The University of Chicago has announced a $10 million gift from Margot and Thomas Pritzker in support of the Inclusive Economy Lab at the Harris School of Public Policy.

To be disbursed over five years through the Margot L. Pritzker Fund, the gift will support efforts to generate the evidence needed to create greater economic opportunity for communities harmed by discrimination, disinvestment, and segregation. To that end, the funding will support critical investments in the lab's organizational infrastructure and build capacity for conducting and disseminating research on the most effective programs for expanding economic opportunity.

The gift builds on a $10 million grant awarded in 2015 by the Pritzker Foundation to establish the University of Chicago Urban Labs, a network of five labs (including the Inclusive Economy Lab, formerly known as the Poverty Lab) focused on studying issues of crime, education, health, energy and environment, and economic opportunity — with the goal of advancing an innovative, partnership-based approach to designing and testing promising policies and programs that generate large-scale positive social change.

"We have long believed in the power of applied policy research to improve society, investing in solutions to support inclusive and equitable community development, employment practices, and access to capital," said Margot Pritzker.

"A lack of economic opportunity remains a reality for far too many Chicagoans, particularly in Black and brown communities," said Marianne Bertrand, the Pritzker Director of the Inclusive Economy Lab and Chris P. Dialynas Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. "The Pritzkers' gift will provide sustained investment in our work to test and scale the most promising research-driven solutions with our partners, upend intergenerational poverty and build a more inclusive economy for future generations."

(Photo credit: Inclusive Economy Lab)