Four ways we work with partners.
RISEI Lab is a research and innovation hub at Northwestern University. Below: the four ways external teams engage us — innovation, evaluation partnership, speakers and expert support, and knowledge translation. Each delivers on policy timelines, with the methodological rigor of a research lab and the responsiveness of a practice group.
How external teams work with RISEI.
Each bucket is an active service line with named deliverables and active partners. Mix and match across a single engagement or stand one up on its own.
Innovation — AI, tools, curricula
We help partners build AI-driven processes, evaluation tools, and curricula. Custom LLM pipelines for administrative-data linkage; AI-assisted literature review and proposal development; automated fidelity dashboards; apprenticeship curriculum frameworks deployed with state agency and employer networks.
Evaluation Partner
Designing a new product, curriculum, or policy option — and need an evaluation partner? We support intervention and policy evaluation on federal grants (IES, NSF, DOL, SEED) and with state agencies, nonprofits, and international organizations. Named on the proposal. Accountable for the deliverables.
Speakers & Expert Support
Keynotes, Capitol Hill briefings, conference panels, and standing expert-witness roles on disability employment, AI and the future of work, inclusive education, and evaluation methodology. Dr. Yin speaks internationally and maintains a standing availability for agency and foundation briefings.
Knowledge Translation
Data visualization, scientific storytelling, and translating technical content into accessible materials for policymakers, families, case managers, and community audiences. Interactive dashboards, visual briefs, plain-language toolkits, and narrative-driven reports that actually get read.
“Bring us in early — as a co-author on the proposal, not a subcontractor on the back end. That's when our innovation actually shapes the work.”— How RISEI partners best
What we deliver as your evaluation partner.
Named on the proposal. Built into the workplan. Accountable for the deliverables. Across federal grant mechanisms.
Lead Evaluator
Named lead evaluator on federal model demonstrations and multi-site programs. We build the logic model, define measurement, run the analysis, and write the reports.
IES · NSF · DOL · SEEDEvaluation Partner
Partner on multi-institution grants where another organization leads. Methodological rigor, administrative-data infrastructure, and AI tooling that makes it run.
Co-I · Named partnerTechnical Assistance
TA to state agencies, federal grantees, advocacy organizations, and international NGOs on workforce, education, and labor-market programs.
TA · TrainingConsultation
Short-cycle evaluation design, measurement, or administrative-data consulting — hours or days, not months.
Second opinion · DesignFederal funders we partner across.
RISEI has held named evaluator roles on grants across the federal research and TA landscape. Bring us in at the proposal stage.
Keynotes, briefings, expert consultation.
Dr. Yin speaks at Capitol Hill, NBER, international conferences, state agency summits, and to corporate boards. Topics below — or scope your own.
AI & the Future of Work
Based on the NBER WP on AI occupational exposure stability (Yin, Vu & Persico 2026). For policymakers, workforce leaders, and corporate boards.
Disability Employment & Subminimum Wage
Building on Virginia EPIC and the 15-state national analysis. For state policy teams, advocates, and provider networks.
Evaluation Methodology
The Adaptive Precision Framework, AI-enabled evaluation design, and innovation in rigorous methodology for policy-timeline work.
Inclusive Education & Curriculum Innovation
From NAEP process-data findings to the design of new inclusive curricula. For school districts, state education leaders, and foundations.
Global Opportunity
Evidence from the 170+ country Special Olympics evaluation network — unified sports, inclusion, and what builds opportunity across radically different contexts.
Data viz, scientific storytelling, accessible materials.
The research matters only if it moves. We package findings in formats that agencies, advocates, legislators, families, and the public can actually use.
Dashboards that ship with the grant
We scope, build, host, and maintain interactive visualization dashboards as part of the evaluation deliverable — Tableau-hosted, agency-branded, with live data feeds and federal-grant reporting formats baked in.
Scientific storytelling
Narrative-driven policy briefs, working papers formatted as editorial features, and long-form reports that are actually read.
Plain-language materials
Toolkits for families, case managers, and self-advocates. Translated from technical findings into what people need to know.
Directed by Dr. Michelle Yin.
Principal Investigator and Director. Professor at Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy. Former Senior Advisor to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Dr. Yin leads the lab's evaluation and innovation portfolio, with $50M+ in lifetime external funding across federal and international awards.
Her work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and The Hill, and she has delivered Capitol Hill briefings and designed evaluation frameworks used across Special Olympics International's 170+ country network. She consults with agencies and grantees on proposal design, evaluation methodology, and AI-enabled operations.
Senior advisors, lead economists, postdocs & research staff.
A distributed team across Northwestern, Rochester, Virginia, Stony Brook, Tulane, and beyond.
Bring us in at the proposal stage.
The earlier we're involved, the better the evaluation, the stronger the proposal, and the cleaner the downstream work. Whether you need innovation partnership, an evaluation partner, a speaker, or knowledge translation — we'd like to talk.
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