The Clinton Foundation unveiled the Clinton Policy Institute on Monday, described as the organization’s first major initiative in more than a decade. The institute aims to convene political leaders from both parties alongside research experts and affected communities to develop and implement nonpartisan approaches to longstanding policy challenges, with particular emphasis on health outcomes for women and children, economic security, and democratic strengthening.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated that rising costs, economic uncertainty, and technological change underscore the need for evidence-based solutions. The institute is being led by Zayn Siddique, former principal deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, as chief executive officer, and Jennifer Klein, previously director of the White House Gender Policy Council, as chair. The foundation, also led by former President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, built the new institute on a recent collaboration with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration to implement cellphone bans in schools during the past academic year.
In New York, the institute helped establish a Teen Tech Council allowing students to inform the phone-ban program. According to Hochul’s office, educators reported marked improvements in classroom behavior and engagement. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, who is leaving office in January due to term limits, expressed support for the institute’s approach after attending a recent conference on improving children’s lives, noting her experience as a Democrat in a heavily Republican state made bipartisan solutions essential to accomplishing policy goals.
Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams acknowledged both the possibility and difficulty of achieving nonpartisan solutions on inherently political issues. He noted that health policy areas—including abortion, contraception, drug policy, and firearm safety—face polarization but identified the institute’s work on adverse childhood experiences as demonstrating successful bipartisan engagement. Adams cited California’s ACE Aware initiative as a model now being considered by Republican-led states including Utah and Georgia, suggesting the institute’s strategy of sharing evidence-based practices across state lines can overcome partisan divides.
The Clinton Foundation indicated it intends to expand the institute’s work to additional policy areas, with officials stating that innovative solutions developed by state leaders “deserve to be shared and scaled” across the country.
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