Changing Policy
from a Noun
to a Verb.
In 2019, we came together with an idea to arm the next presidential administration in January 2020 with 100 implementation-ready policy proposals crowdsourced from the science, technology and innovation community. Not only was our call for ideas met with an overwhelming response, but along the way we honed a vision for policy entrepreneurship: how anyone can convert a merely promising idea into real movement.
Since 2020, we have helped a growing community of contributors develop promising policy ideas — an amazing number of which have already become policy. Together we have inspired over $2.6 billion in federal investment across key science and technology priorities, eight new cross-cutting federal initiatives, four executive actions, and more.
Now we sit on the verge of another Presidential election – and again FAS sees opportunity for meaningful, science-based policy innovations that can appeal to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. That’s why we’re launching “Day One 2025” – and renewing the call for bold policy ideas, grounded in science and evidence, that can tackle the country’s biggest challenges and bring us closer to the prosperous, equitable and safe future that we all hope for.
Developing solutions to update the energy system, decarbonize the built environment, and address the risks and cascading impacts of climate change.
Helping the federal government expand its capacity to deliver by addressing barriers across talent, spending, and performance and oversight burdens.
Supporting a dynamic and strategic R&D enterprise, emphasizing a geographically diverse approach to innovation, embedding equity within innovation frameworks, and encouraging public participation.
Addressing the risks and mitigating the potential harms posed by nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, biorisks, and safeguarding against planetary threats, enhancing global stability and human safety.
Steering technological progress and artificial intelligence to ensure socially positive, equitable outcomes and to mitigate against existing and potential harms to consumers and the public; promoting competition in evolving markets; leveraging policy frameworks, enforcement, R&D and multidisciplinary expertise.
Have an idea to turn into an actionable policy memo that doesn’t fit into the above categories? We still want to hear it.
National extreme heat resilience requires a “whole of government” federal approach. Here are 18 policy ideas to inspire and inform federal action to tackle our increasingly hot and devastating summers.
The time is ripe for AI-related legislation. We are looking for your pragmatic, evidence-driven policy ideas. Submissions due March 29.
The U.S. is short 3.8 million housing units to keep up with household formation. Here are twenty bold policy ideas to fix that.
Science holds the greatest benefit for society when its process is open, its methods are transparent, and its outputs are accessible. To achieve and sustain a scientific enterprise that is truly open, we need your help.
Global episodes of extreme heat intensify water shortages caused by extended drought and overpumping. Creating actionable solutions to the challenges of a warming planet requires cooperation across all water consumers.
To better incorporate extreme heat and people-centered disasters into U.S. emergency management, Congress and federal agencies should take several interrelated actions.
The undercounting of deaths related to extreme heat and other people-centered disasters — like extreme cold and smoke waves — hinders the political and public drive to address the problem.
The U.S. must urgently reform its disaster assistance policies to incorporate extreme heat through an amendment to the Stafford Act.
“I feel I have a much clearer vision of how the government operates and how we can make things happen in the nation. The guidance helps not only to push forward new policy but also how I apply for grants at NSF and how I integrate policy discussions in my research papers (which can help me to ensure i have much better impact)”
“The Day One accelerator took me from 0 to 100 in 9 weeks: Literally from zero knowledge about policy-making to feeling very confident about what I need to do to affect it. The knowledge alone is just one part, and the hard work lies ahead, but Day One was superb at conveying the knowledge, and also in showing how within reach policy influence could be.”
“As a graduate student studying public policy, I found that the Day One Project did a brilliant job of concisely distilling and substantiating in 9 weeks some of the most important lessons I’d learned over the course of a year. More importantly, they took these lessons three steps further by adding practical insights on the reality of policy entrepreneurship, by having us test and refine our ideas with our cohort and seasoned policymakers, and by pushing us to publish and implement our proposals.”
“This was a fantastic experience. I teach graduate students about US information and telecommunications policy and the opportunity to share what I’ve been working on with them and to bring in some of the lessons I’ve learned about writing about policy in a concise and persuasive way was awesome. I appreciate the resources that your team has developed and the time you spent to think with me about developing a coherent proposal. I learned a great deal from the guests, too.”