OTT began in 2010 as a blog called ‘On Think Tanks’ and a one-person consulting outfit set up by our Founder and Director Enrique Mendizabal.
In 2015, On Think Tanks received its first grant from the Hewlett Foundation. This was an important year for OTT and enabled us to grow from a blog into a global initiative. As we received more consulting requests from foundations, governments and non-governmental organisations, Enrique turned to the On Think Tanks community of expert thinkers and doers to help deliver the projects.
Through a combination of community and consultancy work, we found ourselves in a unique position, able to support and connect different actors in support of evidence-informed change – such as think tanks and think tank funders, evidence producers and evidence users.
After many years of organic growth, today, we have a small core team working across several continents, over 20 associates and consultants with whom we work regularly on projects, and a network of hundreds of organisations and thousands of thinktankers with whom we collaborate, partner and engage regularly.
Over the past 15 years, this network has grown into a vibrant global community — one that learns together, experiments together, and continually reimagines what effective evidence-informed policy can look like.
While OTT started with a focus on think tanks, better-informed decision-making requires many other actors.
Today, we work to build, strengthen and champion all individuals and organisations in the evidence-informed policy ecosystem.
We do this through a combination of consulting services and the On Think Tanks programme for people who work in, with, and fund think tanks. We provide a platform to share ideas and resources and run regular events, like our annual School for Thinktankers, and global and local conferences.
As we mark 15 years, we are celebrating not just our organisational journey, but the collective contributions of partners, collaborators and friends who have shaped OTT. This milestone offers us a moment to reflect on how far the evidence-informed policy field has come — and to look ahead at how we can continue strengthening the sector together.