Robert J. “R.J.” McGrail is a senior research fellow in the Office of the President at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At the Lincoln Institute, R.J. is the principal investigator and director of a new project, Accelerating Community Investment: Bringing New Partners to the Community Investment System (ACI). The project will increase the efficacy and impact of philanthropic impact investing portfolios through a combination of field research, convening of leaders in the community investment system, development of potential investment opportunities for mission investors, and collaboration with other Lincoln Institute program areas. Before joining the Lincoln Institute in 2019, R.J. served as a senior strategy and program executive in senior management roles in both government and politics, most recently as policy and program impact officer for MassDevelopment, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ quasi-public economic development authority. Prior to his role with MassDevelopment, R.J. served in a variety of roles in the gubernatorial administration of Deval L. Patrick, including working directly with the Governor and as a senior adviser on policy and political matters to the Governor & as senior adviser to the Commonwealth's Secretary of Labor. He is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and also holds an M.A. in Public Administration from Suffolk University in Boston.