Les Baxter

Les Baxter leads Pew’s strategy portfolio, which is responsible for enhancing the organization’s efforts to generate ideas for new projects and larger bodies of work, strengthening the design of program strategies and initiatives, and using evaluation to improve program performance and inform decision-making about Pew’s programs. Baxter joined Pew in 1997 as an officer in the planning and evaluation unit, where he helped elevate the practice and value of evaluation at Pew and co-led the design and implementation of the organization’s program planning process. He subsequently oversaw Pew’s planning and evaluation unit for nine years.

Before joining Pew, Baxter was a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and held senior positions at the California Energy Commission. He has written or co-written more than 70 professional publications on topics in public policy or philanthropy.

Baxter holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Northwestern University, a master’s in anthropology from the University of Hawaii, and a master’s in demography and doctorate in public and urban policy from the University of Pennsylvania.