Urban Institute

History and funding

The Urban Institute was established in 1968 by the Lyndon B. Johnson administration to study the nation's urban problems and evaluate the Great Society initiatives embodied in more than 400 laws passed in the prior four years. Johnson hand-selected economists and civic leaders such as Kermit Gordon, McGeorge Bundy, Irwin Miller, Arjay Miller, Richard Neustadt, Cyrus Vance, and Robert McNamara. William Gorham, former Assistant Secretary for Health, Education and Welfare, was selected as its first president and served from 1968 to 2000.

Gradually, Urban's research and funding base broadened. In 2013, federal government contracts provided about 54% of Urban's operating funds, private foundations another 30%, and nonprofits, corporations and corporate foundations, state and local governments, international organizations and foreign entities, individuals, and Urban's endowment the rest. Some of Urban's more than 100 private sponsors and funders include the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Public funding as of the 2020 fiscal year comes from various branches of the United States government including the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the United States Department of Agriculture.

Organization

Urban Institute's more than 600 staff works in several research divisions and program areas: Family and Financial Well-Being; Health Policy; Housing and Communities; Justice and Safety; Nonprofits and Philanthropy; Race and Equity; Research to Action; Tax and Income Supports; Technology and Data; Upward Mobility; and Work, Education, and Labor. The institute also houses the Urban Institute–Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center, the WorkRise network and Housing Matters.

The Institute works with the Association of Fundraising Professionals to produce the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. This report provides a summary of data from several different donor software firms and other data providers such as Bloomerang, DonorPerfect, NeonCRM, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, DataLake, DonorTrends, , ResultsPlus, and ClearViewCRM. According to the report, donors gave 3% more in 2016 than 2015, but getting $100 cost nonprofits $95.

Staff

Sarah Rosen Wartell, a public policy executive and housing markets expert, became the third president of the Urban Institute in February 2012. She succeeded Robert D. Reischauer, former head of the Congressional Budget Office. Reischauer succeeded William Gorham, founding president, in 2000.

Most Urban Institute researchers are economists, social scientists, or public policy and administration researchers. Others are mathematicians, statisticians, city planners, engineers, or computer scientists. A few have backgrounds in medicine, law, or arts and letters. Since at least 2015, the institute's DEI program has resulted in staff being approximately 60% female identifying, and 25% minority staff.

In 2021, the Urban Institute Employees Union (UIEU) was formed and is affiliated with the Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU), a local of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. In 2024, ratification of the first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was reached.

Board of trustees

the board members were: Jamie S. Gorelick (chair), N. Gregory Mankiw (vice chair), Annette L. Nazareth (vice chair), Anthony A. Williams (vice chair), J. Adam Abram, Kenneth Bacon, Karan Bhatia, Stacy Brown-Philpot, Mary C. Daly, Shaun Donovan, Diana Farrell, Margaret A. Hamburg, Bill Haslam, Antonia Hernndez, Heather Higginbottom, W. Matthew Kelly, Mary J. Miller, Michael A. Nutter, Eduardo Padrón, Charles H. Ramsey, John Wallis Rowe, Arthur I. Segel, J. Ron Terwilliger, Ashley Swearengin, David A. Thomas, Sarah Rosen Wartell.

Political stance

The Urban Institute has been referred to as "nonpartisan", "liberal", According to a study by U.S. News & World Report most political campaign donations by Urban Institute employees go to Democratic politicians. Between 2003 and 2010, Urban Institute employees' made $79,529 in political contributions, none of which went to the Republican Party.

Assets

As of 2020, the Urban Institute had assets of $212,923,643.

Funding details

Funding details as of 2020:

References

References

1. "Annual Report 2020". Urban Institute.
2. "About the Urban Institute". Urban Institute.
3. Cohen, Rick. (2014-12-12). "The Inner Workings of Think Tanks: Transparify Gives Us a Good Look".
4. McLean, Jim. (2014-11-20). "Kansas hospitals continue campaign for Medicaid expansion". Kansas Health Institute.
5. Rich, Spencer. (1988-06-12). "Urban Institute, Leading Liberal Think Tank, Marks 20th Birthday". [[Los Angeles Times]].
6. Hellmann, Jessie. (September 16, 2017). "GOP sees fresh opening with Dems' single payer embrace".
7. (March 6, 2019). "UMBC students Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman and Olusayo Adeleye co-create 1st U.S. conference for Black women economists". UMBC News.
8. Sahm, Claudia. (2020-02-28). "Black economists are missing from the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economics profession". Equitable Growth.
9. (26 April 1968). "Remarks at a Meeting With the Board of Trustees of the Urban Institute". The American Presidency Project.
10. (2013). "2013 Financials". Urban Institute.
11. (2013). "Sources of Support – Fiscal Year 2013 Revenue: Funding Sources". Urban Institute.
12. Wartell, Sarah Rosen. (2020). "2020 Annual Report".
13. "Policy Centers".
14. (2022-12-21). "Our People: Staff Directory". Urban Institute.
15. "Homepage {{!}} WorkRise Network".
16. (2025-05-07). "Home {{!}} Housing Matters".
17. "Report: Net On $100 In Giving Is Just $5 – The NonProfit Times". The NonProfit Times.
18. "Urban Institute Press Release: Sarah Rosen Wartell, Think Tank Executive and Housing Finance Expert, to be the Urban Institute's Third President".
19. [https://www.urban.org/about/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/dei-journey-and-data Urban Institute – Journey and Data]
20. (2021-04-13). "Urban Institute Employees Form Union".
21. Rainey, Rebecca. (April 13, 2021). "Unions eye Brookings, Urban Institute as push to organize think tanks grows". [[Politico]].
22. (December 2, 2024). "Urban Institute and Urban Institute Employees Union Reach Historic Collective Bargaining Agreement".
23. "Board of Trustees". Urban Institute.
24. "Archived copy".
25. Kurtzleben, Danielle. (3 March 2011). "Think Tank Employees Tend to Support Democrats".