world through research that is collaborative, community-informed and actionable,” said Thomas J. Vicino, dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. “This leadership team also strengthens GPL’s reputation as a leader in transdisciplinary engaged research, and I look forward to continued collaboration with our colleagues in the College of Education & Human Development.”