Finding federal evaluation resources shouldn't require hunting across dozens of agency websites. The Data Foundation recently launched the Evidence Act Hub to solve this problem, bringing together laws, guidance, and agency strategic planning documents together in one searchable location.

Since 2019, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act has required federal agencies to develop and publish important strategic documents, including learning agendas, annual evaluation plans, and more. These documents map agency research priorities, planned evaluations, and data governance approaches. For evaluation professionals, they offer transparency into federal evaluations, potential partnership opportunities, and methodological approaches across government.

One large challenge has been access and visibility. Agencies publish these materials on separate websites with inconsistent organization. During political transitions, documents can move, be changed, or disappear entirely. Tracking compliance, finding comparable examples, or locating specific guidance means navigating a fragmented system. Despite meaningful efforts by public servants, not everything related to the Act ended up under one roof.

The Evidence Act Hub addresses this by archiving and organizing these materials outside government infrastructure. Looking ahead, the Hub also provides a central venue for expert analyses on the state of federal evaluation, will track who’s who in federal leadership, and will continue to build a library of meaningful resources on evaluation and learning for practitioners to draw upon.

Join Sara Stefanik and Nate Varnell from the Data Foundation’s Center for Evidence Capacity for a detailed tour of the Hub's resources and capabilities. Whether you work on federal contracts, state and local programs, or nonprofit evaluations, you'll learn how to locate relevant materials, track federal evidence-building planning cycles, and identify examples for evaluation methods and capacity-building strategies.