Research support for policy professionals who can't afford to waste time on sourcing

Policy analysts and research directors spend hours tracking down peer-reviewed studies, government datasets, and legislative histories that a trained EA could surface in a fraction of the time. Whether you're building an evidence base for a policy brief, monitoring regulatory developments across multiple jurisdictions, or compiling background research ahead of stakeholder meetings, that groundwork doesn't have to sit on your plate. Trusty Oak EAs work inside your existing workflows to handle the research legwork so you can focus on analysis and decisions.

Fractional research support for research and policy organizations

How Trusty Oak handles research for research and policy organizations

A Trusty Oak EA supporting a research or policy organization typically handles the full upstream research process: identifying credible sources, pulling data from government databases like Data.gov, Congress.gov, or agency-specific portals, organizing findings in shared tools like Notion, Airtable, or Google Docs, and flagging anything that needs your expert interpretation. They follow citation standards you specify — APA, Chicago, or Bluebook — and can build annotated bibliographies or structured literature summaries that drop directly into your workflow. Your role is to define the research question, set the scope, and review conclusions; the EA handles the hours of digging, tab management, and document organization in between. Most clients share a brief at the start of each task and receive a structured summary back, ready for use.

What your EA takes off your plate

Before your first research task, write out the question you're trying to answer as specifically as you would brief a junior researcher — including what sources are credible in your field and what format you need the output in. The most common mistake is handing over a broad topic instead of a bounded question, which leads to results that are too wide to be useful. A one-page briefing template you reuse each time will save you more time than the research task itself.

Legislative and Regulatory Monitoring

Track bill status, regulatory comment periods, and agency rulemaking updates across specified jurisdictions using Congress.gov, GovTrack, or state legislature portals.

Literature Review Compilation

Search Google Scholar, PubMed, JSTOR, or SSRN for peer-reviewed studies on a defined topic and organize findings into a structured summary with citations.

Government Data Sourcing

Locate and download relevant datasets from sources like Data.gov, Census Bureau, BLS, or agency open data portals and prepare them for analyst review.

Policy Landscape Mapping

Research how peer states, municipalities, or countries have addressed a specific policy issue and compile findings into a comparative summary document.

Stakeholder and Organization Research

Build background profiles on advocacy groups, think tanks, elected officials, or agency contacts relevant to an upcoming meeting, coalition, or report.

Tools our team works with

We adapt to your existing stack — no forced migrations.

Apollo.io

SimilarWeb

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

SEMrush

Statista

...and many more!

Trusted by research and policy organizations

Trusty Oak supports research and policy organizations including Clayton Christensen Institute — handling everything from research to broader operational support.

What research support costs for research and policy organizations

Drag the sliders to build a monthly plan that fits your workload.

Executive Assistants

~$35/hour

10 hours $350

Specialists

~$50/hour

20 hours $1,000

Fractional Executives

~$95/hour

0 hours $0

Your monthly budget

$1,350

Starting at $1,000/month. One-time $300 onboarding fee includes your Strategic Delegation Plan.

Book a Discovery Call

Frequently Asked Questions

Can an EA handle research that requires navigating specialized policy databases or government portals?

Yes — Trusty Oak EAs are experienced with publicly accessible government and academic databases including Congress.gov, Federal Register, Data.gov, and Google Scholar. If your organization uses a subscription database like LexisNexis or a proprietary research platform, you can grant access and provide a short orientation, and the EA will work within it.

How do you handle research tasks that require judgment about source credibility?

Your EA will follow the source criteria you define — peer-reviewed only, government sources, specific publication tiers, or whatever standard your organization uses. They surface and organize material according to those guidelines; evaluating the substance of findings and drawing policy conclusions stays with you as the subject matter expert.

Is 36 time entries enough to know this actually works for research and policy work?

It's an honest number — Trusty Oak is transparent that research tasks across all industries account for 36 logged time entries in our system. What that tells you is that this is a real service category with documented delivery, not a theoretical offering. The best way to evaluate fit is to bring a specific, bounded research task to your onboarding call and test the output against your standards.

Stop doing the sourcing work yourself

Trusty Oak will match you with a US-based EA and build a delegation plan around your research workflow in the first week. Monthly plans start at $1,000 with a one-time $300 onboarding fee.