Fellow Positions – Summer 2026 Cohort

Summary: The Government Performance Lab (GPL) seeks to hire fellows with a passion for improving government performance and solving social problems such as barriers to affordable housing, lack of access to benefits or supports for children and families, and criminal justice involvement. Fellows may provide support remotely to one or more US state or local jurisdictions or may be placed on-site with a government office or agency that is spearheading a project. To support our policy area goals, fellows work collaboratively with their assigned manager and receive coaching to help them develop their skills to drive projects forward. Fellows function as day-to-day project managers, conducting transformation projects from conceptualization through design and implementation. 

Focus Areas: 

Children & Families: Supports jurisdictions to strengthen supports for children and families and shrink the harm of punitive government responses such as child protection interventions, including by working to strengthen public benefits delivery and supports for economic wellbeing, improve maternal and infant health, strengthen access to behavioral health supports, and increase kin-first care. 

Workforce Development: Building capacity of state leaders to navigate the uncertainty caused by AI-driven disruptions to the workforce, create future-looking strategies for states through rapid knowledge exchange and iterative learning between states, and develop data and measurement approaches to better monitor AI-driven job displacement. 

Homelessness & Housing: Supports jurisdictions to address homelessness and housing instability, including by working with agencies to build staff capacity for performance management, implement upstream prevention efforts, improve rehousing approaches, and address drivers of housing affordability and supply. 

Safety & Justice: Aims to improve public safety and prevent individuals from harmful interaction with the criminal justice system, including by sending alternative responder teams to 911 calls, testing alternatives to pretrial incarceration such as referrals to supportive services, and reducing punitive conditions for individuals awaiting trial in the community. 

Compensation*: This role is funded at an annual salary of $92,000 plus benefits. This position is a term appointment ending one year from date of hire, with the possibility of renewal. The role will receive a Harvard appointment as a Fellow. 

Potential locations: Boston, DMV Area (District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia), Los Angeles, Michigan (Lansing or Detroit), Minnesota (Minneapolis or St. Paul), and remote (requires access to a major U.S. airport). 

Start date: Candidates should be available to start by July 2026. 

To apply: Please submit your application using the GPL Online Application Form. Applications are due by Sunday, February 22, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET. If selected for interviews, candidates will be asked to participate in case interviews and submit examples of previous work products. 

Required Qualifications   

• At least three years of full-time professional work experience. 
• Strong project management capabilities—the ability to independently execute project tasks and meet key project deadlines.  
• Ability to navigate complex organizations, develop trust and credibility with stakeholders, and build strong relationships among diverse groups. 
• For some projects, ability to travel on a regular basis is required. 

Preferred Qualifications  

• Many kinds of experiences could prepare an individual to thrive in this role. We expect candidates to have many but not necessarily all of the qualifications listed below:  
• Passion for improving government performance and solving social problems.  
• Self-motivated approach with a learning mindset and an orientation towards results.  
• Ability to communicate ideas clearly, efficiently, and with humility both verbally and in writing, including through slide decks, meeting facilitation, memos, delivery of trainings, and public speaking. 
• Awareness of and sensitivity to the needs and concerns of individuals from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and orientations.  
• Sound analytical skills, with experience analyzing and using both quantitative and qualitative data to generate and communicate insights that drive impact. 
• Graduate-level training in public policy, business, law, economics, social work, or related fields.  

Key responsibilities typically include: 

Project Management   

• Timely, independent management and coordination of projects while navigating complex organizational structures, including developing workplans and balancing multiple workstreams across various government entities.    
• Develop, introduce, and oversee performance management systems to enable government and service providers to better collaborate on service delivery. 

Communications and Stakeholder Management  

• Conduct interviews and site visits with government officials, community stakeholders, and people with lived experience to help identify service delivery barriers and inform solutions.   
• Facilitate meetings, trainings, and workshops to advance project work and build capacity; provide coaching to permanent government staff.   
• Brief agency leaders and solicit decisions from them at key project milestones.    
• Create memos, presentations, training documents, and solicitations with the aim of making complex information easier to understand.   

Research and Data Analysis   

• Help governments match and analyze administrative data to measure population outcomes, understand cost-effectiveness, and form insights that can improve service delivery.  
• Use continuous improvement tools to analyze existing processes and design new processes that enable agencies to better serve constituents.   
• Review research literature, government documents, and best practices to inform work. 

Community of Practice   

• Share insights with government collaborators and GPL colleagues to help spread lessons and best practices.  
• Contribute to publications including project features and solutions briefs to help share insights externally.   

Continuous learning is a key part of the overall fellowship experience. Fellows are part of a community of GPL team members spread across the country dedicated to sharing lessons learned, building organizational expertise, and refining GPL tools, models, and frameworks. Through project work and regular engagement with the broader GPL community, fellows develop substantial policy area expertise, hands-on project management experience, and deeper familiarity with government processes. 

About the Government Performance Lab 

The mission of the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab is to accelerate progress on difficult social problems by improving how state and local governments across the country function. Our team collaborates closely with government innovators in developing and testing ways to create more just and effective service systems in areas including child and family wellbeing, safety and justice, and homelessness and housing. To date, the GPL has engaged with 112 jurisdictions across 38 states and has conducted more than 278 projects shifting more than $7B in government spending towards results.   

Harvard University is committed to equal opportunity and non-discrimination. We seek talent from all parts of society and the world, and we strive to ensure everyone at Harvard thrives. Our differences help our community advance Harvard's academic purposes. 

Harvard has an equal employment opportunity policy that outlines our commitment to prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, religion, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or identified in the university's non-discrimination policy. Harvard's equal employment opportunity policy and non-discrimination policy help all community members participate fully in work and campus life free from harassment and discrimination.