Letter from the CEO
Informing a Smarter World / Shaping Change for Good
Navigating through Fiscal Year 2022 was an experience in responding to and shaping change: We successfully completed several long-time projects at Population Reference Bureau (PRB), expanded our operations in West Africa, broadened our areas of focus to include self-care and climate adaptation, and began developing a new strategic plan to guide us through the coming years.
Yet for all the change, some things remained constant: Every day, in every PRB office around the world—in Kenya, Senegal, and the United States—our staff continued to work intentionally to bolster people’s and organizations’ capacity to use population data in ways that will advance critical issues like equality, equity, and reproductive health.
For nearly 100 years, PRB has analyzed data, translated research, and shared information widely so it reaches audiences ranging from government officials to researchers, media, advocates, and the public. This work has made a difference in 2022: We developed a new definition of respectful care in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health. U.S. policymakers are relying on our report about preserving and enhancing the American Community Survey. And our ongoing support to local partners’ research and communication priorities has led to our policy communication training program being embedded in the curricula of five research institutions and universities based in East and West Africa.
This FY22 annual report shares snapshots of some of our activities over the past year, who we worked with, and how our combined efforts came together to make a difference in people’s lives. The voices in this report show that, through all the changes we experience, it’s the relationships we build along the way that allow us to move forward, confident that our actions help ensure good data lead to good decisions that improve lives around the world.
Jeff Jordan, CEO and President
PRB analyzes population data and ensures the research and its applications are understood and used widely by decisionmakers, advocates, and media. Our ability to both assess and easily communicate critical issues about topics like aging, gender equality, and sexual and reproductive health and rights makes us a valued partner and resource for those working at all levels and in all areas of the world, from the United States to Malawi to Bangladesh.
In 2022, we worked with new and long-time partners like the Appalachian Regional Commission, l’Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme des Métiers de l’Internet et de la Communication, Green Girls Platform, the MacArthur Foundation, the U.S. Census Bureau, and the Youth Alliance for Reproductive Health to communicate, convene, and share skills that get evidence-based information into the hands of decisionmakers in government, the private sector, and civil society who can put it to use creating positive change.
We believe that the most powerful solutions occur when we collaborate with and learn from one another.
SHAPING CHANGE—TOGETHER—FOR GOOD
For decades, PRB has worked collaboratively with local organizations and partners so community members lead, set priorities, and identify solutions that are grounded in local realities. The work we do is often out of the spotlight.
The technical assistance and communications support we provide to data users, journalists, policymakers, youth advocates, and others in places like Appalachia, California, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, and Uganda doesn’t make us the center of attention—and that’s how we want it. As our Africa Director, Aïssata Fall, said about our work on the SAFE ENGAGE project, “We [try] to break the mold. It’s not about us having the funding, it’s about the principle and the commitment to partnership.”
Empowering Evidence-Driven Advocacy (EEDA)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
From 2017 to 2022, the EEDA project partnered with youth and civil society leaders working on family planning and sexual and reproductive health and rights in Africa and Asia. Together with these partners, EEDA developed tailored, data-driven advocacy strategies and communications materials to increase policy knowledge, strengthen commitment to implementation, increase funding for existing policies, and reinforce systems for promoting accountability. EEDA’s partners continue to make change happen in their communities.
Policy, Advocacy, and Communication Enhanced for Population and Reproductive Health (PACE)
United States Agency for International Development
For seven years, the PACE project worked together with local partners to build champions, bridge sectors, and distill evidence to ensure that family planning, reproductive health, and population issues are recognized as key to sustainable and equitable economic growth and development across Africa and Asia. The project ended in 2022, but its focus on connecting with local institutions and intentional shifting of program leadership to local partners ensures its aims and work continue.
“From the start of our partnership with PACE till now, we are treated as experts who bring much experience to the table and [are] trusted to lead programs with adequate and timely resources. We have played central roles in decision-making throughout…. This has resulted in BCAI’s exponential growth and expertise.”
—Sani Muhammad, Executive Director, Bridge Connect Africa Initiative (BCAI)
“[PACE] taught me how to use multimedia to advocate for issues on reproductive health and population and how to be concise and get the outcome required from policy advocacy campaigns.”
—Joy Munthali, Executive Director, Green Girls Platform, Malawi
Strengthening Evidence-Based Policy to Expand Access to Safe Abortion (SAFE ENGAGE)
Anonymous donor
For five years, the SAFE ENGAGE project created spaces for dialogue and collaboration among different stakeholders as they worked together to develop strategic messages aimed at improving access to safe abortion, strengthen the capacity of advocates to achieve policy goals, and work with journalists to improve evidence-based reporting. The project’s approach brought together partners from Anglophone and Francophone countries, creating connections that will endure long after the project’s end in FY22.
“As part of the SAFE ENGAGE project in Benin, we benefitted from a training workshop on political communication. During this workshop, we had the chance to meet with key players and decisionmakers in the safe abortion ecosystem in Bénin. It is obvious that the training has allowed us to network and create solid partnerships that will remain in the long term.”
—Béniel Agossou, Medical Students for Choice, Bénin
In the United States, much of the policymaking around population health resides with states and localities. The decentralized nature of decision-making means that, to be effective, research and policy must focus on the communities they serve. PRB’s U.S. Programs staff provide trainings and resources to local leaders around the country to help them find the data they need on population, housing, and health trends so they can understand and respond to their communities’ needs.
In California, we are a force behind the scenes, working as an intermediary between data producers like the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education. We do the heavy lifting to make data and trends accessible across more than 1,000 indicators so that county program staff, journalists, advocates, and policymakers can spend their limited time and resources focusing on policy and program change instead of looking for the right data.
KidsData
Lucille Packard Foundation for Children’s Health, California Department of Public Health, and Donations from data users
The KidsData program promotes the health and well-being of children in California by providing an easy-to-use resource that offers high-quality, wide-ranging, local data to those who work on behalf of children in a way that is accessible to policymakers, service providers, grant seekers, media, parents, and others who influence children’s lives.
“KidsData is a great resource and I have used it many times. I appreciate how easy it is to disaggregate data by geographic and demographic groups. I also appreciate the analysis and context you have put together about the importance of certain issues. Thank you for maintaining this resource.”
—Anonymous attendee of the KidsData webinar on adverse childhood experiences, funded by the California Department of Public Health
SHARING THE EVIDENCE
PRB information products in 2022 included blogs, briefs, fact sheets, reports, videos, and websites on topics like children’s well-being, family planning and reproductive health, equity, and the challenge of misinformation in today’s world. We’ve curated a sampling for you to explore.
Children’s Well-Being
Family Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Equity in Data and Health
Black Women Over Three Times More Likely to Die in Pregnancy, Postpartum Than White Women
Building Up Communities by Breaking Down Data
Dying Young in the United States
Rising Obesity in an Aging America: Policy and Program Implications
Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care
The Democratic Republic of the Congo Leads the Way on Abortion Access
The Future of Family Planning in Africa
Resilient Future: Climate Financing Strategies for Family Planning Programs
Youth Family Planning Policy Scorecard
2022 World Population Data Sheet
Misinformation
Data and Demagoguery: Human Rights and Development in the Disinformation Age
SUPPORTERS, PARTNERS, AND CONTRIBUTORS
We appreciate the organizations and individuals whose generous support makes our work possible. Thank you.
- Annie E. Casey Foundation
- Appalachian Regional Commission
- Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments
- Association of Public Data Users
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- California Department of Public Health Injury and Violence Prevention Branch
- Consortium Regional pour la Recherche en Economie Générationnelle
- Education Sub-Saharan Africa
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
- Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
- Georgetown University-Institute for Reproductive Health
- Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health
- LVCT Health
- Coordinating Center for the Centers on the Demography and Economics of Aging, University of Michigan
- New Venture Fund
- NORC at the University of Chicago
- The Palladium Group
- Population Council
- San Benito Council of County Governments
- The San Diego Association of Governments
- Southern California Association of Governments
- UnidosUS
- United States Agency for International Development
- United States Census Bureau
- University of Utah
- William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
PRB worked together with 48 organizations in 2022.
- African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP)
- African Population & Health Research Centre (APHRC)
- Association des Journalistes et Communicateurs en Population et Developpement
- Alliance Nationale des Jeunes pour la Santé de la Reproduction et la Planification Familiale (ANJSR/PF)
- Amref Health Africa (Amref)
- Association Burkinabé pour le Bien-Etre Familial (ABBEF)
- Association des Gestionnaires pour le Développement (AGD)
- Avenir Health
- Break-Free From Plastic Initiative
- Bridge Connect Africa Initiative (BCAI)
- Cadres des Religieux pour la Santé et le Développement (CRSD)
- College of Medicine, University of Ibadan
- Community Safety Initiative Kenya (CSI Kenya)
- Conseil pour la Défense Environnementale par la Légalité et la Traçabilité, en abrégé (CODELT)
- Consortium Regional pour la Recherche en Economie Générationnelle (CREG)
- Developing Radio Partners
- Digital Data System for Development (DDSD)
- Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme, des Métiers de l’internet et de la Communication (E-jicom)
- EngenderHealth
- Green Girls Platform
- Innovations Environnement Développement en Afrique (IED Afrique)
- Institut de Formation et de recherche Demographiques (IFORD)
- Institut Supérieur des Sciences de la Population (ISSP)
- International Youth Alliance for Family Planning (IYAFP)
- Jimma University
- JSI Research & Training Institute Inc. (JSI)
- Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO)
- Linda Arts Organization
- National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
- National Population Council Uganda (NPC Uganda)
- Novel Association for Youth Advocacy (NAYA)
- Open Development, LLC
- Organization of African Youth
- Palladium International, LLC (Palladium)
- Philippine Business for Social Progress, Inc. (PBSP)
- President and Fellows of Harvard College, Ariadne Labs (Ariadne Labs)
- Reach A Hand Uganda (RAHU)
- SERAC-Bangladesh
- Solarkiosk Solutions GmbH (Solarkiosk)
- The Medical Concierge Group (TMCG)
- The Nature Conservancy
- The Regents of the University of California, Berkeley Campus (UC Berkeley)
- Visible Impact
- World Relief
- World Vision, Inc.
- Youth Alliance for Reproductive Health-DRC (YARH-DRC)
- YUWA
- Zenysis Technologies (Zenysis)
Through their generous contributions, the individuals listed here allowed PRB to fund essential program expansion and organizational innovations during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2022.
- Jacob Adetunji
- George Ainslie
- Adrienne Allison
- Amazon Smile Foundation
- Nancy Andrews
- Anonymous
- Leslie Aun
- Alaka Basu
- Frederick L. Bein
- The Benevity Community Impact Fund
- Ulf Bergstrand
- Sue Black
- Nancy Bliss
- Robyn Blumner
- Doug Bradham
- Bright Funds
- Warren Y. Brockelman
- Phyllis Burdette
- William P. Butz
- Dan Carrigan
- James R. Carter
- Julie Caswell
- Alexandre Checchi
- Joel Cohen
- Cynthia Cook
- Frances Craig
- Robert Crosnoe
- Xu Cui
- Curtis Cummings
- Geoffrey Dabelko
- Philip Darney
- Charles N. Darrah
- Gouranga Dasvarma
- Mark Davis
- Ronald Dear
- Viresh Desai
- Carol DeVita
- Thomas Dillon
- Peter Donaldson
- Marriner Eccles
- Eldon Enger
- Laurence L. Falk
- Larry Feldpausch
- David Finn
- John J. Flynn
- Neil Garrett
- Armando Garsd
- Campbell Gibson
- Give Lively Foundation, Inc.
- Amy S. Glenn
- Linda W. Gordon
- Bill Grams
- Edward Guay
- Kenneth Haddock
- Stuart Harris
- Marty Harte
- William Hollingsworth
- Pieter Hooimeijer
- Richard Hope
- Edwin W. and Janet G. House
- Sherry F. Huber
- Howard M. Iams
- Robin Ikeda
- Henry Imus
- Eleanor Iselin
- Amber Jackson
- J. Timothy Johnson
- Brad Jokisch
- Jeffrey Jordan
- Joan R. Kahn
- Les Kanat
- Robert B. Kelman
- Lawrence Kintisch
- Michael Kraft
- William Kurtz
- Willie B. Lamouse-Smith
- Brian Larson
- Thomas LeGrand
- John Lindner
- Melissa Lizarraga
- Terri Ann Lowenthal
- Andrew Lustig
- David Lyons
- Jennifer Madans
- Liz Maguire
- Nancy Matuszak
- John F. May
- Tom McCormack
- Barbara McDade Gordon
- Mary McEniry
- Michael and Raina McManus
- Norman Meadow
- D.J. Mellema
- Sara Melillo
- Thomas W. Merrick
- Frank Millard
- Eugene Mulligan
- Charles B. Nam
- Network for Good
- Margaret Neuse
- Andy Neill
- Elias Nigem
- Lisa Palmer
- Jeffrey Passel
- Sandro Prudancio
- David M. Radosevich
- François Ramade
- Michael Rengland
- Teri Robers
- Ian R.H. Rockett
- Ricardo R. Rodriguiz
- John and Libby Ross
- James Rubenstein
- Richard H. Sander
- Andreas Schleicher
- Elizabeth K. Schoenecker
- Valdemar Schultz
- Len Schwarts
- Margaret Snowden
- Jennifer Sciubba
- Clifford Selby
- Kyler Sherman-Wilkins
- Rhonda Smith
- Stanley Smith
- Dick Solomon
- Gary Steele
- Lee and Byron Stookey
- Bertram Strieb
- Ram Subramaniam
- Te Hsiung Sun
- Calvin Gray Swicegood
- Robert Tague
- Chris Tarp
- James W. Thompson
- Robert L. Thompson
- Clifford Treese
- Katherine Trent
- Joanna Umo-etuk
- Anthony Vadala
- J.W. Valentine
- Noah Valloch
- Pietronella Van Den Oever
- Azucena Vicuña
- Marianne Vigneault
- Bonnie and Dirk Walters
- George Weed
- John Weeks
- Jesse Wells
- Michael White
- Clarence J. Wurdock