Research
We conduct independent, policy-relevant research that examines how policies and institutions operate, how they interact and how their consequences are distributed across societies.
About
Understanding systems. Improving policy.
The Systems Policy Institute (SPI) is an independent policy research organization examining how institutions, technologies, markets and societies interact to shape public policy and its consequences.
Nairobi, Kenya, home to SPI's Africa office.
Why systems?
Public problems rarely respect policy boundaries.
A migration policy can shape labour markets. A technological change can alter security, inequality and political participation. Trade rules can influence regional integration and development. Decisions about science and research can determine whose knowledge informs public policy.
Yet these questions are often studied and governed separately.
SPI was created from a simple premise: better policy requires understanding not only individual problems, but also the systems in which they arise.
A systems perspective asks how institutions interact, where power and incentives sit, how decisions in one part of a system produce consequences elsewhere, and why policies that appear effective in isolation may produce very different outcomes when implemented in complex societies.
This perspective informs how we research problems, develop ideas, build initiatives and bring people together.
Our mission
To improve how complex public challenges are understood and addressed.
SPI's mission is to produce rigorous research, develop practical policy ideas and strengthen the people, institutions and networks working on complex public challenges.
We seek to connect evidence with action, bridge policy conversations that are too often separated by discipline or geography, and contribute to institutions and policies that are more effective, inclusive and responsive to the societies they serve.
Our approach
Research. Build. Convene. Develop.
Build
We develop public-interest initiatives, data resources and policy platforms that make complex systems more visible and create infrastructure for research, analysis and informed public engagement.
Convene
We create spaces where researchers, policymakers, practitioners and communities can exchange knowledge across institutional, disciplinary and geographic boundaries.
Develop
We invest in people by creating opportunities for emerging and established leaders to strengthen their knowledge, networks and capacity for public problem-solving.
Our perspective
Global questions require genuinely global knowledge.
SPI is based in the Washington, DC region, one of the world's major centers of policymaking and international affairs. But consequential knowledge does not originate in Washington alone.
Our work connects policy conversations in the United States with research, institutions and perspectives from Africa and across the world. We approach Africa not simply as a region affected by international policy, but as a source of scholarship, institutional experience, policy innovation and ideas with relevance far beyond the continent.
This orientation shapes what we study, who we work with and whose knowledge informs our work.
Our principles
What guides our work.
Independence
We pursue evidence and analysis wherever they lead and maintain the intellectual independence necessary for credible policy research.
Rigor
We value careful research, transparent reasoning and evidence appropriate to the questions we seek to answer.
Openness
Complex problems benefit from multiple forms of knowledge. We seek perspectives across disciplines, sectors, institutions, generations and geographies.
Public Purpose
Our work is ultimately concerned with improving institutions, policies and systems in ways that contribute to the public good.
Reciprocity
International policy engagement should involve genuine exchange. We seek relationships in which knowledge, expertise and agenda-setting move in more than one direction.
Our institution
Independent. Nonprofit. Public-interest.
The Systems Policy Institute is an independent nonprofit organization established in Virginia and based in the Washington, DC region, with an office in Nairobi, Kenya. Our Fellows and partners work across the continent, including in Cape Town and Johannesburg, and around the world.
SPI is organized to advance research, education and public engagement in support of its charitable and educational mission. The Institute's application for recognition of federal tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code is pending.
Our work is guided by an independent Board of Directors and developed through collaboration with researchers, practitioners, institutions and communities across our areas of focus.