RESEARCH CENTERS & PROJECTS
Furthering groundbreaking scholarship in the passionate pursuit of social justice
Research Centers
Students, faculty, and collaborators connect in SP2’s research centers to further groundbreaking scholarship in areas such as philanthropy, aging, social impact, children’s policy, violence and abuse, and guaranteed income.
Center for Carceral Communities
Works collaboratively with neighborhoods in West Philadelphia to help people with a history of incarceration re-engage with the community
Center for Guaranteed Income Research
An applied research center that specializes in cash-transfer research, evaluation, pilot design, and narrative change
CENTER FOR HIGH IMPACT PHILANTHROPY
The only university-based center with a singular focus on philanthropy for social impact
Center for Social Impact Strategy
Alternative learning opportunities equip those who seek to make a social impact through the application of practical research and our community of educational partners and mentors
Center for PUBLIC SERVICE AND POLICY
A dynamic R&D hub and do-tank embodying a steadfast commitment to drive equitable economic mobility through research, innovation, and partnership
Field Center for Children’s Policy, Practice & Research
A collaboration of SP2, Penn’s schools of Law, Medicine, Nursing, Arts and Sciences, and the Graduate School of Education, and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, this center is focused on reform of the child welfare system
Ortner Center on Violence & Abuse
Dedicated to increasing women’s well-being by identifying societal changes that might affect violence against women and girls
Initiatives and Special Projects
From encouraging social innovation to promoting economic security and well-being, SP2’s special projects uphold Penn’s commitment to engage both locally and globally on interdisciplinary cooperation and professional development.
ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE FOR SOCIAL POLICY
Aims to encourage social innovation and social policy experimentation so that governments can work better, smarter and faster
A research lab with collaborators worldwide focused on research and policy to improve health equity, efficiency, resource allocation, and governance
Penn Center for Inclusive Innovation & Technology
Advances health equity, opportunity, and social welfare in Philadelphia and beyond through innovation grounded in values and principles of social justice
A research initiative focused on examining the ways in which youth of color navigate violence on and offline
Focuses largely on interrogating gender inequality in education and health with a goal toward generating empirical research to support inclusive policies and practices.
News
Faculty & Research
06/25
Study by SP2 examines potential of direct cash for cancer patients from low-income households
The three-year randomized controlled trial by SP2 is examining the potential of direct cash assistance for patients from low-income households receiving care in Philadelphia, along with their families. The study is supported by funding from actor Bradley Cooper’s One Family Foundation and a grant awarded through the Independence Blue Cross Foundation Institute for Health Equity.
News
Faculty & Research
06/21
DeMarcus Jenkins to explore links between housing policies and school integration and desegregation
SP2 Assistant Professor DeMarcus A. Jenkins will serve as co-principal investigator of a $442,340 grant from the American Institutes for Research Equity Initiative in the Behavioral Sciences for the project “Moving in Motown: Examining Promise of Integrated Neighborhoods and Schools Through Detroit’s Choice Neighborhood Initiative.”
News
Faculty & Research
06/05
SP2 professor Jennifer Prah inducted into St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame
Themes of health, gender equity, hard work, and discipline have been at the core of Dr. Jennifer Prah’s work — not only in her career as an academic and SP2 faculty member, but also during her years as an accomplished tennis player, for which she was honored on April 28 as a 2024 inductee to the St. Louis Tennis Hall of Fame.