To mark its 20th anniversary of spearheading evidence-based poverty alleviation, the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), in collaboration with Community Jameel, organised a two-day symposium at the Collège de France in Paris. Entitled 'Science and the fight against poverty: How far we've come in 20 years and what's to come' the event featured remarks from the organisation's two founding partners and directors, Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, and convened J-PAL affiliated researchers as well as policy makers, social work pioneers, financiers and the general public to discuss the role of scientific research outputs in shaping development and social policy aimed at to poverty alleviation in different settings and contexts. Over the past 20 years, J-PAL has led efforts to advance evidence-based policy solutions, through the use of rigorous research and randomised control trials as well as initiatives such as the European Social Inclusion Initiative, 'Teaching at the right level', and J-PAL Evidence to Policy, in order to solve pressing poverty challenges at global scale.