A Decade of Building State Capability

Housed at Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, the Building State Capability research program empowers people to find context-appropriate solutions to their problems, thus improving the implementation of their policies and programs. They have trained and engaged with over 4,000+ practitioners in 157 countries, and created a community of practice for people working on implementing public policies around the world.

In marking the program’s 10-year anniversary in 2023, Building State Capability Executive Director Salimah Samji interviewed Ricardo Hausmann to reflect on the origins of the program during Ricardo’s tenure as director of the Center for International Development, and research collaborations with the Growth Lab.