# Institute for Progress (IFP) ## Basic Info **Name:** Institute for Progress (IFP) **What is it:** Non-partisan think tank focused on innovation policy, working to accelerate scientific, technological, and industrial progress **Who is involved:** Co-founded and co-led by [[Alec Stapp]] and [[Caleb Watney]] (January 2022). Key staff includes Heidi Williams (Director of Science Policy), Jeremy Neufeld (Director of Immigration Policy), Arnab Datta (Director of Infrastructure Policy), Tim Fist (Director of Emerging Technology Policy), Santi Ruiz (Editorial Director, [[Statecraft]]), Brian Potter (Senior Infrastructure Fellow). **Location:** Washington, D.C. **Link:** [https://ifp.org/](https://ifp.org/) --- ## Entries **[[2025-10-29]]**: One of the key nodes in the [[Abundance Agenda - Progress Studies|abundance agenda]] ecosystem. Founded in 2022 by Stapp and Watney, both previously at [[Progressive Policy Institute]] and [[Mercatus Center]], both with economics MAs from George Mason. The organization explicitly aims to translate progress studies concepts into actionable policy. Five main policy verticals: - **Metascience** — reforming incentives and institutions within science to produce more breakthrough research - **High-Skilled Immigration** — attracting and retaining superstar talent globally - **Biotechnology** — pandemic prevention and accelerating life sciences progress - **Infrastructure** — making it easier to build in the physical world - **Emerging Technology** — shaping technological development and deployment Produces research, provides technical assistance to federal agencies (e.g., partnered with NSF to test new approaches), gives Capitol Hill briefings. Works across political spectrum - genuinely non-partisan. Funded by major foundations: Sloan, [[Arnold Ventures]], Astera, Coefficient Giving, Heising-Simons, Smith Richardson. Explicitly does not accept corporate or foreign government funding. Runs several major publications/projects: - Statecraft — Santi Ruiz's interview series on how policy actually gets made - Factory Settings — by former CHIPS Program Office leadership (Mike Schmidt, Todd Fisher, Sara Meyers) on industrial policy implementation - Macroscience — group newsletter on science policy led by Andrew Gerard Worth tracking systematically - they're one of the most serious organizations working on the institutional infrastructure for scientific and technological progress.