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In a wide-ranging and insightful keynote, Luciana Mendes Santos Servo, President of Brazil’s Institute for Applied Economic Research (IPEA), shared a deeply personal and institutional perspective on what it means to be a government-funded think tank that is both autonomous and influential. Her address unpacked the evolution of IPEA over six decades, its critical role in public policy evaluation and international cooperation, and the importance of sustaining institutional independence while navigating turbulent political waters.
Watch the video below!
IPEA’s origins and enduring role
Founded during Brazil’s military dictatorship, IPEA is a paradoxical institution: created by an authoritarian regime, yet committed to independence from the start. Over 60 years, it has matured into a cornerstone of Brazil’s policy architecture, employing 300 civil servants and running over 200 projects in collaboration with 36 of the country’s 38 ministries.
Its staff played an important role in Brazil’s democratic transition. Civil servants from IPEA helped design the national health system and rural social security framework, engaging with civil society and embedding participatory principles into the very architecture of governance. Today, that spirit endures in IPEA’s commitment to inform public decisions with rigorous, independent research.
Leadership, autonomy and political engagement
Luciana’s own appointment as President of IPEA exemplifies the institution’s non-partisan credibility. Despite ideological differences with the minister who appointed her, she insisted on maintaining IPEA’s autonomy as a precondition for accepting the role. “I voted for the other candidate,” she told the minister, “and I think IPEA must remain independent.” That honesty didn’t prevent her appointment; it solidified it.
This independence proved vital during Brazil’s previous far-right government, which frequently undermined science and excluded civil society. IPEA chose not to support the central government’s regressive agendas. Instead, it redirected its efforts to work with subnational actors, states and municipalities on evidence-based pandemic responses and other pressing issues. “We had to take a stand,” she explained. “We refused to lend legitimacy to anti-science positions.”
Read more about what think tanks can do in response to increasing authoritarianism: As the world turns authoritarian.
Influencing policy beyond research papers
Luciana was frank about the challenges of influencing policymaking through traditional outputs. “We used to think we could just publish a 200-page report and people would read it because it was brilliant,” she said. “But that’s not how it works.” Instead, IPEA sees its influence as residing in process and proximity, through early engagement with decision-makers, organising policy debates, and serving as an institutional memory for the state.
Currently, IPEA evaluates around 40 public policies every four years, contributing significantly to Brazil’s national evaluation system. With 25% of its staff seconded to government ministries, it also plays an embedded role in shaping and advancing key policy agendas. “This is influence that doesn’t always come from what we publish,” Luciana noted, “but from how we engage.”
Knowledge translation and the ‘Queen of England’ model
Luciana described her role not as a traditional academic or policy designer, but as a “knowledge translator.” She borrowed from her background in health policy, an arena characterised by complexity, stakeholder conflict, and urgent demands, to build consensus and navigate institutional dynamics.
Her analogy was telling: “I call it the Queen of England process,” she quipped. “I don’t know everything happening at IPEA, but I represent the institution. I speak about what our researchers are doing and translate it for policymakers.” The emphasis, she said, is on dialogue, trust, and ensuring that IPEA’s voice remains relevant without being captured.
Leading the T20 and G20 engagements
One of IPEA’s most significant recent roles has been as co-chair of the Think 20 (T20), a G20 engagement group, alongside two other think tanks, CEBRI and FUNAG. Under its leadership, more than 800 policy briefs were submitted for consideration by the T20, and 300 were ultimately selected for publication. This process was underpinned by firm commitments to diversity and inclusion: each task force in the T20 required gender-balanced authorship, and a quota was introduced to ensure women’s participation.
Beyond the T20, IPEA collaborated with other G20 groups, such as Civil 20 and Women 20, to elevate issues of ethnic and racial equity within multilateral development banks. The impact was tangible: early results include shifts in engagement from Brazil’s national banks and growing traction with regional institutions like the Inter-American Development Bank and CAF. “We are proving it is possible to reorient global institutions towards equity,” she said.
International engagement and the Global Alliance
Through its International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG), IPEA has sustained a longstanding commitment to global cooperation on poverty and hunger. With over 50 years of experience, the Centre played a pivotal role in the creation of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, an initiative supported by Brazil’s President and the Minister of Social Development. This international orientation is reinforced by IPEA’s 18 formal partnerships and numerous informal collaborations with universities, multilateral organisations, and bilateral agencies.
At the BRICS level, IPEA represents Brazil in both the think tank and finance tracks, contributing to agenda-setting discussions and advancing a more balanced and inclusive development discourse.
Communicating complexity and combating misinformation
Luciana was candid about the challenges of communication, especially in an era dominated by misinformation and politicised narratives. “It’s amazing how much communication is a challenge,” she reflected. IPEA tracks traditional impact indicators, downloads, citations, social media mentions, and parliamentary references, but is also developing qualitative assessments to better understand how stakeholders perceive and use its work.
To counter misinformation, IPEA co-founded a coalition of institutions focused on evidence-based dialogue. This initiative, referred to as a “polyhedron”, aims to provide credible knowledge and coordinate responses to the spread of falsehoods in Brazil’s media and political landscape.
The value and challenge of being a centralised think tank
During the Q&A, Luciana addressed the uniqueness of IPEA’s model as a centralised, government-funded think tank. She acknowledged that such a model may not be easily replicated elsewhere. While it offers advantages, like a transversal view of public policy, it also brings internal coordination challenges. “Even inside IPEA, it can be hard for economists and health specialists to talk to each other,” she joked. “Sometimes we find more alignment with partners outside the institution.”
She emphasised that context matters. Countries without strong central governments or traditions of state planning may not benefit from a similar model. But where the conditions allow, institutions like IPEA can play an essential role in bridging research, government, and society.
Conclusion: Memory of the state, mindset for the future
Luciana concluded with a powerful reflection on IPEA’s identity: “We are the memory of the state.” This, she argued, is a responsibility as much as it is a privilege. Think tanks must preserve knowledge across political cycles, promote evidence-based policy, and help governments plan for the future, even amid uncertainty.
“We’re in an age of misinformation, and the future is uncertain,” she said. “But if we keep building partnerships, investing in trust, and staying independent, we can keep making a difference.”
This summary has been generated with the support of AI tools.