Since the appointment of a full-time director in 1996 the IWA has grown from fewer than 100 members to an organisation of nearly 1200 members, including more than 100 Fellows and more than 100 corporate members drawn equally from the public, private and voluntary sectors.
About one quarter of the IWA's income is derived from individual and corporate membership subscriptions, with the remainder coming from grants from trusts and foundation, the direct funding of research projects and income from conferences.
The IWA is governed by a Board of Trustees, which meets quarterly. It has a staff of five: John Osmond, Director; Kirsty Davies, Deputy Director; Stevie Upton, Research Officer; Emma Brennan, Events Manager; and Helen Sims-Coomber, Finance and IT Officer.
The IWA commissions and publishes research and policy papers, and organises at least 10 major conferences each year on a wide range of issues that affect life in Wales, together with smaller seminars that inform its research. The IWA branches create their own programmes of activity in each area, as well as contributing to the IWA's central research agenda.
The IWA's journal - the welsh agenda - is Wales's only regular publication devoted wholly to the full range of public policy matters. A regular bulletin on developments in the National Assembly is published in association with public affairs consultancy, Grayling Wales.
In 2009 the IWA formed a permanent study group - the Economy and Finance Policy Group - to focus IWA research on Welsh economic performance and the effectiveness of the Welsh Government's business support. An initial project will analyse Welsh Government economic development policy over the past ten years. The aim is to produce recommendations on future economic development policy and spend. The group will inaugurate an annual National Economy conference, starting in February 2010.