Reflecting on 20 Years

J-PAL was founded in 2003 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Abhijit Banerjee,
Esther Duflo, and Sendhil Mullainathan with a mission to alleviate poverty using rigorous evidence.
As of 2024, 600 million people have been reached by programs and policies
that have been informed by evaluations by J-PAL affiliated researchers.

Lives Reached
JPAL

BY THE NUMBERS

Improving Lives Through Evidence

See the changing landscape of J-PAL’s work over the last 20 years.

Learn more

J-PAL at 20 Around the World

J-PAL North America

What Works To Reduce Poverty: 10 years of research and evidence-based policy to advance economic mobility

 Bringing together policymakers, practitioners, and researchers from around the country, J-PAL North America celebrated 10 years of catalyzing policy-relevant research with a

J-PAL Southeast Asia

A decade of empowering change: Celebrating 10 years of improving lives through evidence in Southeast Asia

To mark the tenth anniversary of J-PAL Southeast Asia, we hosted a gala dinner on July 18, 2023, in Jakarta, Indonesia. The event was attended by a wide range of J-PAL partners

J-PAL Europe

Science and the Fight against Poverty: How Far Have We Come in 20 Years and What's Next?

This two-day colloquium will focus on how innovation and scientific evidence are driving advances in the fight against poverty. 

Explore @20 Stories

In 2023 and 2024, we're highlighting stories of impact from J-PAL partners, researchers, and staff through blog posts, videos, events, and more.

Calendar

Events

laptop

Blogs

Video

Videos

camera

Photos

J-PAL Europe

Science and the Fight against Poverty: How Far Have We Come in 20 Years and What's Next?

This two-day colloquium will focus on how innovation and scientific evidence are driving advances in the fight against poverty. 

J-PAL at 20: Listening, Learning, Innovating

In celebration of J-PAL's 20th anniversary, we warmly welcome you to a day-long event that will bring together government and NGO partners, funders, researchers, and our leadership team from around the world to discuss pressing challenges facing social policy and international development and chart...

J-PAL North America

What Works To Reduce Poverty: 10 years of research and evidence-based policy to advance economic mobility

 Bringing together policymakers, practitioners, and researchers from around the country, J-PAL North America celebrated 10 years of catalyzing policy-relevant research with a

Videos: Hear from the J-PAL community

Video recordings of sessions from our anniversary event in Cambridge can be found in this playlist.