The 12 chapters of this book tell the stories of the 11 Latin American think tanks as well as the story of the network of TTI-funded think tanks, Iniciativa Latinoamericana de Investigación para las Políticas Públicas (ILAIPP) over the 10 years of TTI support. The chapters capture the changes that took place within these organizations and how they navigated the changes within their operating environments. These changes are sometimes transformational and other times incremental. Stories of change, successes, challenges, leadership transition, strengthening governance, enhancing communications and positioning for policy influence on emerging issues, all make for an interesting compilation of organizational change stories that are seldom written about.
As the chapters in this book reveal, think tanks do make a difference. They influence and shape national policy priorities and implementation, provide interdisciplinary approaches and draw on a variety of perspectives, and by doing so they put innovative ideas on the table. They convene stakeholders around public debates, support sustainable implementation measures, provide independent analysis and evaluation, and engage in policy dialogues from sub-national, to regional and even global levels. The stories in this book remind us clearly that think tanks are living proof of the power of evidence-informed policy to influence positive societal change.