# The States Forum ## Basic Info **Name:** The States Forum **What is it:** Policy network focused on developing and refining state-level policy solutions in the United States. Operates under The [Future Now Institute](https://futurenow.org/). **Who is involved:** Founded by [[Adam Pritzker]] and [[Daniel Squadron]]. Executive Director is [[Lise Clavel]] (appointed August 2025). Contributors include Danielle Allen, [[Matthew Yglesias]], among others. **Location:** Philadelphia, USA **Link:** [https://www.statesforum.org/](https://www.statesforum.org/) --- ## Entries **[[2026-01-13]]** — First came across this organization. Progressive-leaning policy network that explicitly focuses on state-level solutions rather than federal policy. Tagline is "Policy solutions where they go furthest" - the argument being that in the current federal gridlock environment, states have more room to experiment and implement meaningful reforms. They publish a journal with policy essays and something called "The January Book" - appears to be a policy agenda timed for state legislative sessions that typically begin in January. Contributors span the progressive intellectual ecosystem. Pritzker and Squadron previously worked together on [The States Project](https://statesproject.org/), which focused on state legislative races. This seems like the policy complement to that electoral work - building the intellectual infrastructure and policy ideas that state-level Democratic officials can actually implement. Worth tracking as another node in the [[Abundance Agenda - Progress Studies|abundance agenda]] ecosystem, though with more explicit partisan alignment than something like [[Institute for Progress (IFP)]] or [[Civic Future]]. The state-level focus is interesting strategically - recognizes that federal-level reform may be blocked but meaningful delivery improvements can still happen at state level.