Data-driven, community supported solutions
IMS exists to strengthen the region’s policymaking ecosystem. We focus on the intersections where housing, transportation, land use, and economic development meet—where collaboration and courage are most needed.
Our role is not to advocate for a single outcome, but to create the conditions for progress. We bring together decisionmakers, community voices, and subject matter experts to build shared understanding, identify effective strategies, and chart paths toward implementation.
How IMS Works
IMS is a “third space” for policymaking—separate from governments but in service to them. We convene partners, commission and synthesize research, and co-develop recommendations that are ready for action.
Our approach follows what we call a policy stewardship continuum, supporting partners through every stage of policymaking: incubating ideas and framing shared goals; shaping evidence-based strategies; helping prepare implementation plans, and
learning from results to inform the next generation of policy.
IMS advances its mission through five long-term strategies that together form a roadmap toward a thriving Greater Portland:
- Cultivate generational vision and creative policy. Create spaces where the region can imagine its future together and align around shared aspirations.
- Steward policies across the lifecycle. Track policies from inception to implementation to ensure they remain effective and grounded in real outcomes.
- Activate policy imagination. Use convenings and conversations to spark new ideas and bridge divides.
- Leverage impactful research. Connect local leaders with cutting-edge data and case studies that illuminate what works.
- Help grow effective policymakers. Support the people doing this work—inside and outside government—with the tools, relationships, and confidence to act.
A Focus on the Here and Now
IMS prioritizes projects that meet three criteria: regional significance, local demand, and readiness for action. Early initiatives include transportation funding, the future of downtown Portland, and system development charge reform—issues that illustrate how IMS bridges research, politics, and community perspective to move policy forward.
Check out some of our past projects to learn more.