day one project

Changing Policy
from a Noun
to a Verb.

In 2019, we came together with an idea to arm the next presidential administration in January 2020 with 100 implementation-ready policy proposals crowdsourced from the science, technology and innovation community. Not only was our call for ideas met with an overwhelming response, but along the way we honed a vision for policy entrepreneurship: how anyone can convert a merely promising idea into real movement.

Since 2020, we have helped a growing community of contributors develop promising policy ideas — an amazing number of which have already become policy. Together we have inspired over $2.6 billion in federal investment across key science and technology priorities, eight new cross-cutting federal initiatives, four executive actions, and more.

Have an idea to turn into an actionable policy memo? We want to hear it. Check out the open submission form below, or learn more about participating in a subject-matter area Policy Accelerator.

200+ ideas
300+ contributors

Day One Ideas Submission Form

Please submit your idea for the Day One Project here. Our team reviews submissions each week. Please reach us at info@dayoneproject.org with any questions.

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Latest Policy Memos
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Science Policy
day one project
Policy Memo
Towards a Well-Being Economy: Establishing an American Mental Wealth Observatory

Enhancing recovery rates among individuals grappling with mental health and substance use issues requires a multi-pronged approach.

09.18.23 | 10 min read
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Ecosystems & Entrepreneurship
day one project
Policy Memo
Developing a Mentor-Protégé Program for Fintech SBLC Lenders

To increase lending to low- and moderate-income communities while protecting the 7(a) Loan Program, SBA should establish a mentor-protégé program and conditional certification regime for innovative financial technology companies.

08.24.23 | 8 min read
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Science Policy
day one project
Policy Memo
Leveraging Positive Tipping Points to Accelerate Decarbonization

The Biden Administration should undertake a three-pronged strategy for leveraging the power of positive tipping points to create a larger-than-anticipated return on investment in the transition to a clean energy future.

08.23.23 | 13 min read
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Technology & Innovation
day one project
Policy Memo
Building the Talent Pipeline for the Energy Transition: Aligning U.S. Workforce Investment for Energy Security and Supply Chain Resilience

Powering the clean energy transition is more important now than ever. Authors propose creating the Energy Security Workforce Training (ESWT) Initiative to align existing U.S. government support for education and training that will create resilient supply chains and address the green skills gap.

08.16.23 | 18 min read
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Testimonials

“I feel I have a much clearer vision of how the government operates and how we can make things happen in the nation. The guidance helps not only to push forward new policy but also how I apply for grants at NSF and how I integrate policy discussions in my research papers (which can help me to ensure i have much better impact)”

“The Day One accelerator took me from 0 to 100 in 9 weeks: Literally from zero knowledge about policy-making to feeling very confident about what I need to do to affect it. The knowledge alone is just one part, and the hard work lies ahead, but Day One was superb at conveying the knowledge, and also in showing how within reach policy influence could be.”

“As a graduate student studying public policy, I found that the Day One Project did a brilliant job of concisely distilling and substantiating in 9 weeks some of the most important lessons I’d learned over the course of a year. More importantly, they took these lessons three steps further by adding practical insights on the reality of policy entrepreneurship, by having us test and refine our ideas with our cohort and seasoned policymakers, and by pushing us to publish and implement our proposals.”

“This was a fantastic experience. I teach graduate students about US information and telecommunications policy and the opportunity to share what I’ve been working on with them and to bring in some of the lessons I’ve learned about writing about policy in a concise and persuasive way was awesome. I appreciate the resources that your team has developed and the time you spent to think with me about developing a coherent proposal. I learned a great deal from the guests, too.”