Robert Doar — 2020 Whittington Lecture

As AEI President, Robert Doar actively transformed American welfare policy through strategic leadership and evidence-based reform. As NYC Human Resources Administration Commissioner, he oversaw a 25 percent reduction in New York’s welfare caseload while helping place almost 87,000 recipients in jobs annually. He spearheaded record-breaking child support collections of $731 million in 2011 with over 91 percent going directly to custodial parents. Additionally, he recruited dozens of leading scholars and launched a new research division focused on social, cultural, and constitutional studies. He co-chaired the National Commission on Hunger and led the AEI-Brookings Working Group on Poverty and Opportunity producing bipartisan policy solutions that bridge conservative and progressive approaches to anti-poverty initiatives.

For the 2020 Whittington Lecture, he spoke on the importance of employment in providing a stable wage for low-income workers, leveraging the full efficacy of our social safety net, and promoting happier, healthier outcomes for families and communities.