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Every day, our staff is working to improve the quality of life and economic well-being of people worldwide. That is our mission, and we are delighted to present the 2020 Abt Associates Mission Impact Report. Delve into the demonstrable impact we are having in improving people’s lives through our work, through how we operate our company, and how we interact with the communities in which we live.

Letter from the CEO

Photo of Kathleen L. Flanagan

COVID-19. Climate change. Systemic racism. If there was ever a time for agile thinking and comprehensive responses to complex problems, this is it.

Over nearly six decades, Abt Associates has intentionally cultivated deep expertise in disciplines from toxicology to education, from health systems and service delivery, to clean energy and governance. We bring it all to bear on the challenges facing communities around the world. Responding to the unprecedented challenges brought about by COVID-19, we mobilized our epidemiologists, along with experts in housing and child welfare, criminal justice, and gender-based violence, to inform timely action, help abate the worst scenarios, and help ensure that we contribute to building resilience.

Resilience, in the face of inequity, in the face of the destructive effects brought about by climate change, and in the face of infectious diseases, is what we aim to foster across vulnerable communities. Helping people to move from vulnerability to security around the world is why we come to Abt Associates. The historic bushfires that tore through Australia, personally affecting our staff in Canberra and Brisbane, and posing rippling threats to public health, national security, and food production, demonstrate that the scale of today’s challenges requires nothing less than a system-informed, dynamic, data-driven, and bold response. We stand prepared to partner and deliver on transformative solutions. And we take this personally.

It's personal to us because our team of more than 3,700 around the world is motivated by our mission and committed to living Abt’s mission through our project work and through the way we run our company. Decarbonizing our operations, achieving EDGE certification for gender equality, investing in our employees’ development and well-being, and fostering a culture of inclusion—our mission is our north star, and we deliver on it every day.

I am proud of the impact we are creating through our work, how we operate, and how we interact with our communities. As you will see in this report, impact is what drives us.

All the best,

Signature of Kathleen L. Flanagan
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Breaking Barriers. Improving Lives. Every day.

Abt Associates uses data and bold thinking to improve the quality of people’s lives worldwide. From increasing crop yields and combatting infectious disease, to ensuring safe drinking water and promoting access to affordable housing—and more—we partner with clients and communities to tackle their most complex challenges.

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Abt’s 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 since 1965, and one that permeates everything we do, every day.

We advance our mission through 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. Across each, we operationalize our mission through five mission impact goals, to measurably distill our impact around the world.

Our mission impact goals

In addition to reporting on our own mission impact goals, we adhere to international frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). We are also deeply committed to advancing the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and have aligned our reporting to that global transformative agenda.

A note on reporting time frames: This report spans multiple time frames depending on the topic in focus. This includes the 2019 calendar year, Abt’s 2020 fiscal year (April 2019 to March 2020), and our clients’ fiscal year designations. All relevant timeframes are noted throughout the report.

We welcome your feedback
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Download Abt's 2020 Mission Impact Report PDF
View Abt's Global Reporting Initiative index
Download Abt's UNGC 2019 PDF
View Abt's Global Reporting Initiative index
Download Abt's UNGC 2019 PDF
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