Upturn is a D.C.–based organization engaged in technology policy research and advocacy with a focus on issues including algorithmic decision-making, surveillance technology, credit underwriting, and the use of data in government systems. The organization has participated in national policy debates over “predictive policing,” artificial intelligence in the justice system, and the use of “alternative data” in financial services, and claims to “advance equity and justice in the design, governance, and use of technology.” ^{1  2  3}

Upturn began in 2011 when David Robinson and Harlan Yu co-founded Robinson + Yu, a consulting firm for technological nonprofits. This firm expanded in size and scope in 2015 and rebranded, becoming “Upturn, Inc.” which eventually transitioned into 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2017. ^{4  5}

Upturn has received funding from multiple left-of-center organizations including the Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Democracy Fund, Heising-Simons Foundation, and George Soros’ Open Society foundations. ^{4  6  7  8}

Background

Upturn was founded in 2011 by David Robinson and Harlan Yu as a consulting firm for technological nonprofits and initially named Robinson + Yu. The organization officially rebranded to Upturn in 2015 during an expansion and was later granted tax-exempt nonprofit status in 2017. Upturn has operated since 2017 as an organization focused on technological public policy advocacy.  ^{4  5}

Advocacy

Algorithmic Decision-Making

Upturn has produced research and policy analysis critical of “predictive policing” systems and the use of algorithmic tools in criminal justice decision-making. In 2016, The Guardian reported on an Upturn analysis that argued “predictive policing” programs risk reinforcing “existing racial disparities” in law enforcement. However, the article also noted that the “predictive-policing” company PredPol disputed aspects of the report’s findings. ² Upturn’s report titled “Stuck in a Pattern” examined “predictive policing” programs and was later cited in a Biden administration Department of Justice (DOJ) publication addressing artificial intelligence and criminal justice policy. ⁹

Upturn has also published research examining law enforcement access to mobile device data. The organization’s report, titled “Mass Extraction,” analyzed the acquisition and use of mobile phone extraction technologies by police agencies, and was discussed in policy commentary published by Lawfare, which urged for the establishment of congressional oversight of law enforcement use of such tools. ¹⁰

Financial Services and Credit Underwriting

Upturn personnel have participated in congressional hearings related to the use of alternative data and automated underwriting systems in consumer credit markets. In July 2019, one of Upturn’s managing directors, Aaron Rieke, testified before the House Committee on Financial Services during a hearing on alternative credit data, addressing issues around algorithmic bias and fair lending compliance. ¹¹

Criminal Courts

Upturn has participated in criminal-courts policy disputes over the adoption of pretrial risk assessment tools. ¹² In 2021, Upturn filed an amicus brief in United States v. Morton in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, arguing against court-ordered implementation of a pretrial risk assessment instrument as a bail reform measure in Philadelphia. ¹² As of 2026, Upturn was also a co-leader of the MacArthur Foundation–supported “Pretrial Risk Management Project,” and produced materials raising civil-rights concerns about risk assessment instruments used during the pretrial process. ¹³

Upturn’s litigation activity has also extended to other criminal-legal technology issues, including forensic software and access to judicial decisions. In 2020, a publicly posted Upturn amicus brief filed with the Superior Court of New Jersey in State of New Jersey v. Corey Pickett advocated for scrutiny around the use of probabilistic genotyping software TrueAllele in criminal proceedings, with Upturn arguing for the Court to grant the defense’s expert reviewer access to TrueAllele.  ¹⁴

Housing

Upturn has focused on housing-access barriers connected to tenant screening, digital records systems, and background-check markets. ¹⁵ In 2024, Upturn published “Tenants Pay the Price,” which examined rental application fees and tenant screening as barriers that the organization claimed would contribute to “discrimination and exclusion in the housing search process.” ¹⁶

Upturn has also engaged in federal housing and housing-finance policy advocacy through written comments and proposals. ^{17  18} In 2023, Upturn submitted comments to the Biden administration Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) emphasizing the importance of “protecting renters from unnecessarily restrictive tenant screening practices that disproportionately exclude Black and Latine renters, renters with disabilities, and low-income renters” from multifamily housing, recommending safeguards related to tenant screening and records practices. ¹⁸

In 2021, Upturn alongside left-of-center signatories including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), and the National Fair Housing Alliance, published proposals directed to Biden administration officials that focused on policies they believed would ensure “non-discriminatory and equitable outcomes in housing.” ¹⁷

Labor and Employment

Upturn has examined how employers use technology in hiring and workforce management, particularly in minimum-wage hourly labor markets. ¹⁹ In the organization’s report “Essential Work,” Upturn reviewed multiple online hiring application processes and raised concerns about screening and selection procedures, including arguing against personality tests used in hiring pipelines. ¹⁹

Upturn has also tied labor-and-employment concerns to the broader data-broker and background-screening ecosystem in regulatory filings. ²⁰ In 2023, Upturn submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) on data brokers, describing how what the organization claims are various “draconian” data broker practices negatively affect access to jobs and housing. ²⁰

Public Benefits

Upturn has analyzed the use of automated systems and eligibility algorithms in public benefits administration, including Medicaid-related eligibility determinations. ²¹ In January 2026, Upturn published a fact sheet/report package on eligibility algorithms and Medicaid home care based on case studies and a multi-state review of eligibility systems that claimed that automation “undermines access to healthcare.” ²¹

Regulatory Policy

Across topic areas, Upturn has participated in regulatory rulemakings and cross-cutting technology policy efforts involving commercial surveillance, data security, and data broker markets. In 2023, Upturn submitted a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) addressing “commercial surveillance” and data security rulemaking, linking automated decision systems to discrimination concerns across sectors including credit, employment, housing, and healthcare. ²²

Upturn has also participated in policy and litigation coalitions alongside other left-of-center advocacy and legal organizations. In 2020, Upturn joined the ACLU, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, First Look Media, and academics on an amicus brief filed in the United States Supreme Court in Van Buren v. United States, arguing that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act should not criminalize violations of computer use policies such as website terms of service. ²³

In 2021, Upturn was also listed among organizations on an amicus brief filed in the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Henderson v. the Source for Public Data, an appeal of a decision where the court dismissed a plaintiff’s claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act against a background screening company, alongside let-of-center groups including the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and the ACLU. ²⁴

Upturn has additionally submitted civil-rights enforcement recommendations to federal agencies on what it sees as algorithmic discrimination. In February 2024, Upturn sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) referencing the Biden administration’s Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (EO 14110)’s civil-rights implementation and urging interagency action on algorithmic discrimination enforcement. ²⁵

Financials

On its 2024 tax return, Upturn reported $3,175,373 in total revenue, $2,317,632 in total expenses, and $6,024,111 in total assets. ²⁶

Publicly available grant databases show that Upturn has received substantial support from left-of-center national foundations. The Ford Foundation’s grants database lists a total of $5,500,000 awarded to Upturn, including a $4,000,000 approval in 2022 and a $1,500,000 increase in 2024. ⁶ The MacArthur Foundation’s grantee page lists multiple awards to Upturn, including a $900,000 grant in 2024, a $30,000 grant in 2024, and a prior $750,000 grant in 2020. ⁷ Upturn has also publicly identified funders including George Soros’s Open Society Foundations, Democracy Fund, Luminate, and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation in published report acknowledgments. ^{27  4}

Leadership

Harlan Yu was listed as the president and executive director of Upturn as of 2026. ²⁶ Yu co-founded the organization as a for-profit consulting firm in 2011 alongside David Robinson before it transitioned into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2017. ⁴ Prior to co-founding Upturn, Yu worked as a policy law clerk with Google and later as a government data specialist with the U.S Department of Labor under the Obama administration in 2010. ²⁸ In October 2025, Upturn announced that Yu planned to step down as executive director of the organization in June 2026, though no explicit reason was given for this transition. ²⁹

David Robinson co-founded Upturn in 2011 and was involved with the organization as a managing director from Upturn’s founding until departing Upturn in 2020. ⁴ Robinson has held academic and research affiliations related to law and technology policy, including a visiting scholar role at University of California, Berkeley’s Social Science Matrix, and was the inaugural director of Princeton University’s Center for Information Technology Policy in 2007. ^{30  31} As of 2026, Robinson was working at OpenAI and was involved with the organization’s Safety Systems team after leaving a position as Head of Policy Planning. ³²

1. “Home.” Upturn.org. Upturn, n.d. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/.
2. Lartey, Jamiles. “Predictive Policing Program Has Little Effect on Crime, Study Suggests.” The Guardian, August 31, 2016. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/31/predictive-policing-civil-rights-coalition-aclu.
3. “Stuck in a Pattern.” Upturn.org. Upturn, n.d. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/stuck-in-a-pattern/.
4. “About.” Upturn.org. Upturn, n.d. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/about/.
5. Fink, Katherine. “Upturn.” In Encyclopedia of Big Data, edited by L. Schintler and C. McNeely. Cham: Springer, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32001-4_177-1.
6. “Upturn, Inc.” Ford Foundation Grants Database. Ford Foundation, n.d. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/upturn-inc-144864/.
7. “Upturn.” MacArthur Foundation Grantee Profile. MacArthur Foundation, n.d. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.macfound.org/grantee/upturn-10114578/.
8. “Upturn – Funding.” CauseIQ.com. CauseIQ, n.d. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/upturn,814574412/funding.
9. “Artificial Intelligence and Criminal Justice.” U.S. Department of Justice, December 3, 2024. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.justice.gov/olp/media/1381796/dl.
10. Landau, Susan. “Law Enforcement Is Accessing Locked Devices Quite Well, Thank You.” Lawfare, December 7, 2020. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/law-enforcement-accessing-locked-devices-quite-well-thank-you.
11. “Financial Services Committee Hearing: Examining the Use of Alternative Data in Underwriting and Credit Scoring.” Congress.gov, July 25, 2019. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.congress.gov/event/116th-congress/house-event/109867.
12. “Amicus Brief in United States v. Morton.” Upturn.org. Upturn, July 13, 2021. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/amicus-brief-in-united-states-v-morton/.
13. “Criminal Courts.” Upturn.org. Upturn, n.d. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/issue/criminal-courts/.
14. “Upturn Amicus Brief.” Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic PDF, October 15, 2020. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://clinic.cyber.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Upturn-Amicus-Brief-for-Filing-10-15-20-115-pm.pdf.
15. “Housing.” Upturn.org. Upturn, n.d. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/issue/housing/.
16. “Tenants Pay the Price.” Upturn.org. Upturn, August 2, 2024. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/tenants-pay-the-price/.
17. “Proposals for the Biden Administration to Address Technology’s Role in Perpetuating Housing Discrimination.” Upturn.org. Upturn, July 13, 2021. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/proposals-for-the-biden-administration-to-address-technology-housing/.
18. “Comments to the FHFA on Tenant Protections for Enterprise-Backed Multifamily.” Upturn.org. Upturn, July 31, 2023. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/comments-to-the-fhfa-on-tenant-protections-for-enterprise-backed-multifamily/.
19. “Labor and Employment.” Upturn.org. Upturn, n.d. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/issue/labor-and-employment/.
20. “Comments to the CFPB on Data Brokers.” Upturn.org. Upturn, July 14, 2023. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/comments-to-the-cfpb-on-data-brokers/.
21. “Calculated Need: Algorithms and Medicaid Home Care.” Upturn.org. Upturn, January 21, 2026. Accessed February 21, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/calculated-need-fact-sheet/.
22. “Letter to the FTC on Commercial Surveillance and Data Security Rulemaking.” Upturn.org. Upturn, June 7, 2023. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/letter-to-the-ftc-on-commercial-surveillance-and-data-security-rulemaking/.
23. “Amicus Brief in Van Buren v. United States of America.” Upturn.org. Upturn, July 7, 2020. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/amicus-brief-in-van-buren-v-united-states-of-america/.
24. “Amicus Brief in Henderson v. the Source for Public Data.” National Consumer Law Center, October 15, 2021. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.nclc.org/resources/amicus-brief-in-henderson-v-the-source-for-public-data/.
25. “Letter to DOJ re Executive Order Civil Rights.” Upturn.org, Upturn, February 1, 2024. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/static/files/2024-02-01%20Letter%20to%20DOJ%20re%20AI%20Executive%20Order%20Civil%20Rights.pdf.
26. Upturn, Inc., Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” Projects.ProPublica.org. ProPublica, n.d. Accessed February 20, 2026. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/814574412/202512489349301226/full.
27. “Mass Extraction.” Upturn.org. Upturn, October 20, 2020. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/work/mass-extraction/.
28. Yu, Harlan. “Harlan Yu.” LinkedIn, n.d. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/harlanyu/?trk=public-profile-join-page.
29. “Upturn Announces Executive Director Transition.” Upturn.org, October 8, 2025. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.upturn.org/ed-transition-2025/.
30. “Q&A with David Robinson, Visiting Scholar at Social Science Matrix.” Social Science Matrix (UC Berkeley), August 11, 2021. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://matrix.berkeley.edu/research-article/qa-with-david-robinson-visiting-scholar-at-social-science-matrix/.
31. “Gift Expands Impact of the Center for Information Technology Policy.” Princeton University, November 8, 2018. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.princeton.edu/news/2018/11/08/gift-expands-impact-center-information-technology-policy.
32. Robinson, David G. “David G. Robinson.” LinkedIn, n.d. Accessed February 23, 2026. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dgrobinson/details/experience/.