The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 900 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) is a global research center working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. Anchored by a network of more than 1,000 researchers at universities around the world, J-PAL conducts randomized impact evaluations to answer critical questions in the fight against poverty.
Our affiliated professors are based at over 120 universities and conduct randomized evaluations around the world to design, evaluate, and improve programs and policies aimed at reducing poverty. They set their own research agendas, raise funds to support their evaluations, and work with J-PAL staff on research, policy outreach, and training.
Our research, policy, and training work is fundamentally better when it is informed by a broad range of perspectives.
Policy Associate, J-PAL Global
Olivia Bryan is a Policy Associate at J-PAL Global, where she supports evidence-based policy in the Health and Gender sectors by synthesizing and communicating research findings from randomized evaluations.
Prior to joining J-PAL in 2025, Olivia worked for the Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means, where she proposed public health, mental health, and disability services spending recommendations for the Massachusetts state operating budget. She also interned at J-PAL North America, supporting projects related to housing, education, and state and local government partnerships. In college, she received the 2021 Chancellor’s Research Scholarship for Social Sciences for her research on colonialism and present-day income inequality worldwide.
Olivia graduated cum laude from the University of California, San Diego with a BA in economics and political science with a concentration in international relations.