About Us

We work hand in hand with public servants in state and local governments to optimize operations so they can deliver on the most important public priorities. Because when government works, communities thrive.

Who We Are

We are doers, coaches, and advisors

PPG is a non-partisan, not-for-profit team of doers, coaches, and advisors focused on making government work for its people. We believe good government is efficient, effective, and built to deliver results.

We help state and local governments optimize and streamline the most important work that they do: deliver public goods like clean water, vibrant parks, reliable public transit, and emergency response services.

What We Do

We help governments fix operations

To deliver public goods, dozens of public servants have to work hard behind the scenes to navigate a maze of procurement, budgeting, and technology, otherwise known as the government’s “back office.” These processes are often hampered by arcane policies and layers of bureaucracy. That’s where we come in: we work alongside government staff to maximize delivery of public goods while minimizing costs and red tape.

Our Impact

Cleared $10 million in unpaid invoices from city vendors and remade the payment system, rebuilding the trust of local businesses, supporting the city’s economy, and preventing waste of taxpayer dollars

Jackson, MS

Our Impact

Created pathways for small and first-time vendors to compete for city contracts. Long Beach tested simple, accessible strategies (e.g., posting a public forecast of upcoming procurements, hosting regular outreach events, translation, and personalized emails to encourage new vendors to apply) doubling the number of vendors responding to RFPs

Long Beach, CA

Our Impact

Established a new model of engaging community-based organizations to improve performance of Lansing SAVE, a children’s savings account program, setting students up with resources for post-secondary success

Lansing, MI

Our Impact

Changed how it worked with its ambulance vendor so that over 90% of non-life threatening calls had an ambulance on the scene within 12 minutes

Seattle, WA

Our Impact

Closed a digital divide with improved access to high-speed internet in low-income communities

Boulder, CO

Our History

Our work began in 2011

Our journey began in 2011. As the procurement research initiative of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Government Performance Lab, we set out to develop and test methods for improving government operations. We focused on procurement—the thorniest, most bureaucratic part of government. Our experts have collaborated with more than 200 local and state governments across the U.S., Canada, and Latin America to reimagine their procurement and contracting systems.

We launched Partners for Public Good to scale our approach and advance a new operating model for government that transforms its back office into a strategic lever for impact.