Our Mission
About Boston Think Tank
Founded in 2018 by a coalition of Boston women — researchers, organizers, and former officials — frustrated that the evidence they were producing rarely made it into city decisions.
Why we exist
Local government decides housing, schools, transit, public safety, and small-business survival — yet most policy research is produced for federal audiences, behind paywalls, in language that excludes the residents most affected. Boston Think Tank exists to close that gap.
How we work
We work in four program areas, each led by a senior fellow. Every report goes through peer review, community review with residents from the neighborhoods studied, and a plain-language editorial pass before publication.
What we believe
That women leaders close to a city see things federal researchers miss. That data without dialogue is decoration. That a healthy local democracy needs evidence everyone can read.
From our founder
"Boston has more brilliant women policy minds per square mile than almost any city on earth. We built this think tank so that brilliance lands where decisions actually get made — in the chambers, on the school committees, and in the rooms where rent is set."
Claudette Wright
President & Founder
Support independent research
Help us keep the evidence free.
Boston Think Tank is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Every report we publish stays open, ad-free, and accessible to any Bostonian who needs it. Your gift funds the next year of research.
Or call us at 617-820-4311