Vincent Quan

Vincent Quan is co-executive director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) North America, a research centre that seeks to reduce poverty in the North America region by ensuring that policy is informed by rigorous evidence. Alongside co-executive director, Laura Feeney, Vincent provides strategic direction to the policy and training teams and oversees partnership development and outreach. He works closely with policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and donors to promote evidence generation and increase the use of evidence in policy making.

Prior to his role as co-executive director, Vincent led the J-PAL North America policy team and previously worked at the Prison Law Office, where he conducted research to improve conditions of confinement in California prisons, and at the Legal Aid Society in New York City, where he assisted low-income residents in navigating the criminal court system.

Vincent’s research interest focuses on criminal justice reform and public policy evaluation. He has extensive experience translating the results from randomised evaluations into action and promoting evidence-informed policy across the region. In his role at J-PAL, Vincent has cultivated J-PAL North America’s partnerships with government policymakers, philanthropic leaders, and nonprofit heads. He also launched multiple new initiatives, including the Education Technology and Opportunity Competition and the Covid-19 Recovery and Resilience Initiative, to generate timely studies to identify effective solutions to address poverty. During Vincent’s leadership, research catalysed by J-PAL North America directly informed policy across government levels, including federal recommendations and state policies on education.

Vincent took a degree in history from UC Berkeley and a master’s in public administration from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.