9. Hold an event

Of course, you can put together a panel of experts (including yourself), with policymakers reacting as to the relevance of the research to their decisions. In addition, I’ve experimented with debates (called Smackdowns!) where I invite researchers to tell operational teams how their operations are ignoring key evidence, and at the same time I invite operational teams to tell researchers how their research isn’t answering the key questions to improving services for the poor. It’s all done in a good spirit, and the conversations have been refreshing. I’ve also co-organized more traditional debates, seeking to provide a lively discussion of evidence around a key issue. (Here’s one you can watch, on private education in Africa. You have to scroll to the third video on the list.)

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