What We’re Learning

What We’re Learning

We believe that a community of creative problem-solvers, faced with complicated, seemingly intractable challenges, is well-served by thought-provoking, research-based information and analysis. We support the development and dissemination of research in two ways:

Abell Reports

Abell Reports are commissioned reports by subject matter experts, academics, and investigative journalists that provide studies of selected issues on the public agenda.

Abell-Supported Research

These projects – undertaken with grant funding by academics and nonprofit research and advocacy organizations – advance learning on issues key to Baltimore City.

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    Featured Reports

    Assessment of Maryland’s Need for Eviction Prevention Funds and the Estimated Fiscal Impact

    Eviction prevention programs, which cover up to three months of past-due rent, are a cost-effective way to stabilize families, pay landlords, and reduce costs to the state. This report examines two different scenarios that would prevent disruptive displacements.

    Abell Report: the Trouble with STRIDE

    Ten years ago, Maryland’s legislature passed a bill to expedite utilities’ replacement of their natural gas pipes in the name of safety. Since then, Maryland has adopted ambitious climate goals that will require the near elimination of natural gas use in homes by 2045. Yet the state continues to allow utilities to invest billions in replacing pipes, which consumers will have to pay for — with a profit for the utilities — for decades to come.

    Abell Report: Entry and Exit of Baltimore City Teachers Before and After COVID

    In 2022, after increasing pressures from the COVID pandemic and a shifting political climate, the nation’s largest teachers’ union warned that over half of teachers were considering exiting the profession. This report investigates whether Baltimore City Schools has experienced changes in teacher supply due to COVID.

    Publications Library

    Public Health and Cannabis Legalization

    As Maryland lawmakers consider the legalization of recreational cannabis, this Abell-funded report by the Maryland chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD-Maryland) considers the implications for public health policies. How have other states navigated these policies? What can be learned from their experiences?

    Advancing and Sustaining the Community Health Worker Workforce in Baltimore

    Community Health Workers (CHWs) are frontline public health personnel who are making a difference in Baltimore City. This Abell Report examines funding strategies to sustain their work.

    Protecting Baltimore’s Water Supply from “Forever Chemicals”

    This Abell Report outlines how the federal and state governments can mitigate the threat of “forever chemicals” in our drinking water.

    Cooling Cities, Slowing Climate Change and Enhancing Equity

    With funding from the Abell Foundation, the Smart Surfaces Coalition analyzed the costs and benefits of adopting “smart surfaces” in neighborhoods of Baltimore City where a high proportion of residents have low incomes.

    2020 Annual Report

    Our 2020 Annual Report highlights programs that are creating a more digitally equitable Baltimore, reducing gun violence, decreasing racial disparities in chronic disease, supporting tenants facing eviction, helping Black entrepreneurs access capital and small-business loans, advancing medical innovation, and providing job training for graduates of Baltimore City Public Schools that will provide pathways to careers and higher education.

    Header photo courtesy of Venture for America.