2019 Mission Impact Report

We are pleased to present Abt’s 2019 Mission Impact Update. In these pages you will find evidence of results achieved, new insights generated and cutting edge strategies employed—all to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people around the world. This mission drives us; it's our true north. From our portfolio spanning more than 50 countries, to how we organize and operate our company of more than 50 years—dive in and explore. Provide feedback. Partner with us. Join us.

expanding mission impact worldwide

Letter from the CEO

If you think about a complex problem facing society today, it’s likely that Abt Associates is working on a solution.

Whether it’s curbing opioid abuse, helping cities and farmers adapt to climate change or the many other issues our staff address every day in more than 50 countries worldwide, our approach is always grounded in our mission: to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people worldwide.

We are committed to living our mission by making a positive impact, both through our work and in our workplace. As a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, we are integrating its Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption into our business strategy, culture and daily operations.

Today’s challenges require multidimensional thinking to get at root causes, an understanding of complex systems and how to strengthen them and dynamic use of technology to deliver the impact and sustainable results we seek. This report demonstrates how we’re applying that thinking, creating knowledge, strengthening systems and directly improving peoples’ lives.

All the best,

Kathleen L. Flanagan

Abt ASSOCIATES AT-A-GLANCE

Abt Associates is an engine for social impact, harnessing the power of data and our experts’ grounded insights to move people from vulnerability to security worldwide. We think boldly, crossing disciplines, methods and geographies to provide research, consulting and technical services globally in the areas of health, environmental and social policy, technology and international development.

our impact reporting framework

Our mission is to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people worldwide. This is more than a statement. It’s a unifying concept that has defined us for 54 years, and a concept that permeates everything we do.

We advance our mission through our three core impact pathways: Our Work—the products and services we offer our clients; Our People and Operations—how we operate our company; and Our Communities—the way we engage with communities we operate in. We have distilled our mission into five goals that help operationalize and measurably have distilled our impact around the world.

Abt is committed to rigorous measurement and transparency. In addition to reporting on our own mission impact goals, we report against international frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and the Ten Principles of the U.N. Global Compact (UNGC). Additionally, we align our reporting to the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A note on reporting time frames: This report spans multiple time frames depending on the topic in focus. This includes the 2018 calendar year, Abt’s 2019 fiscal year (April 2018 to March 2019) and our clients’ fiscal year designations. All relevant timeframes are noted throughout the report.

Abt Associates is an engine for social impact, harnessing the power of data and our experts’ grounded insights to move people from vulnerability to security worldwide. Every single day.