Introduction

This toolkit is designed as a resource for individuals at federal agencies who are interested in how to meaningfully engage stakeholders in policy and program decisions.

Agencies have a variety of options available to them to interact with individuals outside of their organization – including through press releases, partnerships, listening sessions, and so on. But how should agencies conceptualize those activities so that their efforts to engage are meaningful and contribute to better policy decisions?

The toolkit is informed by existing evidence on stakeholder engagement, two expert convenings, and semi-structured interviews with federal officials and other members of the evidence-building community. This toolkit is the result of a collaboration between the Data Foundation and the Center for Open Data Enterprise (CODE), with generous support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.