Nick Hart, President & CEO, Data Foundation
Nick Hart is the President & CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Data Foundation. He is a recognized advocate and leader for establishing systems and practices that enable evidence-informed policymaking and open data practices to succeed around the world to improve society. He is an expert in United States policies related to data, evaluation, statistics, science, and privacy.
During his professional career, Dr. Hart led initiatives in government and non-profits, championing the use of data to improve society. He is a fellow at the National Academy of Public Administration and the Bipartisan Policy Center. He previously worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget, as the Policy and Research Director of the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, and as the Director the Evidence Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center.
Dr. Hart has testified to U.S. Congress and panels of the European Commission, frequently comments on regulations and offers technical assistance on proposed legislation and regulations, and collaborates with policymakers to apply evidence for improving policy. He has written extensively about the need to collect, manage, govern, and use data to generate useful evidence for policymakers, including co-authoring two books: Evidence-Building and Evaluation in Government (2022) and Evidence Works: Cases Where Evidence Meaningfully Informed Decision-Making (2019).
Dr. Hart was appointed by the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget to the Federal Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building, by the Comptroller General to the Government Accountability Office’s Advisory Council on Government Auditing Standards (Yellow Book Council), and by the Director of the Government Publishing Office to GPO’s Transparency Advisory Group. Dr. Hart previously Co-Chaired the Select Task Force on Information Policy Reform for the National Academy of Public Administration. He has served on multiple panels for the National Academy of Sciences Committee on National Statistics and the National Academy of Public Administration.
Dr. Hart is an adjunct professor of program evaluation at George Washington University. He chairs the American Evaluation Association’s Evaluation Policy Task Force, among other committees and boards.
Dr. Hart earned a Ph.D. from George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, specializing in program evaluation. He holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science and Master of Public Affairs degree from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Truman State University.
Dr. Hart lives in Washington, D.C. with his son Calvin.
