About the Institute
The RAND Gulf States Policy Institute (RGSPI) was created to provide a long-term capacity to develop informed public policy in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Created in the wake of the hurricanes that hit this region in 2005, the institute is engaged in policy research on the critical issues affecting the Gulf states: improving health care systems, financing public education, building affordable housing, strengthening the performance of public safety agencies, and weighing the costs and benefits of different levels of flood control, hurricane protection, and wetlands restoration.
The creation of the institute represents a long-term commitment by the RAND Corporation to work to find the most effective solutions to the long-term challenges facing the region. The Institute provides decisionmakers in government, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector with the highest quality of analysis -- not only to rebuild what the hurricanes destroyed, but to build a better and more prosperous future for the region and its citizens. The RGSPI brings to the Gulf states region an increase of capacity, a national and international network of resources, a standard of high-quality results, and a perspective that is both nonpartisan and impartial.
The institute was formed in December 2005 as a collaboration between RAND and seven universities in the Gulf states region:
- Jackson State University
- Tulane University
- Tuskegee University
- University of New Orleans
- University of South Alabama
- University of Southern Mississippi
- Xavier University
Melissa Flournoy became Director of RGSPI in May 2008, assuming the position formerly held by George Penick, the founding Director, since March 2006. Melissa came to RAND from the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO), where she had served as founding President and CEO since 1997.
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